CVC2026 update

Overview: Conference to be held 1-3 September 2026

• 666 registrants across 40+ countries
• 174 abstracts from 36 countries
• 114 papers with 2+ reviews completed (9 no reviews + 51 one review)
• 4 keynotes accepted

Registrations = 666
Countries: (40) Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Denmark, Great Britain, Greece, Iceland, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Kenya, Kuwait, Latvia, Lithuania, Malaysia, Malta, Mexico, Morocco, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Portugal, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Thailand, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States, Vietnam

Abstract submissions = 174
Countries: Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Egypt, Fiji, Greece, Hong Kong, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Lithuania, Malaysia, Malta, Mongolia, Morocco, Nepal, New Zealand, Nigeria, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, VietNam

CVC2026 Committees
Scientific review committee (Chair: Associate Professor Tamara Cumming)
Committee membership: Dr Helen L. Blake; Sarah Bartlett; Associate Professor Kathy Cologon; Associate Professor Kate Crowe; Dr Jessamy Davies; Dr Lysa Dealtry; Dr Belinda Downey; Dr Kate Freire; Katrina Gersbach; Dr Leanne Gibbs; Dr Carolyn Gregoric; Hannah Greig; Dr Jo Grimmond; Mrs Kasey Hillyar; Dr Laura Hoffman; Dr Suzanne C. Hopf; Cyrena Hunt-Madden; Alam Hossain; Associate Professor Brendon Hyndman; Dr Marie Ireland; Janine Krecko; Dr Kate Margetson; Professor Jillian Marsh; Holly McAlister; Distinguished Professor Sharynne McLeod; Arifa Rahman; Associate Professor Mehdi Rassafiani, Dr Goutam Roy; Dr Shukla Sikder; Dr Lindsay Smith; Sarah Stenson; Associate Professor Sarah Verdon, Dr Lucia Wuersch

Children's voices committee (Chair: Associate Professor Kathy Cologon)
Committee membership: Associate Professor Kate Crowe; Dr Kate Freire; Katrina Gersbach; Kasey Hillyar; Dr Marie Ireland; Janine Krecko; Holly McAlister; Distinguished Professor Sharynne McLeod; Arifa Rahman; Dr Lindsay Smith; Sarah Stenson

Organisation committee (Chair: Dr Carolyn Gregoric)
Committee membership: Associate Professor Kathy Cologon; Associate Professor Kate Crowe; Distinguished Professor Sharynne McLeod; Sarah Stenson

Participant network and fun committee (Co-chairs Ms Sarah Bartlett and Dr Jo Grimmond)
Committee membership: Dr Lysa Dealtry; Dr Carolyn Gregoric; Alam Hossain; Dr Shukla Sikder

Professional recognition committee (Chair: Professor Sarah Verdon)
Committee membership: Dr Carolyn Gregoric; Kasey Hillyar; Janine Krecko; Holly McAlister; Arifa Rahman

Promotion/social media committee (Chair Associate Professor Kathy Cologon)
Committee membership: Associate Professor Kathy Cologon; Dr Marie Ireland; Janine Krecko; Dr Kate Margetson; Arifa Rahman

Publications committee (Chair: Associate Professor Tamara Cumming)
Committee membership: Associate Professor Kathy Cologon; Dr Leanne Gibbs; Dr Suzanne C. Hopf; Mr Alam Hossain; Associate Professor Brendon Hyndman; Distinguished Professor Sharynne McLeod; Arifa Rahman; Dr Goutam Roy; Dr Shukla Sikder; Associate Professor Sarah Verdon

Arifa Rahman on the Scientific Review Committee reviewing abstracts in EasyChair

CSU welcomes people from across Australia and across the world

I was very honoured to show a new CSU student around the university today - and to watch her proudly add a sticker to the world map indicating where she was born. I added a sticker to where I was born as well.

New Grant - Brazil-UK Network on Speech Sound Disorders

We have received the welcome news that we have been successful on the following grant to continue our international collaborations: Fiszbein Wertzner, H., Wren, Y., (McLeod, S.) (2025-2026). Brazil-UK Network on Speech Sound Disorders. Academy of Medical Sciences Networking Grant Scheme (NGR2\1942 )(TOTAL£23,500.00) (CSU £4,367.00) This grant will enable continued collaboration with my colleagues - following on from our trip to Brazil in 2024. Professor Haydee Fiszbein Wertzner - Universidade de Sao Paulo, Brazil Professor Yvonne Wren - Cardiff Metropolitan University, Wales, UK

ASHA Awards Ceremony: Certificate of Recognition for Outstanding Contributions in International Achievement

The ASHA conference held in Seattle this week has 13,005 registrations from 58 countries
https://convention.asha.org/. Tonight I was honoured to receive the Certificate of Recognition for Outstanding Contributions in International Achievement from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) at the Awards Ceremony (https://www.asha.org/about/awards/certificate-of-recognition-for-outstanding-contributions-in-international-achievement/).

CSU News: https://news.csu.edu.au/latest-news/great-international-impact-recognised-by-top-us-speech-language-organisation

Here is some of the text from the 2-page nomination by Prof. Lynn Williams' (Past ASHA President)

Dr. McLeod is a distinguished clinician-researcher whose groundbreaking work on child speech acquisition and disorders in over 100 languages, dialects, and cultures has had a profound impact on children’s lives and has influenced health and education professionals worldwide. Her contributions have been recognized by a number of awards, including ASHA Fellow and Honors of the Association. As a speech-language pathologist and professor of speech and language acquisition at Charles Sturt University, Australia, Dr. McLeod has demonstrated exemplary dedication and leadership in this field...

In summary, Dr. McLeod’s outstanding contributions in international education, publications, and research have not only transformed the field of speech-language pathology but have also had a profound impact on children’s lives globally. Her dedication to advancing knowledge and fostering international collaboration exemplifies the spirit of this award.

I wholeheartedly endorse Dr. McLeod’s nomination for the Certificate of Recognition for Outstanding Contributions in International Achievement. Her unwavering commitment to excellence and innovation makes her a truly deserving recipient of this honor.

 

ASHA currently has over 230,000 members https://www.asha.org/. In the history of the award, there have only been 21 people/groups who have received the award. Here is the list of past recipients (https://www.asha.org/about/awards/certificate-of-recognition-for-outstanding-contributions-in-international-achievement-recipients/). I was particularly thrilled to share the 2024 award with my colleagues from Turkiye (Ahmet Konrot, İlknur Maviş, Seyhun Topbaş). I have worked with Seyhun Topbaş since 1996.

It is wonderful to celebrate both awards with my colleagues from across the world in 2024. In 2021 I was awarded ASHA Honors - but was unable to attend the ceremony due to COVID-19 lockdowns in Australia (https://speakingmylanguages.blogspot.com/2021/11/asha-awards-ceremony.html). I was one of 11  colleagues receiving ASHA Honors in 2021 and was the first ASHA International Affiliate to receive the award since it began in 1944. The CSU News story about my award is here: https://news.csu.edu.au/latest-news/unique-international-honour-for-speech-and-language-acquisition-expert. Here is the video that ASHA created to announce my award at the ceremony: https://vimeo.com/644073807.

Information about the ASHA Awards Ceremony (from the ASHA website) https://convention.asha.org/networking/awards-ceremony/

The Awards Ceremony celebrates the highest achievements and excellence in the professions. Awards presented this evening include the Honors of the Association—ASHA's most prestigious award, which recognizes lifetime achievement—and ASHA Fellows, whose recipients' contributions are the cornerstones of the communication sciences and disorders (CSD) professions. ASHA will present additional awards to honor other members who have also contributed to the professions and to ASHA.

The Annie Glenn Award will also be presented. It is named after the late Annie Glenn, a devoted champion for people with communication disorders. It honors individuals or groups who are champions much like the award’s namesake. This year, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, an advocate for people who stutter and a former college basketball national champion who went on to play in the National Basketball Association will receive the Annie.

Inspirational colleagues

I really enjoy mentoring my colleagues. I am towards the end of my year of mentoring my colleague A/Prof Belinda Cash. We had a fantastic meeting celebrating her achievements this year. Congratulations Belinda! Here are two associations she is involved with:

• International Longevity Centre Global Alliance (ILC Global Alliance) https://www.ilc-alliance.org/
• Manna Institute https://mannainstitute.au/

 

ASHA Research Roundtable Invitation - "Engaging in International Research Collaborations"

The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association Academic Affairs & Research Education Team have invited me  to host a table on “Engaging in International Research Collaborations” at the Research Roundtables during the 2024 ASHA Convention (Friday, December 6, 2024). They have invited Dr. Giang Pham from San Diego State University to co-host the table with me and Dr Helen L. Blake and Dr Kate Margetson to attend as my collaborators. I have enjoyed this role a few years ago at an ASHA convention - so look forward to participating again.

Here is their description:

The Research Roundtables offer researchers, including students interested in research careers, postdoctoral fellows, and junior faculty, the opportunity to meet and learn from experienced researchers and funding agency staff. We hope you will be able to host a Research Roundtable. Your willingness to share your experience and knowledge is greatly appreciated by researchers in our professions.

ECV2024 registrations have begun - 47 from 8 countries already!

This month we launched registration for the Early Childhood Voices Conference 2024 (ECV2024). In less than two weeks we have had 47 registrations from Fiji, Nigeria, Ireland, Iceland, Hungary, Bangladesh, UK, and Australia. Our international reach has begun.

Here is our website: https://earlychildhoodresearch.csu.domains/early-childhood-voices-conference-2024/

Early Childhood Voices Conference (ECV2024). Free, online 25-28 November 2024. Interdisciplinary, international, social justice. Please register and submit an abstract.

• Registration: https://csu.edu.au/ecv2024 
• Abstract submission closes 29th July 2024: https://www.cvent.com/c/abstracts/f80b7916-9c71-4cfd-8141-c68bcff659d9 
• Children’s submission of a drawing/creation of playing (see attached poster): https://csu.edu.au/ecv2024-children