Audiology and Speech Pathology

While we had to close most of our clinics, we took the decision to keep our Emergency Hearing Aid Clinic open. It’s especially hard for those who have hearing difficulties at this time. We have been managing our clients as best as we can. Our Audiology clinic continues to provide an emergency service to the community for their hearing rehabilitation needs – primarily through telehealth contact and assistance with hearing aids and other devices using delivery and courier options available. With social isolation restrictions in place and most of our clients over 60, we had to think of a new system of operation.

The Melbourne School of Health Sciences is committed to making a meaningful contribution to the COVID-19 pandemic and assisting those affected. While precautions can help 'flatten the curve,' students can also help to 'raise the line' of health care capacity by applying for a number of paid 'SASH roles' that Victoria’s health services are establishing.

The Department of Audiology and Speech Pathology is proud to present the very first Australasian Mobile FEES Symposium on the 29th of October 2020. Tickets are available now.

Promising new research from our Department of Audiology and Speech Pathology has found that the use of hearing aids may delay cognitive decline in older adults and even improve brain function. This research is a leading step from researchers at the University of Melbourne in promoting health across the lifespan.

Lucy Shiels has recently accepted a position as a Clinical Audiologist Intern at the School of Health Science’s Department of Speech Pathology & Audiology. She is enjoying pushing boundaries working in groundbreaking research at the Autism Listening Clinic and hopes to pursue a career in auditory processing.

How many times have you made a “communicative act” today? Did you order a coffee from your local barista? Text a loved one? Call someone on the phone? How confidently can you communicate?

Staff and students from our Speech Pathology clinic take a light-hearted look at how the profession is popularly perceived.

Jessica Boyce has been awarded the Arnold Huddart Medal at the recent Craniofacial Society of Great Britain and Ireland Annual Scientific Conference

Dr Elaina Kefalianos, Lead of Teaching for the Master of Speech Pathology, is a chief investigator on a $2.4 million project funded for 5-years by the Norwegian Research Council’s Better Health and Quality of Life program. The Effective Stuttering Treatment project is an international collaboration between experts from Norway, Australia, the UK and USA that will identify the most efficacious stuttering treatment for preschool children worldwide.

Dr Bryony Nayagam, Senior Research Fellow at the Department of Audiology & Speech Pathology, is an Associate Investigator at Stem Cells Australia.

Congratulations to Associate Professor Adam Vogel from the Department of Audiology and Speech Pathology on his latest grant success.

The ADOS-2 is considered to be the gold-standard behavioural assessment for ASD. The course is run by Dr Cherie Green, who has experience using the ADOS-2 in both clinical and research settings.

Congratulations to Kerrie Plant and Agnes Au who have both now qualified for the doctorates at the University of Melbourne.

On July 14th 2016, the Department of Audiology and Speech Pathology formally launched The University of Melbourne Speech Pathology Alumni (UMSPA). The UMSPA vision is to create a lifelong and worldwide community of alumni through meaningful engagement, in order to increase awareness, pride, participation and involvement in the Speech Pathology program at The University of Melbourne.

In April, Dr Elaina Kefalianos was invited to visit the University of Oslo in Norway by two speech pathologists, Associate Professor Kari-Anne B. Naess and Ms Linn Stokke Guttormsen.

Director of Speech Pathology, Associate Professor Angela Morgan, is an invited speaker at the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in the US next week as part of a week long teaching course on the neurobiology of language.

Vestibular Migraine (VM) is a variation of migraine and one of the most common patient presentations to ENT surgeons, Neurologists, and Neuro-Otologists. Recent research, as well as anecdotal findings suggest that migraine is categorized by physicians as a challenging pathology due to psychological impacts, low level or variable response to medication, and the significant level of impairment experienced by patients. Neuro-biological attributes of migraine are considered to be another reason behind this challenge at least for migraine only, however, there is no study that has looked into the VM. VM could be as challenging as migraine but for other reasons.

Associate Professor Angela Morgan, Director of Speech Pathology, has been awarded an NHMRC Practitioner Fellowship to advance the diagnosis, prognosis and management of childhood speech and language disorders.

Dr Julia Sarant's research into the academic benefits of double cochlear implants for children was reported on Channel 9 News and in the Herald Sun.