Dr Sara Wood (PhD, BA Hons) is a Reader in the Speech and Hearing Sciences Division. She is also a full member of Clinical Audiology, Speech and Language Research Centre.
- Overview
- Research Interests
- Research Publications
- Funded Projects
- Teaching & Learning
Dr Sara Wood graduated from the University of Reading with a BA honours degree in Linguistics and Language Pathology (Speech Therapeutics). Following this she was offered the position of speech and language pathologist at Oshawa General Hospital, Ontario, working with a range of pre-school children in the out patient department.
Dr Wood moved to Queen Margaret University in 1993 to pursue a PhD entitled “Electropalatographic study of speech sound errors in adults with acquired aphasia” which she was awarded in 1997.
Between 1997 and 2003 Dr Wood held specialist senior SLT posts in NHS Lanarkshire and NHS Forth Valley, and was a clinical tutor and honorary research fellow at QMU.
In 2003 Dr Wood was offered a permanent lectureship at QMU and was subsequently promoted to Senior Lecturer in 2007 and Reader in 2013.
Since joining QMU in 2003 Dr Wood has divided her time between educating undergraduate and post graduate speech and language therapy students, research and clinical activity including an honorary contract with NHS Lothian between 2013 and 2015. In 2008 Dr Wood became Programme Leader for the BSc Honours in speech and language therapy, a position that was held until 2015.
Dr Wood is a registered member of both the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists (RCSLT) and the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC).
Affiliations/Memberships to Other Organisations:
- Clinical Audiology, Speech and Language Research Centre (CASL)
Research/Knowledge Exchange Centre Membership:
Dr Wood’s main area of research is the use of visual biofeedback in the treatment of developmental speech sound disorders (SSDs), primarily electropalatography (EPG) but also ultrasound. A key focus of recent research has been evaluating the effectiveness of EPG with children with Down’s syndrome. She has also used EPG with children with cerebral palsy, cochlear implant and intractable speech sound errors of unknown origin.
Active Research Interests:
- Specific speech impairments in typically developing children and children with Down’s syndrome
- Visual biofeedback techniques in the assessment, diagnosis and remediation of specific speech impairments, specifically electropalatography (EPG) and ultrasound (UTI)
- Advancing instrumentation in everyday clinical practice
Research Grants & Contracts Funding:
|
Role |
Co applicant |
|---|---|
|
Funding Source |
MRC |
|
Date of Award |
June 2005 |
|
Title of project |
Assessment and Treatment of Speech Motor Control Difficulties in Children with Down’s Syndrome |
|
Amount |
£348,000 |
|
Role |
Co applicant |
|---|---|
|
Funding Source |
Down’s Syndrome Association |
|
Date of Award |
September 2006 |
|
Title of project |
Voice quality in Down’s Syndrome and how it relates to intelligibility, social inclusion and peer acceptance |
|
Amount |
£58,000 |
|
Role |
Principal Investigator |
|---|---|
|
Funding Source |
Baily Thomas |
|
Date of Award |
January 2008 |
|
Title of project |
Enhancing Speech Intelligibility in Children and Young People with Down syndrome |
|
Amount |
£39,410 |
|
Role |
Principal Investigator |
|---|---|
|
Funding Source |
The Nuffield Foundation |
|
Date of Award |
April 2012 |
|
Title of project |
Improving the speech communication abilities of children with Down’s syndrome: A new model of service delivery using electropalatography |
|
Amount |
£147,626 |
|
Role |
Principal Investigator |
|---|---|
|
Funding Source |
CSMEN |
|
Date of Award |
January 2013 |
|
Title of project |
Clinical skills training for speech and language therapists: using the evidence-base to treat speech sound disorders using electropalatography (EPG). |
|
Amount |
£4,987 |
Teaching predominantly covers specific speech sound impairments, disorders of fluency, and issues in professional practice. Dr Wood teaches on both the undergraduate and post-graduate speech and language therapy programmes and supervises Masters and PhD students.
