Keynote presenter
Prof Maggie-Lee Huckabee is Director of the University of Canterbury Rose Centre for Stroke Recovery and Research and Distinguished Professor in the Department of Psychology, Speech and Hearing in Christchurch, New Zealand. Her key research interests focus on the complexities of behaviorally-driven neural adaptation and biomechanical change leading to swallowing recovery. She has a particular interest in the development of bioengineering applications to facilitate diagnostic and therapeutic specificity. In 2021, she was honoured as recipient of the Royal Society of New Zealand MacDiarmid Medal, in recognition of her commitment to translational research. Prof Huckabee is committed to translational science to move research discoveries into routine clinical practice. She is the recent founder of Swallowing Technologies Ltd, a commercial enterprise to translate laboratory-developed technology to clinical care. She is well-known as a clinical teacher and is an invited speaker by health systems worldwide to provide clinical training, particularly in rehabilitation practices.
Andrew Whitehouse is the Angela Wright Bennett Professor of Autism Research at the Telethon Kids Institute and The University of Western Australia, and Research Strategy Director of Autism CRC. At the Telethon Kids Institute, he leads a network of clinical centres (called CliniKids) for children with neurodevelopmental differences that embeds clinical trials within everyday community practice. Andrew’s working life has spanned clinical, science and policy work. He initially worked as a practicing speech pathologist, before transitioning into a research career, where he has published over 300 journal articles, clinical assessments and books, and attracted over $60 million in research grants. He has also held numerous policy roles, including chairing the committees that generated Australia’s clinical guideline for autism clinical practice, and being a member of the National School Resourcing Board. Andrew has been awarded a Eureka Prize for his research, and in 2023, he was a Western Australian of the Year award winner.
Elizabeth Usher Memorial Lecturer
Professor Beth Armstrong is Director of the University Department of Rural Health South West at Edith Cowan University in Bunbury, Western Australia. She leads a national multidisciplinary team of Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander and non-Aboriginal researchers focused on improving service delivery and quality of life for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people after traumatic brain injury and stroke. Her research is based on collaborative community and health service provider partnerships, with the voice of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people with brain injury at the centre. Combined with her work in aphasia, Beth has produced 138 journal publications and attracted over $9m in competitive grant funding. She established speech pathology programs in NSW and WA and was inaugural editor of Advances in Speech Pathology – now the International Journal of Speech Language Pathology. She is a Foundation Member of the Speech Pathology Australia Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Advisory Committee.
Conference home
For any enquires or further information regarding the Speech Pathology Australia 2024 Conference, please reach out to us at [email protected]. Our dedicated SPA Conference and Events Team will be delighted to assist you.