Videofluoroscopic evaluations of swallowing (VFSS) are a gold standard approach for the instrumental assessment of swallowing. VFSS can be used to guide, identify, and define swallowing disorders and potential management approaches. However, many clinicians and patients do not have access to VFSS. The purpose of this session is to:

• Discuss innovative approaches for SLPs to promote and implement VFSS in their facilities.

• Discuss updates and innovations in the implementation of VFSS measurement including BaByVFSSImP and DIGEST.

• List key considerations for VFSS innovation in addressing health disparities.

Carly Barbon, PhD

Dr. Carly Barbon is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Head and Neck Surgery at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. She is a clinician-scientist, practicing as a speech language pathologist for over 10 years with specialty in oncology and holds a Doctorate Degree in Rehabilitation Sciences. Dr. Barbon’s research focuses on investigating key areas that drive speech, mastication and swallow impairments after head and neck cancer treatment and she is dedicated to conducting research that will develop rehabilitation approaches to improve patients’ functional outcomes and quality of life. She has spearheaded integrative clinical research pathways for oral cancer patients at MD Anderson including prospective data collection towards monitoring of longitudinal function for patients treated for their oral cancer. She holds intramural funding and is a co-investigator in multiple NIH grant-funded multidisciplinary research projects in collaboration with head and neck surgery, radiation oncology, oral oncology and plastic surgery.

Financial Disclosures:

• Employed by The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center (salary)
• Receiving a speaking fee from NWIF, Inc. for this educational symposium

Non-Financial Disclosures:

No relevant disclosures exist.

Sonja M Molfenter, PhD, CCC-SLP

Dr. Sonja Molfenter is a clinically-trained Speech Language Pathologist whose research specializes in understanding the physiological features of both normal swallowing and disordered swallowing (known as dysphagia). Her over-arching research goal is to produce clinically-relevant research to inform front-line clinical practice. Her research focuses on naturally-occurring muscle loss in the pharynx as the result of aging. Dr. Molfenter’s work aims to understand the impact of these age-related changes on swallowing function and explore methods to prevent or reverse these changes. Dr. Molfenter also studies changes to swallowing function after cervical spine surgery.

Financial Disclosures:

• Receiving a speaking fee from NWIF, Inc. for this educational symposium
• Employed by New York University (salary)
• Honorarium from Bracco Diagnostics and American Board of Swallowing and Swallowing Disorders for teaching and speaking
• Grant funding for research from National Institutes of Health (NIH)

Non-Financial Disclosures:

No relevant disclosures exist.

Maureen A. Lefton-Greif, PhD, CCC-SLP, BCS-S, FASHA

Maureen A. Lefton-Greif is Professor in Pediatrics, Otolaryngology Head-Neck Surgery, and Physical Medicine-Rehabilitation at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Dr. Lefton-Greif’s clinical practice and research focus on feeding/swallowing development as well as evaluation and management of disorders in patients diagnosed with complex aerodigestive or rare conditions having pediatric origins. She participates in the multidisciplinary clinical and research group studying the natural history of ataxia-telangiectasia, and her work on clinical trial readiness is NIH/FDA supported. In collaboration with Cure SMA, she’s developing an SMA-specific bulbar scale to quantify disease progression and outcome measures. Her R01-funded research led to the development of the first standardized, reliable, and valid scale for the videofluoroscopic assessment of swallowing function in bottle-fed children. As an extension of this work, she is co-investigator on an R01 to study Radiation Exposure in Infants and Children from Videofluoroscopic Swallow Studies. She developed the Feeding/Swallowing Impact Survey, the first outcome measure to assess the impact of children’s feeding/swallowing problems on their caregivers, which has been translated into multiple languages. She is a Fellow of ASHA, and founding member/past Vice-Chair of Board of Certified Specialists in Swallowing and Swallowing Disorders. She’s Associate Editor for the Dysphagia Journal.

Financial Disclosures:

• Receiving a speaking fee from NWIF, Inc. for this educational symposium
• Employed by Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (salary)
• Royalties for teaching and speaking from Northern Speech Services
• Royalties as an author/editor from Plural Publishers
• Royalties as a presenter/author from Medbridge
• Grant funding from National Institutes of Health (NIH)

Non-Financial Disclosures:

No relevant disclosures exist.

Marta Kazandjian MA CCC-SLP, BCS-S, FASHA, NBC-HWC

Marta Kazandjian is a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Dept of Surgery and Dept. Head at Stony Brook Southampton Hospital. She is an ASHA Fellow and is board certified in both swallowing and swallowing disorders as well as in health and wellness coaching. She is an invited national and international speaker and has extensive experience working with complex medically fragile populations in acute, sub-acute and long-term care settings. Marta has been a trailblazer in providing care to patients who have tracheostomies and are ventilator-dependent, with impactful and sustainable programmatic improvements that have resulted in nationally and internationally adopted clinical assessment and treatment protocols. Marta’s work in swallowing and communication impairments in these patient populations has given her a particular interest in palliative and end of life care. She has worked along-side interdisciplinary team professionals to create programs that value the role of the speech pathologist. Her work in swallowing, verbal and non-verbal communication, tracheostomy and ventilator management is best represented by her peer reviewed articles, book chapters and text books including her most recent 3rd edition text Communication and Swallowing Management of Tracheostomized and Ventilator Dependent Individuals, Eat Speak Breathe Publishing, Inc.

Financial Disclosures:

• Receiving a speaking fee from NWIF, Inc. for this educational symposium
• Employed in a management position by Stonybrook South Hampton Hospital (salary)

Non-Financial Disclosures:

• Board member of the American Board of Swallowing and Swallowing Disorders

Raele Donetha Loy, PhD, CCC-SLP

Dr. Raele Donetha Loy is a Speech-Language Pathologist and current postdoctoral fellow at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW-Madison) in Dr. Nicole Rogus-Pulia’s Swallowing and Salivary Bioscience Laboratory. Dr. Loy is currently supported by a NIH specialized D-SPAN pre- to postdoctoral K00 fellowship grant. Under this NIA-supported K00 grant mechanism, Dr. Loy is sponsored by Drs. Nicole Rogus-Pulia and Nadine Connor. The overarching aim of this work is geared towards understanding how interrelated physiologic capacities throughout the body contribute to the development of dysphagia in frail older adults. Dr. Loy is also passionate about understanding how health disparities preclude equity surrounding the eating experience. She is an affiliate member of the UW-Madison Center for Health Disparities Research and hopes to identify barriers and expand access to swallowing care among socioeconomically disadvantaged groups.

Financial Disclosures:

• Receiving a speaking fee from NWIF, Inc. for this educational symposium
• Employed by the University of Wisconsin Madison (salary)
• Grant funding as an independent contractor from the National Institute on Aging

Non-Financial Disclosures:

• Voluntary member of the American Speech-Language Hearing Association

Michelle S. Troche, PhD, CCC-SLP, ASHA Fellow

Michelle S. Troche is an Associate Professor and Program Director of the Communication Sciences and Disorders Program, Department of Biobehavioral Sciences at Teachers College, Columbia University. She completed her doctoral studies at the University of Florida where she also served as faculty member prior to joining Columbia University. She is director of the Laboratory for the Study of Upper Airway Dysfunction. Her research is aimed at improving health outcomes and quality of life associated with disorders of airway protection (i.e., swallowing and cough). To that end, she employs a two-pronged approach including both basic science and clinical research. Basic science research goals focus on developing a better understanding of the mechanisms underlying airway protection and its disorders. Clinical research goals are the development of novel and robust evaluation and treatment techniques for dystussia (deficits of cough function) and dysphagia (deficits of swallowing function). Current projects focus on multiple behaviors contributing to airway protection and the ability to modify those behaviors via non-pharmacological treatment paradigms. Research participants include healthy volunteers, people with Parkinson’s disease, other movement disorders, and ischemic stroke. Her clinical work has mainly been in the area of Movement Disorders where she has evaluated and treated the motor speech and airway protective function of hundreds of patients. She has expertise and has mentored students and taught in the areas of: cognitive-motor relationships, neural/myogenic adaptations to exercise and training, with emphasis on the swallowing, coughing and respiratory systems, and clinical disorders of motor speech, voice, and airway protection. Her research, teaching, and mentorship have been recognized by several awards and in her academic record. She has served as principal, co-Investigator and/or study coordinator on various large-scale NIH and VA funded projects. She directs a collaborative, multidisciplinary, and productive laboratory which creates a rich environment for trainees of all levels.

Financial Disclosures:

• Receiving a speaking fee from NWIF, Inc. for this educational symposium
• Employed by Teachers College, Columbia University (salary)
• Royalties and grant funding from NIH and Medbridge

Non-Financial Disclosures:

• Board member on the Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research