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Now Streaming: Pitt CSD Podcast

Hosted by Brett Welch and Cara Donohue

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About the hosts:

Cara Donohue, PhD, CCC-SLP, is a practicing speech-language pathologist and recent graduate of the PhD program in the Communication Science and Disorders Department at the University of Pittsburgh. Donohue completed her doctoral studies in the Computational Deglutition Lab under the mentorship of Dr. Jim Coyle. Currently, she is a post-doctoral research fellow in the Aerodigestive Research Core Laboratory at the University of Florida. Her long-term goal as a clinical scientist is to improve clinical care and quality of life for patients with swallowing disorders by 1) understanding the mechanisms of disordered swallowing that are associated with neurologic and respiratory etiologies and; 2) developing accurate assessment and effective treatment techniques for impaired pulmonary, cough, and swallow function by aligning them with the mechanisms of action of these diseases. 

Brett Welch, MS, CCC-SLP (he/him), is a speech-language pathologist who specializes in providing gender-affirming voice care and also a third year PhD student in the Department of Communication Science and Disorders at the University of Pittsburgh under the mentorship of Dr. Leah Helou. He researches the intersection between personality and communication behaviors, and how this relationship impacts mental health, voice therapy outcomes and its relationship to functional voice disorders. His long-term goal as a clinical scientist is to advance the field of speech-language pathology by 1) leveraging big data and scientific computing to interrogate the psychosocial factors driving patient behavior and; 2) centering identity in the assessment and treatment of voice and vocal pathologies.  

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