Speech Pathology Was My Calling
As odd as it might sound, I have known that I wanted to be a Speech Pathologist since I was in the 6th grade. My youngest cousin was receiving speech therapy at a local agency and I would go with my aunt to observe her therapy session. I found that the ability to help someone so profoundly and make a direct impact on their life, spoke to me. I chose to pursue my professional path at the State University of New York at Geneseo and Syracuse University, and realized that my love of speech pathology fell more on the medical side of the profession. Over the course of my career, my clinical passion has focused on working with children and adults who have feeding and swallowing deficits (i.e.,dysphagia) and designing patient-specific, evidence-based intervention programs for them.
I was the Speech Pathology supervisor at Rochester Regional Health - Unity Hospital in Rochester, New York for 22 years. I was known as a dedicated and effective leader who successfully grew the department by critically analyzing where the gaps are in our clinical practice patterns and daring to be innovative to establish new standards of care. I have served as an adjunct professor at SUNY Geneseo, Nazareth University and Stony Brook University. I am an energetic and innovative educator and deeply invested in my graduate-level students pursuit of knowledge in the subject matters of adult and pediatric feeding and swallowing disorders as well as medical Speech Pathology. I have also had the great fortune to present at the local, state, regional and national level. I truly enjoy meeting and speaking with colleagues of various professions to learn how we can collaborate with one another to best serve our communities and those who need our help.
I am proud to be the only board-certified specialist in swallowing and swallowing disorders as well as the only Doctor of Speech Pathology in the Western New York region. I completed my Clinical Doctorate of Speech Pathology at Northwestern University in 2022, because of a passion for the subject and continued learning. With a passion for implementation science, I am eager to move the profession forward by marrying evidence-based quality improvement initiatives with research. And, I am currently pursuing advanced learning in the area of orofacial myofunctional therapy (OMT) as a modality to treat patients with functional swallowing disorders.
After completing my Doctorate degree, I realized that I wanted to have a greater impact on my community. I knew that there was a shortage of qualified providers in my area that solely worked with individuals who were experiencing feeding and swallowing disorders across the lifespan, let alone in the private practice arena. In addition, there was only one provider in the surrounding area who could offer mobile Fiberoptic Endoscopic Evaluation of Swallowing (FEES) studies to residents in health-care associated facilities. This was a gap that needed to be filled, and I knew that I am the clinician to fill it.
It would be my honor to work with you, your loved one, your family, your staff or your community to ensure that the mealtime experience is one of great pleasure and enjoyment.
Speaking Engagements & Consultations
In addition to patient care, I am also available for professional consultation and keynote speaking. To learn more about how I can help you with your own practice click below.
