Julia completed a MSc in Speech Pathology from the University of Alberta where she received the CASLPA Student Clinical Excellence Award in 2009.

Following clinical training, she worked for the GRIT program (Getting Ready for Inclusion Today) helping families with children with moderate to severe developmental delays and disabilities to participate fully in their homes and communities. She also held a position at the Neonatal and Infant Follow-up Clinic at the Glenrose Rehabilitation Hospital. Julia returned to Corbett Clinic to work as Clinical Educator for three terms and was awarded the Clinical Educator of the Year Award in 2016. She then joined a team of instructors to develop the program and teach in the Interdisciplinary Therapy Assistant program at NorQuest College. She has since taught the elective course “SLP in the NICU” for the department of Communication Sciences and Disorders at the U of A.

She currently works as a feeding and swallowing specialist in the Stollery Children’s Hospital’s David C. Etches Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). She is certified as a NIDCAP professional (the Newborn Individualized Developmental Care and Assessment Program) and as an instructor for Family and Infant Neurodevelopmental Education (FINE). She draws on this learning to coach families and NICU staff in providing developmentally supportive, responsive care for fragile infants.

I have been a registered Speech-Language Pathologist (S-LP) in Alberta since 1999. I started my career working in health care, with adults in hospital as well as children in school, from kindergarten to grade 12. A few short years into my career I had the pleasure of becoming the Speech-Language Pathologist-In Charge, and heading up the Speech and Language Department for my health region. After becoming a mother I made the decision to transition back to clinical work and moved into private practice. Being in private practice has been a dream come true. It has afforded me the ability to work closely with my clients; explore and continue my education/training in orofacial myology; and take on mentorship and teaching roles. In the recent past, I have branched out in my collaboration with local dentists and orthodontists, and am working on a research proposal. The near future looks bright, with lots of professional collaboration for both client care and research based projects!

Laura Wolford, PhD, MS CCC-SLP is a speech-language pathologist, researcher, and trained sex educator. Her primary goal is to improve client-centered care.

As a researcher, she studies how to teach SLPs and other healthcare professionals how to do hard things, from transnasal endoscopy to engaging in difficult conversations. As a clinician and educator, she works with adults and teens to address intimacy needs related to communication disorders. She also uses a parent-coaching model to address body autonomy, safety, and consent with children. As the founder of the SPICE Institute, she teaches SLPs how to navigate difficult counseling topics, particularly those related to sex, intimacy, and consent.

Dr. Skoretz is an Assistant Professor and Director of the Swallowing Innovations Lab (Si-Lab) at the University of British Columbia (UBC) in Vancouver. She is also an Assistant Clinical Professor with the Department of Critical Care in the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry at the University of Alberta.

Guided by integrated knowledge user involvement, her research focuses on enhancing health outcomes following dysphagia with a focus on aerodigestive tract physiology following invasive and non-invasive ventilation. Main goals of her laboratory are to: 1) investigate the integration of multiple systems during swallowing in both health and disease while developing novel intervention approaches, 2) create a dysphagia risk profile to aid in the early identification of dysphagia following artificial airway use, and 3) develop advanced technologies for swallowing training and research.

Her investigations span sites in multiple countries and include biomechanical and biomarker analyses, clinical practice pattern assessment, patient engagement and clinical practice guideline development for those with artificial airways. Si-Lab is funded by the Canada Foundation for Innovation, BC Knowledge and Development Fund and Fraser Health Strategic Priorities grants. In 2020, Dr. Skoretz received the prestigious Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research Scholar Award – an award for exceptional, early career researchers.

Vicki is an Academic Advisor in the Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine with her expertise in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders. Vicki has been helping students with their programs since she started in the Speech Pathology and Audiology Department in 1988. She enjoys working with students to assist them in making the right decisions before getting into the program and while working their way through the program. Vicki works with student registration, awards, admissions, recruitment, orientation, timetabling and she encourages students to drop by to see her if they need assistance. She started at the University of Alberta in 1981 and has seen many changes over the years. Some of her outside interests are walking in nature, birding, plant identification, removing invasive weeds from the River Valley Trails, friends, family and helping others enjoy the outdoors.