From performer to clinician

For University of Delaware College of Health Sciences alumna Natalie Atkinson, a childhood love of singing has evolved into a career helping patients improve and protect their voices.

The 2025 graduate of UD's Speech-Language Pathology (SLP) master's program now works at the Sean Parker Institute for the Voice at Weill Cornell Medical College. Internationally recognized for treating professional performers and patients with complex voice disorders, the institute is considered a leader in voice care.

"It's the coolest job ever," said Atkinson, a speech-language pathologist and voice specialist, who works with children who have developed vocal fold nodules, often due to chronic vocal strain.

"Listening to so many voices, your ears get so strong, and you can hear what's going on with the vocal cords without actually seeing them," she said.

But she also gets close-up views of vocal cords, working with laryngologists to perform videostroboscopies to identify lumps, bumps or tension often found in professional singers.

A perfect pairing

As a child, Atkinson was always singing - in the shower, in the car, and later, on stage at Lincoln Center in Manhattan.

A Sussex County native, Atkinson earned her bachelor's in voice performance from Westminster Choir College at Rider University and aspired to become a professional opera singer in Germany. The COVID-19 pandemic forced Atkinson to pivot. She enrolled in UD's SLP MA Extended Track, where she discovered her passion for the science behind singing. The program was ranked among the nation's top speech-language pathology programs by U.S. News & World Report.