Speak Out
August 2014
13
Debra has authored more than 18 refereed journal papers,
several chapters, regular newsletters and less formal writings.
She has presented at international and national conferences.
Debra has worked in Melbourne hospitals for more than 25
years. She has had extensive clinical practice in neurological
communication disorders and head and neck cancer areas.
She has also developed a keen interest in cognitive decline
disorders and worked in a multidisciplinary diagnostic clinic as
the sole speech pathologist for three years.
Debra has also established a busy private speech pathology
practice which provides high quality voice evaluation and
treatment services to people with dysphonia of various
aetiologies. Debra is a founding member of a multidisciplinary
diagnostic practice where she works closely in a team with
otolaryngologists, physiotherapists and other specialist
speech pathologists. Debra constantly seeks to extend
her understanding of the complex task of voice production
from everyday use to the demanding voice requirements of
professional vocal performance.
Debra has also pioneered vocal health promotion and risk
mitigation in the performance medicine field. She provides
prevention, vocal health education and risk management
services to theatre and production companies and their
performers as well as management and remediation of vocal
injuries.
Debra was awarded Fellowship in recognition of her
outstanding clinical work, her dedication to the field,
her contribution to the Association in the establishment,
clarification and maintenance of high professional standards
and professional development events and her ongoing
research and teaching work.
Professor Leanne Togher
Professor Leanne Togher is a world
renowned expert in the field of
communication disorders following
acquired brain injury. Her recent
appointment to the Board of Governors of
the International Brain Injury Association
(IBIA) is testament to 28 years of excellence in research,
teaching and clinical practice in this field.
Leanne has demonstrated a commitment to innovative
research in communication disorders and the development
of training for people with traumatic brain injury, their families,
community agencies and health professionals.
Over the past 28 years Leanne has made a sustained and
outstanding contribution to Speech Pathology Australia.
She has held the role of media spokesperson for Traumatic
Brain Injury since 1999, served as a National Tour Speaker
and contributed to the coordination of the National Speech
Pathology Australia Conference. Leanne’s contribution to
the speech pathology profession and the Association was
recognised in 2011 when she was awarded the Elinor Wray
Award for Outstanding Achievement to Speech Pathology.
To date Leanne has been awarded grants totalling
$12,116,502. Her publications include four books, 15 technical
manuals/training programs, 19 book chapters, and over 150
peer-reviewed journal articles.
In 2012, Leanne launched a new treatment resource aimed at
improving everyday communication for people with brain injury
and their families, called TBI Express. This treatment was
proven as part of an NHMRC-funded clinical trial and is now
available for clinicians, people with brain injury, their families,
friends and carers.
Leanne provides ongoing supervision of higher degree
students, and many of her students have been recipients of
NHMRC and APA research grants. She has also been an
editorial board member or a reviewer of articles for a number
of national and international journals.
Leanne has achieved much over the spectrum of the
profession’s activities. She has excelled in research but has
a strong underpinning of clinical practice that informs her
research and her service.
Professor Elizabeth Ward
Professor Elizabeth Ward is currently
the Professor and Director of the Centre
for Functioning and Health Research
within Queensland Health and a conjoint
Professor within the School of Health and
Rehabilitation Sciences, The University
of Queensland. This position is an initiative co-funded by
Queensland Health and the University which has been
designed to facilitate quality clinical health research and build
research capacity within Queensland Health.
Elizabeth supervises a large group of research higher degree
students and continues to lecture the Dysphagia course
within the Division of Speech Pathology at The University of
Queensland. She has received numerous teaching awards.
Elizabeth’s research is primarily clinically based, and aims to
enhance the research base regarding clinical populations,
the assessment and treatment techniques used and new
models of care. Her research areas include telehealth service
delivery models, and speech and swallowing disorders in a
range of clinical populations including those who have had
head and neck cancers, those requiring critical care (including
tracheostomy management) and those with degenerative
disorders.
Elizabeth has published more than 160 peer reviewed journal
publications, 29 book chapters as well as two academic text
books. Her textbook,
Head and Neck Cancer: Treatment
Rehabilitation and Outcomes
is recognised internationally as
the leading textbook in the Head and Neck rehabilitation field.
Elizabeth has presented multiple invited speaker presentations
and workshops across Australia as well as internationally in
New Zealand, Hong Kong, China, Taiwan, England, USA, the
Netherlands, Germany, Sweden and Switzerland, reflecting the
international regard for her research and clinical expertise.
