Grant M. Walker is the Assistant Director of Research & Evaluation at Arizona State University’s Learning Engineering Institute, where he leads researchers investigating the impact of technology on learning. His team studies how digital learning tools support learners and how their delivery and user experience can be improved. He brings a background in cognitive neuroscience, neuropsychology, neuroimaging, aphasia and rehabilitation to this work, connecting research on human cognition with the evaluation and improvement of educational technologies.
Dr. Walker’s research has examined how the brain supports speech and language, how these abilities are affected by stroke and neurodegenerative disease, and how to measure impairment and recovery. His work combines computational models of cognitive processes, statistical methods for measuring individual abilities, and neuroimaging analyses that link brain damage to behavior. He has developed language assessments and web-based research tools designed to make these methods accessible to researchers and clinicians.
His publications address speech production, language assessment, rehabilitation outcomes, and methods for identifying brain networks critical to cognition. Recent work includes articles in Human Brain Mapping and the Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research examining methods for mapping brain–behavior relationships and the neural networks underlying speech difficulties after stroke. Across these projects, he emphasizes meaningful measurement, careful evaluation, and translating research findings into practical tools.
Dr. Walker’s research experience includes appointments at the University of California, Irvine, the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, and Moss Rehabilitation Research Institute. He works with collaborators at UC Irvine, University of South Carolina, Johns Hopkins University, UTHealth, and University of California San Francisco. He has contributed to NIH-funded research on aphasia recovery and primary progressive aphasia, and has mentored graduate and postdoctoral researchers. His teaching includes courses on language and the brain at ASU and UC Irvine, both online and in person, as well as graduate instruction in adult language and cognitive disorders and neuroanatomy at Chapman University.
Dr. Walker earned his Ph.D. in psychology and his M.S. in cognitive neuroscience from the University of California, Irvine, and his B.A. in cognitive science and communication from the University of Pennsylvania. He was a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow.
