Speak Out August 2017

Worldwide implications for stuttering research

UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE RESEARCHER AND LECTURER DR ELAINA KEFALIANOS IS ONE OF THREE CHIEF INVESTIGATORS ON A $2.4 MILLION RESEARCH PROJECT THAT WILL HAVE IMPLICATIONS WORLDWIDE FOR SPEECH PATHOLOGY CLINICIANS AND BENEFITS FOR CHILDREN WHO STUTTER.

THE PROJECT TITLED the Effective Stuttering Treatment Project will compare the most efficacious direct and indirect treatments for pre-school children. The grant was funded by the Research Council of Norway under the Better Health and Quality of Life scheme. Funding for the project was released recently, and the research will be conducted over five years, contributing significantly to the management and treatment of children who stutter. “I think the EST-Project stands to make an important contribution to management of preschool children who stutter worldwide. Approaches to stuttering intervention vary around the world, in part because there is currently a paucity of evidence comparing available interventions,” said Elaina. “The EST-Project aims to identify the most effective stuttering intervention for preschool children. In turn, this will ensure more children receive the best possible treatment during the earliest years of the disorder and subsequently avoid the longer term mental health and social consequences that people who stutter can experience.” The other chief investigators on the grant are Associate Professor Kari-Anne Bottegaard Naess, University of Oslo and Professor Charles Hulme, University College London. Currently Elaina is Lead of Teaching for the Master of Speech Pathology at the University of Melbourne, Director of the University of Melbourne Stuttering Clinic, and an Honorary Fellow of the Murdoch Childrens Research Institute. Elaina has been collaborating with Associate Professor Naess for the past four years. During Associate Professor Naess’ most recent visit to Melbourne, Elaina discussed the prospect of conducting a treatment trial in Norway with her. As there are currently no guidelines in Norway to inform management of preschool children who stutter, the EST-Project presented as an opportunity to address this. “I am really excited about this project. Since graduating as a speech pathologist, I have dedicated my career to working in the field of stuttering. This project is a wonderful opportunity for me to make a substantial contribution to the evidence-base regarding best practice for preschool children who stutter while also enhancing my international collaborations.” Currently the team is seeking applications for a PhD student to work on the project. Elaina will supervise the PhD student together with the other chief investigators. “The PhD student role is a critical one within the project as they will be responsible for delivering both of the interventions to participants.” “Working at the University of Melbourne, and MCRI I’ve constantly been surrounded by excellence. Everybody is so motivated and so driven; it’s easy to stay motivated when you are surrounded by people like that.” “Particularly as an early career academic, I think it is essential to have mentors. Working in research especially is challenging as

Dr Elaina Kefalianos

it is such a competitive environment. Having a few mentors (for support and guidance) is absolutely crucial.” “My immediate career goals are focused on teaching and research. From a teaching perspective, one of my primary aims is to create a passion in my Masters students so that they are enthusiastic and keen to work in the field of stuttering. I get great satisfaction from watching my students work with people who stutter, doing a great job and enjoying it! From a research perspective, I am committed to focusing on stuttering, but the projects I am involved in are quite diverse in this field. One of the most fascinating areas of my research is trying to understand why some children stutter and others don’t and also to understand why some children recover from stuttering while for others it becomes a chronic condition.” Elaina got the news in late 2016 that the application had been successful. “Given the competitiveness of the funding scheme I wasn’t expecting the application to be funded. When my colleagues told me that our project had been funded, and that we had received the full amount of funding requested, I was ecstatic. It was a very special moment in my research career that I will never forget.” Elaina attributes a couple of factors that she believes led to the success of the grant application. “Firstly, this research will directly benefit the children of Norway. Because there are currently no clinical guidelines in Norway informing the management of children who stutter, it is possible that some children are either receiving ineffective treatment or no

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August 2017 www.speechpathologyaustralia.org.au

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