UTS Honorary Professor

I have been invited to extend my role as Honorary Professor in the Graduate School of Health, Faculty of Health at the University of Technology, Sydney (UTS). I began this role in 2019 and this is the second time the appointment has been extended. I enjoy collaborating with Prof Bronwyn Hemsley and her team at UTS.

I acknowledge the Gadigal People of the Eora Nation, upon whose ancestral lands UTS stands. I pay my respect to the Elders both past and present, acknowledging them as the traditional custodians of knowledge for this land.

Research Wellness Retreat in Wales

I was invited to run a Research Wellness Retreat for staff at Cardiff Metropolitan University and Bristol Speech and Language Therapy Research Unit. The retreat was held at Cardiff Metropolitan University and during the afternoon we enjoyed St Fagans National Museum of History in Cardiff https://museum.wales/stfagans/about/

The following people were able to attend: Prof Yvonne Wren, Dr Robert Mayr, Prof Fei Zhao, Dr Rhonwen Lewis, Dr Sam Burr, Ria Bayliss, Annie Li Jiaying, and Charlotte McCarthy. We were also pleased to welcome Dr Rhiannon Phillips (Deputy Associate Dean for Research, Cardiff Met) for part of the day.

The next week I also had wonderful individual meetings with Dr Rhonwen Lewis, Annie Li Jiaying, Anna Kowalska, Charlie Strutt, and Caitlin Holmes.

Dr Robert Mayr inspiring the attendees

Fei, Rhonwen, Annie, Rhiannon, Ria, Robert, Yvonne, Sam, Charlotte, Sharynne

Welsh cakes and Tim Tams

Rhonwen Lewis planning a book

Lunch at Cardiff Met

St Fagans National Museum of History in Cardiff

St Fagans National Museum of History in Cardiff

Sam, Sharynne, Yvonne, Charlotte, Annie, Robert and Rhonwen at
St Fagans National Museum of History in Cardiff

Sharynne meeting with Charlie Strutt about the new tertiary clinic
for children with complex speech sound disorders at Cardiff Met

Keynote presentation to XXXIII Congreso Internacional AELFA-IF Santander 2023

I have been invited to be a keynote speaker at XXXIII Congreso Internacional AELFA-IF Santander, Spain with my colleague Professor Julie Marshall from Manchester Metropolitan University to speak about "Communication and Swallowing Disability and the United Nations' Agenda 2030: Meeting the challenges of the next seven years"

Invited speaker - ASHFoundation inaugural international symposium

I was invited to be a speaker at the inaugural international symposium at American Speech-Language-Hearing Association in New Orleans by Dr. Lesley Olswang and Dr. Holly Storkel:

"On behalf of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Foundation (ASHFoundation), in conjunction with the 2022 ASHA Convention Program Committee, thank you for accepting our invitation to present at the ASHA Annual Convention, November 17-19, 2022. This session, Building Research to Close the Science-Practice Gap in Communication Sciences and Disorders, is an inaugural international symposium supported by the ASHFoundation through its endowed Max D. and Ruth Steer Fund."

• Session Title: MC06 Building Research to Close the Science-Practice Gap in Communication Sciences and Disorders: A Global Perspective
• Day: Thursday, November 17, 2022 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM 
• Session Format: 2-Hour Master Class (In-Person)

It was an excellent session with presentations from Pamela Enderby, Danielle Glista, Sharynne McLeod, and Holly Storkel 

Lesley Olswang, Pam Enderby and Sharynne McLeod

Nancy Minghetti and Holly Storkel opening the session

Invited presentation in Da Nang, Vietnam

Today I presented an invited lecture in Vietnam (held for over 70 delegates in Da Nang and others online). The seminar was organised for speech and language therapists in Vietnam and was sponsored by:

• Medical Committee Netherlands – Vietnam (MCNV) 
• Da Nang University of Medical Technology and Pharmacy
  
• US Aid 
• VietHealth 
• Trinh Foundation

The 6 hour agenda profiled the work of the graduate speech and language therapists from the Bachelors and Masters programs that have recently begun in Vietnam and five guest speakers including A/Prof Sarah Verdon and myself.

My presentation was titled "The association between children’s communication skills and academic performance" 

Professor Sharynne McLeod

A/Professor Sarah Verdon

Here is some of the information that was provided in my letter of invitation: 

"First of all, I would like to thank you for your continuous valuable expertise and spirit support for our ST [speech therapy] project in particular and for the ST education development in Vietnam in general. 

Secondly, I would like to introduce very briefly about MCNV - TFA's ST Edu development project. As you may have known, MCNV and TFA have been collaborating to implement this ST project since 2017 to run a MSALT course at the University of Medicine and Pharmacy in Ho Chi Minh city to train a group of SALT traineers for 04 medical universities in Vietnam and a BSALT course at the University of Medical Technology and Pharmacy in Da Nang to mainly pilot a Vietnamese-contextualised BSALT curriculum which can be applied by the 04 medical universities which have trained MSALT lecturer from the MSALT course mentioned above. These are the first official ST degree courses in Vietnam. The MSALT course finished last April and the students were awarded with master degrees but they are still doing their clinical internships. The BSALT course will finish this September, by the end of the project cycle and the project will close this September, 2022. 

Finally but mainly, I would like to be on behalf of MCNV and MCNV's ST project counterparts to invite you to present your research on "The association between children’s communication skills and academic performance" at our ST thematic workshop on 22nd September. Time slot for your presentation is at 15.40 - 16.00 VN time. This is one of the project closing activities by MCNV, TFA and partner universities, planned as a hybrid workshop."

I really have appreciated the warm emails received after my presentation. Here is an excerpt from one: "Thank you so much for your fascinating presentation today with regards to children’s communication skills and academic performance. That’s absolutely terrific presenting. I’m very much keen on learning the findings from your research...I also noticed that you have acknowledged the indigenous community before you started the presentation. May I know the story behind it? ... Once again, it’s an inspiration to be able to listen to your talk. It was very pleasant to hear your voice."

IALP's new book: Addressing communication disorders in unserved and underserved populations

The following book has just been published to celebrate the centenary of IALP: 

Levey. S. & Enderby, P. (Eds.). Addressing communication disorders in unserved and underserved populations. J&R Press. 

We wrote the following chapters 

Chapter 8: Phạm, B., McLeod, S. & Verdon, S., Margetson, K. & Tran, V. H. (2022). Supporting the communication of underserved children in Vietnam. In S. Levey & P. Enderby & (Eds.). Addressing communication disorders in unserved and underserved populations (pp. 73-83). J&R Press. 

Chapter 10: Grech, H., Wren, Y., Pascoe, M., & McLeod, S. & Hopf, S. (2022). Speech sound disorders in underserved or unserved populations. In S. Levey & P. Enderby & (Eds.). Addressing communication disorders in unserved and underserved populations. J&R Press. 

 

Here is the description of the book on the publisher's website (https://www.jr-press.co.uk/the-unserved.html#):

The International Association of Logopaedics and Phoniatrics (IALP), now called The International Association of Communication Sciences and Disorders, was established in 1924. Its objective is to bring together professionals to promote research and clinical practice to support the needs of those with communication and swallowing disorders who lack health and other basic services. The Unserved, authored by members of the Association, celebrates 100 years of the IALP by presenting ideas to assist all those who work with children and adults who have difficulty in communicating or swallowing in order to improve services for unserved and underserved communities. It offers strategies to address disorders and conditions that affect many areas of everyday life and which are exacerbated by lack of adequate health, education and social services.

Meeting with Education Minister Jason Clare MP and Vice Chancellor Professor Renée Leon

I sincerely appreciated the opportunity to have lunch with Education Minister Jason Clare MP and Charles Sturt Vice Chancellor Professor Renée Leon to talk about about equity and access solutions for early childhood education, teacher education, children's communication and speech pathology that we've addressed in our Australian Research Council research.

Invitation to present workshops at the International Bilingualism Symposium

Our VietSpeech team have been invited to present two workshops to the International Symposium on Bilingualism (https://www.isb14.com/) to be held next year.

• Heritage language maintenance – Sarah Verdon, Van H. Tran, Kate Margetson, Sharynne McLeod
• Multilingual speech assessment – Sharynne McLeod, Kate Margetson 

Here is information on ISB13: https://jilc.e-science.space/v2/JILCvol.2.119-120.pdf 

“The first online ISB13 or e-ISB13 seems to be a resounding success, with 579 attendees: 188 PhD students and 391 established scholars. The conference brought together representatives from all over the world. Overall, 47 countries have been represented from 6 continents. The highest numbers of participants have been noted for: Poland (102), the United States (98), Germany (57), the United Kingdom (42), and Canada (36).”

International Women’s Day

The Vice Chancellor invited me as one of four "Charles Sturt University female leaders" to be profiled on her personal LinkedIn account to honour International Women’s Day on March 8. 

She asked: "What is your advice to young women on how to break the bias?" 

Here is my response: “Collaborate to undertake important, high quality research that changes people’s lives.”

LSIC ear health working group - Macquarie University

Rona Macniven invited Professor Linda Harrison and I to speak at the LSIC ear health working group at Macquarie University yesterday. We also heard presentations from the three Masters of Audiology students on their projects: Fina - determinants and health service access; Emma - education outcomes; Anita - speech and language 

Here are details about the team: https://www.mq.edu.au/research/research-centres-groups-and-facilities/healthy-people/centres/hear/news-and-events/news/news-items/new-funding-for-indigenous-hearing-health

Expert Panel Meeting 3: Students with Disability Loading Settings Review

Today was the third (of 5) Expert Panel Meeting for the Australian Government's Department of Education, Skills and Employment Students with Disability Loading Settings Review. It has been an honour to contribute to this expert panel.

Podcast interview

Today I was interviewed for the Up & Coming Speechies podcast:
https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/up-coming-speechies/id1528880071

It was a pleasure to discuss my career trajectory with Sienna and Hannah

WHO Caregiver Skills Training Programme review

I have just completed my review of the World Health Organization Caregiver Skills Training Programme for Families of Children with Developmental Delays and Disabilities. I was invited in my role as Deputy Chair of the Child Speech Committee of the International Association of Communication Sciences (IALP)

University of Bristol Benjamin Meaker Distinguished Visiting Professorship

In 2020 I was supposed to have undertaken a University of Bristol Benjamin Meaker Distinguished Visiting Professorship (BBMDVP); however, it was postponed due to COVID-19 restrictions. 

I was really pleased to be invited to attend a University of Bristol Festival of International Research and Partnerships event this evening titled: "Welcome and Introduction to the BBMDVP Showcase". The showcase was launched by Provost Judith Squires. The BBMDVP Showcase has a range of fascinating presentations demonstrating the richness and diversity of this award: http://www.bristol.ac.uk/international-research-partnerships/irp-festival/bristol-benjamin-meaker-distinguished-visiting-professorships-showcase/

I look forward to visiting the University of Bristol to take up my BBMDVP when I am able.

SciVal metrics for Grant Applications or Promotion

Prof Geoff Gurr and I have been nominated by the CSU library so that Steve Riddell from Elsevier can use our publication record within the "SciVal metrics for Grant Applications or Promotion" seminar. I'm looking forward to his analysis of our data. 

Session Information: Want information on how metrics can be used to support your next grant application or promotion, and where to find them? In this webinar, Steve Riddell from Elsevier, will be presenting an overview of SciVal and how to use its metrics in grant applications. SciVal is a web-based tool allows you to access the research performance of over 20,000 research institutions and their associated researchers. By using SciVal, you can easily find metrics that make you stand apart from other applicants. 

• Tuesday 11th May 2-3.00pm https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/150848294309 
• Wednesday 12 May 9.30-10.30 am https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/150853160865

SciVal analysis of Sharynne McLeod’s research 2015->2020 (11 May 2021) 

Professor Sharynne McLeod has 72 publications indexed in SCOPUS between 2015-2020 with an average of 7.5 citations per publication. Prof McLeod’s field-weighted citation impact is 2.14 which is 114% above world average*. Her h index is 30 and h-5 index is 9. 

One third (33.3%) of her publications are in the top 10% of the most cited worldwide when field weighted, and 12.5% of her outputs are the top 10% most cited worldwide. One third (33.8%) of her outputs are published in the top 10% journals based on CiteScore Percentiles. 

Almost half (48.6%) of her publications during 2015-2020 have been co-authored with researchers in other countries/regions, demonstrating a high level of commitment to international collaboration. 

Note. *Field-Weighted Citation Impact is the ratio of citations received relative to the expected world average for the subject field, publication type and publication year. The world average FWCI is 1.00.

 

Oxford Children’s Language Australia (OCLA)

Recently, Oxford University Press invited me to be a member of Oxford Children’s Language Australia (OCLA). Education Today just published this news article outlining the partnership and listing the members: 

"Oxford University Press’ Oxford Children’s Language Australia (OCLA) partners with leading Australian literacy and language research experts to unlock the power of language for learning. The OCLA will support the education community by sharing best-practice teaching resources and tools based on evidence-based pedagogies to help transform children’s language and literacy skills." https://www.educationtoday.com.au/news-detail/Experts-partner-to-unlock-the-power-of-language-for-learning-5201

Postponed events

There are a number of events in late April/May that I am no longer speaking at.

• Last week I was meant to be a keynote speaker in Cardiff, Wales at the Craniofacial Society of Great Britain and Ireland 
• Today, I was meant to be the speaker at a 1-day workshop on the Gold Coast in Queensland  with 65 speech pathologists from the South East Region of Queensland.
• Later in May our team had a number of papers accepted to be presented at the Speech Pathology Australia National Conference in Darwin.

I look forward to when these are rescheduled. Meanwhile, I am working hard with my team to write up more research so that when these are rescheduled I'll have even more to share.

ASHFoundation invitation

Last week I spoke with Emeritus Professor Lesley Olswang who invited me to be one of three "thought leaders" to present the American Speech-Language-Hearing Foundation (ASHFoundation) lecture at the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association convention in San Diego in November. What an honour!

Conversation with Prof Lesley Olswang

World Health Organization Rehabilitation Competency Framework Delphi Panel

I have just completed stage 2 providing comments on the World Health Organization Rehabilitation Competency Framework as part of their Delphi Panel. It has been a privilege to represent the perspectives of people with communication disability and communication specialists (including speech-language pathologists).

Analysing social media for better public policy

Today I was honoured to open the Charles Sturt University one day symposium titled "Analysing social media for better public policy". Speakers and participants came from across the country, and I was invited to open the event. Details about the symposium are here: https://www.csu.edu.au/research/ilws/events/social-media-symposium

The aims of the symposium were to:

• Share cases where social media has been used to inform or guide public policy and decisions 
• Share research highlighting the application of social media to important policy matters 
• Bring together people working and researching in this developing field 
• Explore challenges of social media data use such as ethics, geolocation, sample representativeness, access to data 
• Consider systems and processes for gathering and analysing social media for public policy and decisions.

 The symposium included discussion about kangaroos, cervical screening, obesity, e-cigarettes, sharks, carp, policymakers, ethics, and concluded with "workshopping the wicked".