After completing BA(Hons) in Linguistics and Language Pathology at Reading University and a PhD in Speech and Language Therapy at Newcastle University, I joined Strathclyde University in 1996 as a member of the Speech and Language Therapy team. My research primarily focuses on motor speech disorders, and I adopt a strong interdisciplinary approach to my work, collaborating with engineers, computer scientists, and psychologists as well as NHS practitioners from neurology, ENT and across the Allied Health Professions. My work focuses on questions that have direct impact on patient management and wellbeing, including the development of novel analysis approaches based on advances in the theoretical field, trialling of new clinical techniques, and development of telehealth systems.

In addition to my research and teaching work, I have held a number of leadership positions within the university, most recently Vice-Dean for Research and Knowledge Exchange for the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences (2013 – 2017), and currently Deputy Associate Principal for Research and Knowledge Exchange for the University.

My current role covers a range of activities to support staff in contributing to the University’s research targets, in close collaboration with colleagues in our Research & KE Services Department. This includes maximising support for grant proposals, particularly for fellowship and research council applications, as well as visibility of our research outputs. Furthermore, I am responsible for the coordination of the University’s international development activity to support our commitment to be a leading international technological university that is also socially progressive.

• Communication disorders
• Acoustic speech analysis
• Prosody
• Motor speech disorders

My teaching expertise covers clinical linguistics as well as SLT related topics for the BSc in Speech and Language Pathology. This includes pragmatics, semantics, grammar, bilingualism and instrumental speech analysis, motor speech and other adult acquired communication disorders.

Current and past external educational responsibilities include various external examiner positions, currently with Manchester University, and being a member of course accreditation panels at international level. I have also held a number of visiting lecturer posts, such as in Malta or Portugal. I furthermore represented RCSLT in the Education committee of CPLOL (Comité Permanent de Liaison des Orthophonistes / Logopèdes de l'Union Européenne) from 2008 and held the position of Vice President of this committee from 2009 to 2011.

My research mainly focuses on motor speech disorders. This includes the application of instrumental techniques to diagnosis and treatment, the investigation of prosodic difficulties and the evaluation of assessment and treatment techniques for these disorders.
Furthermore, I am interested in the nature of other speech problems, such as cleft palate speech, prosodic disturbances across a range of disorders, including autism, as well as the relationship between speech perception and production, and cognition and speech and language skills in degenerative disorders. Recent work also extends to evaluating outcome measures for speech and language therapy, as well as investigations of service delivery models.

I trained as a speech and language therapist at Reading University (BA Hons in Linguistics and Language Pathology) and then moved to Newcastle upon Tyne to do my PhD on acoustic phonetic analysis in dysarthria. I practised briefly as a speech and language therapist in North Wales before moving to Strathclyde University in 1996.