Buckeye Valley High School alumna Brielle C. Stark has been awarded a doctorate from the Department of Clinical Neurosciences at the University of Cambridge in England for her work on post-stroke aphasia recovery.

Stark was selected as a Gates Trust Scholar to Cambridge University in 2012, and did her undergraduate studies at Bryn Mawr College in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. There she received her bachelor’s degree (with honors) in psychology and neural & behavioral science.

While at Cambridge, she was a member of Gonville and Caius College. Her research involved investigating the potential for computerized therapy in spoken language difficulties after strokes. Her interests in the field lie in neuropsychological research and functional imaging.

She developed a love for rowing and captained the Bryn Mawr women’s team as well as the Caius College team. She has also coxed for several international rowing teams.

Stark will continue her research as a postdoctoral fellow with a National Institutes of Health grant at the University of South Carolina.

Stark is a 2008 graduate of Buckeye Valley High School and her parents, Deb and Treg Stark, live in Ashley. Her maternal grandmother, Peggy Caserta, resides in Marion.