Conference Faculty

Voice Evaluation and Treatment: Improving Outcomes for Children and Adults

August 5–17, 2020 | Online Conference

Katherine (Kittie) Verdolini Abbott, PhD, CCC-SLP, is a professor in Communications Sciences & Disorders at the University of Delaware, with a focus on voice and voice disorders. Her interests stem from her history as a vocal performer, singer, and actor. Her essential work has involved research in hydration, biomechanics, physiology, and emotions in voice. Her research interests have spanned professional and other adult voice users and, more recently, pediatric voice. Work in her voice lab has been supported by funding from the National Institutes of Health since 1997.

Financial Disclosures:

• Salary from University of Delaware
• Honoraria for seminars on pediatric voice therapy
• Developer of the “Adventures In Voice” treatment method for children
• Financial compensation from ASHA for this presentation 
  

Nonfinancial Disclosures:

• No nonfinancial relationships to disclose

Julie Barkmeier-Kraemer, PhD, CCC-SLP, is a Professor in the Division of Otolaryngology, Clinic Director for the Voice Disorders Center, and Adjunct Faculty to the Communication Sciences and Disorders Department at the University of Utah. She has 30 years of clinical and basic/clinical research experience with neurological voice disorders including unilateral vocal fold paralysis, spasmodic dysphonia, and vocal tremor. Barkmeier-Kraemer was involved in the development of the Consensus Auditory-Perceptual Evaluation of Voice (CAPE-V) and recommended standards for the Instrumental Voice Assessment Protocol (IVAP) published in the AJSLP. She is currently funded by the NIH to conduct research investigating the physiologic correlates of vocal tremor in those with essential tremor as well as the role of the vascular system in onset of idiopathic unilateral vocal fold paralysis. She was awarded ASHA Fellow in 2011 and currently serves as the Editor-in-Chief for the AJSLP, and as a Board Member for the ASHFoundation and the American Board of Voice and Upper Airway Disorders.

Financial Disclosures:

• Financial compensation from ASHA for this presentation 

Nonfinancial Disclosures:

• ASHA member
• Member of consensus group that developed the CAPE-V and Instrumental Voice Assessment Protocols
• Member of research team contributing toward data collection for the Aging Voice Index
• Member of ASHA SIG 3

Tanya Eadie, PhD, CCC-SLP, is a professor in the Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences and adjunct professor in Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery at the University of Washington in Seattle. She is an ASHA Fellow and past editor of the Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research (speech section), with more than 60 peer reviewed publications. Her research is funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and is focused on auditory-perceptual and patient-reported outcomes related to speech, voice, and communication in patients with voice and speech disorders as well as head and neck cancer.

Financial Disclosures:

• Presented a similar invited presentation at 2019 ASHA Convention, for which Convention registration was waived  
  
• Financial compensation from ASHA for this presentation 

Nonfinancial Disclosures:

• No nonfinancial relationships to disclose

Hagar Feinstein is an Israeli SLP. Currently, she is a PhD student in Communication Sciences & Disorders at the University of Delaware. Her doctoral adviser is Katherine Verdolini Abbott. She is interested in pediatric voice and, specifically, voice as a major component of communication. Her main interest is in the connection between language and cognitive development and voice, and the effect of these factors on voice disorders and voice treatment in young children. In addition to treating children with voice disorders, Feinstein has also treated children with different types of developmental difficulties, including language impairments, childhood apraxia of speech, speech disorders, stuttering, and autism spectrum disorder. She is dedicated to the proposition that as clinicians we should treat based on cutting-edge knowledge, and she aspires to contribute to the evolution of pediatric voice treatment to help children and their families.

Financial Disclosures:

• Salaried research assistant, working with Dr. Verdolini Abbott, at the University of Delaware
• Financial compensation from ASHA for this presentation to be paid directly to the voice lab at the University of Delaware

Nonfinancial Disclosures:

• No nonfinancial relationships to disclose

Edie R. Hapner, PhD, CCC-SLP, is a licensed speech-language pathologist with more than 35 years of experience in the treatment of speech, voice, and swallowing disorders. She earned her doctoral degree in voice science and exercise science from Vanderbilt University in 2003. She is a Professor in the Department of Otolaryngology, Co-Director of the UAB Voice Center, and Director of Otolaryngology Speech and Hearing Services at the University of Alabama, Birmingham. Hapner has presented hundreds of lectures, workshops, and seminars on voice and voice disorders and authored more than 35 published articles on voice and voice disorders. She is the co-editor of Voice Disorders Clinical Case Studies, now in its 5th edition, authored multiple book chapters, and published a competency-based program for flexible endoscopic evaluation of swallowing (FEES). Her research interests are aging voice, adherence to voice therapy, and dystonia. Hapner has served on ASHA's Board of Directors and as coordinator of ASHA SIG 3, and is the upcoming co-chair of the ASHA 2020 Convention. In 2018, she received ASHA Fellow, and became an Associate Fellow in the American Laryngological Association and Distinguished Fellow in the National Academy of Practice.

Financial Disclosures:

• Author royalties from Plural Publications
• Consultant and presenter fees from MedBridge Inc.
• Financial compensation from ASHA for this presentation

Nonfinancial Disclosures:

• Co-chair of the ASHA 2020 Convention

Sandy Hirsch, MS, CCC-SLP, is an international expert in transgender voice and communication. She has co-edited and authored three editions of the Plural Publishing textbook on voice and communication training for transgender and GNC clients. She teaches an annual 3-day workshop for voice clinicians interested in working with gender diverse people. Her work has been featured in print, television, and radio media, as well as Perspectives of the ASHA Special Interest Groups. Hirsch is a regular presenter at Esprit and Gender Odyssey, and has presented at ASHA, CPATH, the Voice Foundation Symposium, Northwest Voice Foundation, VASTA, Fall Voice, and the Art and Science of Performing Voice. She has lectured at the University of Washington, WWU, and SUNY New Paltz. In addition to her area of focus, Hirsch’s practice, Give Voice, serves a wide range of voice and communication areas, including training for public speakers, those preparing for interviews and job promotion, and people who speak English as a second language. A marriage of theater, singing, clinical voice expertise, and languages gives Hirsch a rich perspective on communication training as well as a deep understanding of diverse cultures and personalities.

Financial Disclosures:

• Royalties from Plural Publishing
• Speaker fees for an annual 3-day workshop taught with Leah Helou, PhD, and Christie Block, MA, CCC-SLP
• Honoraria for some guest lectures
• Financial compensation from ASHA for this presentation

Nonfinancial Disclosures:

• Member of WPATH and Ingersoll Gender Center Consult Group
• Volunteer presenter at the Northwest Voice Foundation, WWU and UW

Rita Patel, PhD, CCC-SLP, is an associate professor in the Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences at Indiana University. Prior to starting her position at Indiana University, she was an assistant professor and director of the Voice & Swallow Clinic at the University of Kentucky for 4 years. Her areas of research and clinical interests include voice and voice disorders across the life span. Patel has been awarded seven extramural grants from national agencies, including ASHA and NIH, and four intramural grants. She served as a chair of ASHA’s Special Interest Group 3 (Voice and Voice Disorders) from 2015–2017. Currently, Patel serves as a member of the Voice Foundation’s Advisory Board, Editorial Board Member of the Journal of Voice, and Editor for the Voice Topic at the American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology. She also serves as a reviewer for numerous journals in the fields of laryngology and speech-language pathology and as a grant reviewer for the NIH study section, the Voice Foundation, and American Speech-Language-Hearing Foundation.

Financial Disclosures (apply to both sessions):

• Salary from Indiana University
• Financial compensation from ASHA for these presentations

Nonfinancial Disclosures (apply to both sessions):

• ASHA member
• Co-chair of the ASHA Ad Hoc Committee on Developing Instrumental Voice Assessment Protocols
• Author of several articles on the topic, which will be mentioned in the presentations

Brian E. Petty, MA, CCC-SLP, holds a Bachelor of Music in voice performance from Oklahoma State University as well as dual Master of Arts degrees in vocal pedagogy and in speech and hearing science, both from The Ohio State University. He is in clinical practice at the Emory Voice Center in Atlanta and has specialized in disorders of the professional and singing voice for 20 years. He is a past coordinator for ASHA Special Interest Group 3 (Voice and Voice Disorders) and is a frequent national lecturer on the clinical management of voice and upper airway disorders.

Financial Disclosures:

• Employed by the Emory Voice Center
• Financial compensation from ASHA for this presentation

Nonfinancial Disclosures:

• No nonfinancial relationships to disclose

Kristine Tanner, PhD, CCC-SLP, is an associate professor in the Department of Communication Disorders at Brigham Young University. She holds adjunct appointments in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders and the Division of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery at The University of Utah. She consults at the Voice Disorders Center in Salt Lake City. Tanner provides care for patients with a variety of voice problems and specializes in care of the professional voice. Her research interests include laryngeal and upper airway environmental irritants, hydration regulation, and voice disorder risk factors. Her current projects include asthma inhaler-related voice disorders and the effects of subglottic stenosis on voice function, both funded by the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, National Institutes of Health. Her teaching interests include voice and airway disorders, speech and voice anatomy and physiology, and swallowing function. She is also a classically trained lyric soprano.  

Financial Disclosures (apply to both sessions):

• NIDCD/NIH funding 
• Financial compensation from ASHA for these presentations 

Nonfinancial Disclosures (apply to both sessions):

• ASHA member

Shannon M. Theis, PhD, CCC-SLP, is an assistant professor in the Department of Communication Disorders and Sciences at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago. Theis earned her PhD from the University of Wisconsin–Madison and has specialized in caring for children with craniofacial anomalies/cleft lip and palate, feeding/swallowing difficulties, and pediatric voice/resonance and upper airway disorders for nearly 20 years. She has advanced training in stroboscopy, pediatric FEES (fiberoptic endoscopic evaluation of swallowing), videofluoroscopic swallow studies, and nasopharyngoscopy. Theis is an active clinical researcher and presenter and has published several articles related to pediatric voice and airway disorders. Her research interests include pediatric outcomes and health-related quality of life.

Financial Disclosures:

• Financial compensation from ASHA for this presentation
• Employed by Rush University Medical Center, Department of Communication Disorders and Sciences  

Nonfinancial Disclosures:

• No nonfinancial relationships to disclose

Jarrad H. Van Stan, PhD, CCC-SLP, is a clinical researcher, and his research program focuses on improving clinical assessment and treatment of voice disorders through (1) developing ambulatory voice monitoring and biofeedback technology, (2) the use/testing of the Rehabilitation Treatment Specification System, and (3) application of principles and techniques from the motor control field.

Financial Disclosures:

• Financial compensation from ASHA for this presentation
• Grants from the National Institutes of Health/National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders
• Contract from Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute 

Nonfinancial Disclosures:

• One of multiple copyright holders for the Manual for Rehabilitation Treatment Specification
• Member and Task Force Chair of the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine's Networking Group for Rehabilitation Treatment Specification