Cindy Brantmeier

Cindy Brantmeier is Professor of Applied Linguistics with a primary appointment in Global Studies at Washington University in St. Louis. She serves as Director of Applied Linguistics, overseeing the interdisciplinary PhD program and undergraduate minor. Her academic affiliations include courtesy appointments in the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures and the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences. As Faculty Scholar at the Institute for Public Health and Faculty Fellow for International Research with Human Subjects in the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research, she bridges academic research with practical healthcare applications.

Dr. Brantmeier's research spans interdisciplinary domains connecting applied linguistics, social psychology, and public health. Her work focuses on language acquisition, second language reading across cultures, health literacy, and linguistic diversity in healthcare settings. She has conducted extensive research on self-assessment methodologies, reading strategies, and individual learner differences. Her laboratory research connects to practical applications with refugee and immigrant communities in St. Louis, particularly examining communication challenges in healthcare contexts for linguistically diverse populations.

Her publications reveal a strong emphasis on cross-cultural language research, with significant focus on Chinese EFL learners and Spanish language acquisition. The research demonstrates consistent exploration of how working memory, self-assessment, and individual differences impact second language reading comprehension. Recent work increasingly addresses healthcare communication challenges during the pandemic, showing evolution from theoretical language acquisition research toward practical public health applications.

• Washington University's 2012 Emerson Excellence in Teaching Award
• Five-time winner of outstanding graduate student mentoring award
• 2019 Merle E Simmons Distinguished Alumna (Indiana University)
• Distinguished Visiting Professor at Northeast Normal University, China (2016-2021)
• Keynote speaker at UNESCO International Conference on Literacy

Professor Brantmeier has secured research funding from diverse sources including the US State Department, National Strategic Language Initiative, Africa Initiative Pilot Grant Program, Educational Testing Service, and American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages. She has mentored numerous graduate students, with recent PhD graduates securing tenure-track positions at prestigious institutions including the United States Air Force Academy and the Defense Language Institute. As Director of the Language Research Laboratory, she leads interdisciplinary research teams examining language use in healthcare settings and second language acquisition processes.

Her international engagement includes delivering plenary addresses across five continents and serving as Co-Editor of Reading in a Foreign Language journal. Current initiatives focus on patient-provider communication in obstetrics and gynecology, funded by the Maimonides Research and Development Foundation, demonstrating continued relevance of her work to critical healthcare communication challenges.