(Rockville, MD - February 26, 2007) Margaret A. Rogers, PhD, CCC-SLP, Associate Professor and Associate Chair of the Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences at the University of Washington (UW), Seattle, will become Chief Staff Officer for Science and Research at the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) next month.
In her new position, Dr. Rogers will provide leadership to enhance the research and scientific endeavors related to the discipline of human communication sciences and disorders and to the professions of audiology and speech-language pathology.
"We are delighted to welcome Dr. Margaret Rogers to this senior ASHA staff leadership position," ASHA Executive Director, Arlene Pietranton, PhD, CCC-SLP says. "We know that her passionate commitment to the science base of our discipline, coupled with her personable tenacity and can-do spirit will help to further advance the Association's work on behalf of researchers, teachers, scholars and practitioners in communication sciences and disorders."
Dr. Rogers has been a member of the faculty at UW since 1992. Over the course of her professional career, she has developed research grants and published research investigating the neural mechanisms of spoken language production and the treatment of neurogenic communication disorders, particularly aphasia and acquired apraxia of speech. As a scholar and educator, Dr. Rogers has also successfully pursued funding to support doctoral training and other educational resources. Her commitment to education and clinical research has been at the center of her academic accomplishments.
As a result of her vision and leadership, the Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences at UW now offers a Medical Speech-Language Pathology Master's Program which Dr. Rogers directs. By doubling enrollment and including three evidence-based practice courses, this new Master's program addresses two discipline-wide challenges that Dr. Rogers believes are critical to the continued health of the speech and hearing professions, namely addressing the professional and professorial personnel shortages and furthering the development of the field's evidence-base and evidence-based practice.
In her role as Chief Staff Officer for Science and Research, Dr. Rogers will facilitate the growth of the field's evidence base, promote wide dissemination of professional knowledge, and support the research efforts and scientific activities of the Association's membership. Another key area that Rogers is poised to tackle will be the development of future programs that address the clinical research needs of speech, language, and hearing scientists.
"A critical mass of well-prepared and well-supported researchers is vital to meeting our clinical research needs, Dr. Rogers says. "While my university-based research and mentoring activities addressed the need for clinical evidence and research preparation, the opportunity to provide national leadership in these important areas was very influential in my decision to join ASHA."
Dr. Rogers adds that "advancement of the discipline depends on the generation, dissemination, and translation of research into clinical practice."
"If research is to guide and support clinical practice, it must be responsive to the needs and questions of clinical professionals," she explains. "In the coming years, a concerted research effort is needed to examine issues such as the validity, sensitivity and specificity of our diagnostic procedures and the efficacy of the treatment approaches and preventive measures we use to assist those with communication and swallowing disorders. The future of such issues as reimbursement in healthcare and funding in education will depend on the availability and quality of the clinical evidence generated over the next decade."
Dr. Rogers has published extensively on clinical topics relevant to the diagnosis and management of neurogenic speech and language disorders, and also on more basic science research in such areas as psycholinguistics and the neurocognition of language. She has presented at and organized numerous conferences, both nationally and internationally. She is an ASHA Fellow, a member of the Academy of Aphasia and the Academy of Neurologic Communication Disorders and Sciences where she is Board Certified in Adult Neurologic Communication Disorders (BC-ANCDS).
Before joining the faculty at UW, Dr. Rogers worked at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, Department of Neurology, and in the Iowa City Veterans Administration Hospital. She received her Bachelor's degree in Psychology and Philosophy from Grinnell College and her Master's and PhD in Speech-Language Pathology from the University of Iowa.
ASHA is the national professional, scientific, and credentialing association for more than 127,000 audiologists, speech-language pathologists, and speech, language, and hearing scientists. Audiologists specialize in preventing and assessing hearing disorders as well as providing audiologic treatment including hearing aids. Speech-language pathologists identify, assess, and treat speech and language problems in addition to swallowing disorders. For more information about communication disorders, visit the ASHA Web site or call 1-800-638-TALK.
Taken from www.asha.org/about/news/margaretrogerscso.htm
