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ORCID ID: 0000-0001-9133-9023
Jane McCormack is Associate Professor and Head of Discipline of Speech Pathology at ACU. She is a certified practising member of Speech Pathology Australia and has worked in community health clinics, schools, early intervention settings and brain injury rehabilitation services with children who have speech, language and communication needs. Associate Professor McCormack conducts research into the life experiences of children with speech and language difficulties and their families, the application of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF; WHO, 2001) in speech pathology, collaborative practice and service delivery.
Associate Professor Erin Conway's research aims to increase appropriate access to evidence-based communication support for people with dementia, and those that live and work with them. This includes projects that investigate current speech pathology practice and access for people with dementia in the community and in aged care, and projects that aim to explore approaches to dementia and aged care to promote quality communication, quality care and quality of life. Erin has recognised expertise in research on communication training for carers of people with dementia. A/Prof Conway is also interested in cognition and language processing in healthy ageing and acquired neurological disorders (eg. Primary progressive aphasia, stroke, Parkinson's Disease, Alzheimer's Disease).
ORCID ID: 0000-0002-2033-7722
Diane Jacobs is an Associate Professor of Speech Pathology and a certified practicing speech pathologist with a background in psychology.
Diane's clinical work was predominantly within the education and mental health sectors. Her PhD research was in the areas of language, literacy, and behaviour for autistic children in the early years of school compared with peers with language and literacy concerns.
More recently Diane's research has been in the learning and teaching space such as the preparedness of education and speech pathology students to work with particular populations upon graduation. She also has an interest in curriculum co-design and neuro-affirming practice.
ORCID ID: 0000-0003-4324-522X
Dr Amanda Brignell is a senior lecturer at ACU with extensive clinical experience as speech pathologist. She has a Bachelor of Applied Science (University of Sydney), Master of Public Health (University of New South Wales) and a PhD (University of Melbourne). Her research has primarily focused on the predictors and trajectories of language in neurodevelopmental conditions such as autism, including children who are minimally verbal. She has also published on speech and language phenotype in rare genetic syndromes including NRXN1 deletion and Phelan-McDermid syndrome. Dr Brignell has expertise in systematic review methods. Amanda has held Hugh Rogers, Monash Health and Monash University research fellowships.
ORCID ID: 0000-0002-3873-7468
Scopus: 8901247100
Sharon Crosbie is a senior lecturer in speech pathology at the Australian Catholic University in Brisbane. She is a certified practicing speech pathologist and works in education to promote effective speech, language, and communication skills for all children. Sharon's research is clinically driven to contribute to the evidence on how to assess and provide effective intervention for children with communication difficulties. Sharon is one of the authors of the Diagnostic Evaluation of Articulation and Phonology (DEAP) a widely used speech pathology clinical assessment for children with speech sound disorders.
Dr Michelle Donaghy is a certified practising speech pathologist, with a background in education. She has worked in a variety of paediatric and adult settings as a clinician. As a researcher, Dr Donaghy has presented at conferences locally and overseas, with a particular focus on treatment processes in the early intervention of stuttering. She has recently broadened her research into the area of speech intelligibility and the impact of accent on professional and academic communication.
Dr Kerry Ttofari Eecen is a senior lecturer in Speech Pathology at Australian Catholic University. Kerry's research focuses on children's speech development, classification of speech sound disorders, assessment and diagnosis of communication difficulties, and scholarship of learning and teaching. Kerry's editorial experience includes guest co-editor of the International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, Conference Proceedings (2022-2023) and co-editor of the Journal of Clinical Practice in Speech-Language Pathology (2011-2012). Kerry was the recipient of an NHMRC Public Health Scholarship (2006 to 2009) and a Trainee Research Scholarship from the Murdoch Children's Research Institute (2005) during her PhD studies. Kerry has supervised a number of Honours students to completion, most of which have resulted in peer reviewed publications. Kerry coordinates the ACU Speech Pathology Speed Sessions program, a free online professional development platform disseminated to community speech pathologists, which was awarded an ACU Vice-Chancellor's Staff Excellence Award in 2022.
ORCID: 0000-0001-6762-7762
Dr Nicole Free is a lecturer at ACU and practices as a speech pathologist in the area of laryngology in both public and private settings in Melbourne. Nicole has worked extensively in acute medical and laryngology settings in Australia, the UK and the USA. Her PhD research investigated the impact of vocal load and voice exercise in patients with phonotraumatic vocal fold lesions, and her current areas of clinical and research interest include working with singers, with patients with neurogenic voice disorders, and with voice in relation to gender identity.
Dr Lauryn Stewart is a speech pathologist, researcher and lecturer at ACU with research interests and clinical experience focusing on adult communication and swallowing. Dr Stewart's research interests include: neurological conditions, speech and language, as well as voice disorders. She also has an interest in individual's lived experiences.
Megan's 'real-world' academic teaching and research stemmed from her passion for working within the field of neurorehabilitation as a senior clinician. She has adopted novel approaches to translational aphasia research including collaborations with multi-national speech pathologists and the use of online technologies, therefore, reflecting a movement towards the globalisation of healthcare and the potential for far reaching improvements in aphasia services. Her first ever publication attracted a high online attention score (99th percentile) and has been shared across seven countries. Megan is currently co-leading the implementation of aphasia camps in Australia following a successful community grant on behalf of the Australian Aphasia Association. She has engaged in multi-national research and continues to collaborate with the Queensland Aphasia Research Centre and the Centre for Research Excellence in Aphasia Recovery and Rehabilitation. Megan has been invited to present her research and community engagement activities at international conferences, student seminars and clinical forums. She also currently provides supervision to students completing their master's degree and degree with honours at the Australian Catholic University.
ORCID ID: 0000-0002-2596-0476
Wendy Pearce is an Honorary Fellow of Australian Catholic University. Previously, from 2014 to 2021, she was Associate Professor of Speech Pathology at ACU in Sydney. She has significant clinical expertise in childhood speech and language disorders. Her research publications have largely focused on diagnostic and cultural perspectives related to language development and disorder, and perspectives on service delivery approaches for children with communication disorders, particularly in schools and early childhood settings. She has a strong interest and experience in the descriptive, diagnostic and psychometric aspects of both standardised and naturalistic language assessment methods including language sample analysis, oral narrative and pragmatics.
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