The LUNA research team is changing and growing. Read below for profiles of our core members – Dr Madeline Cruice, Dr Lucy Dipper, Professor Jane Marshall, Professor Nicola Botting, Professor Mary Boyle, and Dr Deborah Hersh. We have said farewell to Dr Madeleine Pritchard, and now welcome new members to the team Dr Kate Swinburn, Carla Chynoweth, Lin Cockayne, Sarah Johnston, Richard Talbot, and Gabriella Procida.
Dr Madeline Cruice
Twitter:@MadelineCruice
Dr Madeline Cruice, Associate Professor (Reader), in the Division of Language and Communication Science at City, University of London, studied her Bachelor of Speech Pathology (First Class Honours) and Doctorate in Speech Pathology at the University of Queensland, Australia. She has 20 years research, teaching and clinical experience in post-stroke aphasia rehabilitation and long-term recovery. She has published and presented extensively on: communication and quality of life/wellbeing outcomes; applying quality of life assessments in clinical practice; goal setting; and technology-enhanced intervention. She has pioneered new clinical education opportunities for pre-registration speech and language therapy students, including the Communication Intensive in rehabilitation units, and the SPLIT Project (SPeech Language and Information Technology), the latter in partnership with Tess Lancashire. Madeline is the Principal Investigator on LUNA (joint with Associate Professor Lucy Dipper), and Co-Investigator on CommuniCATE, EVA Park Group Support, and INCA. She was the lead for Working Group 5 Societal Impact and Reintegration Research (from 2014-2019), within the international network Collaboration of Aphasia Trialists, and is a current member of the Aphasia Advisory Committee, for The Stroke Association, UK. Madeline teaches into the aphasia curriculum in pre- and post-registration speech and language therapy programmes at City. She was the Programme Director for the MRes in the School of Health Sciences (2014-2018), and is a current Chairing Team Member of the NIHR Clinical Doctoral Research Fellowship Scheme.
Dr Lucy Dipper![]()
Twitter: @LucyDipper
Dr Lucy Dipper is an Associate Professor (Reader) in the Division of Language and Communication Science at City, University of London. She studied Linguistics at the University of Sussex, and both her MSc in Human Communication (with Distinction) and PhD at University College London. Lucy has 20 years research, teaching and training experience in the field of clinical linguistics. She has published and presented extensively on language, gesture, and communication; and finding the best ways to assess and remediate communication difficulties. Her research explores verb and sentence semantics, gesture, and discourse. Lucy is the Principal Investigator on LUNA (joint with Associate Professor Madeline Cruice), and Principal Investigator on STARS (Storytelling for older Adult in Residential Settings). She is the Deputy Lead of Working Group 4 Effectiveness of Interventions, within the international network Collaboration of Aphasia Trialists, where she co-ordinates the data collection and analysis for the the AsPIRE project (Aphasia Intervention description in Research – with project lead, Professor Evy Vish-Brink). Lucy teaches clinical linguistics and child language in pre- and post-registration speech and language therapy programmes at City. She is also the Alumni and Continuing Professional Development (CDP) lead, and the Senior Tutor for Research (leading the programme for doctoral students) for the Division of Language and Communication Science at City.
Professor Jane Marshall
Professor Jane Marshall qualified as a speech and language therapist in 1987. She worked in the aphasia unit of an acute hospital before moving to City, University of London. Her research has investigated numerous aspects of aphasia, including language processing impairments in aphasia, jargon aphasia, aphasia in users of British Sign Language and the impact of communication interventions. Much of her current research is investigating technological applications in aphasia therapy. This has explored novel applications of mainstream technologies and new bespoke tools. The latter include EVA Park, a virtual communication environment designed with and for people with aphasia. Jane teaches on the speech and language therapy programmes at City, and is Programme Director of the MSc in Speech Language and Communication (Advanced Practice in Health and Social Care). Her work has been recognised by the Robin Tavistock Award and a Fellowship of the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists. In 2018 She was awarded an OBE for her research and teaching in aphasia.
Professor Nicola Botting
Twitter:@NicolaBotting
Professor Nicola Botting is a Professor of Developmental Disorders at City University of London which she joined in 2005. Nicola trained as a psychologist completing a BSc Hons in Psychology (Hertfordshire) and an MA in Clinical Child Psychology (Nottingham), before then completing a PhD in Child Health (Liverpool). She has been researching language and communication difficulties for over 20 years. Nicola is joint-investigator on The Manchester Language Study, the largest UK longitudinal study of developmental language disorder. She is particularly interested in the overlap between developmental disorders, quality of life in people with communication disorders, and the link between language and cognition over time. Nicola is co-applicant on LUNA with particular focus on outcome measures, design and analysis.
Professor Mary Boyle![]()
Professor Mary Boyle, Professor in Communication Sciences and Disorders at Montclair State University (MSU) in New Jersey, received her Ph.D. and M.A. from Northwestern University and her B.S from The University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Before joining the faculty at MSU, she was Director of the Speech, Language & Audiology Department at Burke Rehabilitation Hospital in White Plains, NY. Her clinical and research interests focus on treatment of adults with aphasia, particularly word retrieval impairment in discourse. She was among the first to develop and apply Semantic Feature Analysis treatment to the word-retrieval impairment caused by aphasia. Her research has been published in peer-reviewed journals and presented at national and international conferences. She is a Fellow of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association and is Board Certified in Adult Neurologic Communication Disorders by the Academy of Neurologic Communication Disorders and Sciences.
Dr Deborah Hersh![]()
Twitter: @deborahhersh
Associate Professor Deborah Hersh has nearly 30 years of clinical, research and teaching experience in speech pathology in the UK and Australia, is a Fellow of Speech Pathology Australia (SPA), and has served on the SPA ethics board. She has published and presented extensively, for example, on: aphasia assessment, goal setting, and discharge from therapy; professional-client relationships; acquired communication disorder in Aboriginal Australians following stroke and brain injury; and co-constructing narratives with people with aphasia. Deborah established the Talkback Association for Aphasia, and contributed to the development of the Australian Aphasia Rehabilitation Pathway, the Australian Stroke Foundation Clinical Guidelines (2010 and 2015), and the Enable Me website. Deborah is an Associate Editor of the International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, has served on the editorial board of the Journal of Clinical Practice in Speech-Language Pathology, and acted as a guest editor for Aphasiology. She has been a Chief Investigator on three NHMRC grants, an AIATSIS grant, and the UK Stroke Association Grant for LUNA. Deborah teaches in the undergraduate speech pathology course at Edith Cowan University in Western Australia, coordinates the Speech Pathology Honours programme and supervises Masters and PhD.
Dr Kate Swinburn
Twitter: @KateSwinburn
Dr Kate Swinburn is a freelance academic and will be project manager for the final stages of the LUNA project. She qualified from City University as a speech and language therapist in 1987 and worked for the NHS for 15 years in acute, rehab and community settings specialising in adult neurology. She moved into the voluntary sector in 2003, to work at Connect – the communication disability network for 10 years writing & delivering training, writing & editing publications, and advocating for people with aphasia in national policy arenas. Her academic contributions have always run alongside her paid employment. Her academic interests focus on people with acquired communication disability (particularly those with aphasia and dementia), working alongside them during co-produced projects, and integrating the social model of disability into the research agenda, especially into outcome measurement. Her work has been published in peer-reviewed journals, and book chapters and she has presented at national and international conferences. Kate was awarded her PhD from City University in 2004. She has published two notable outcomes measures: the Comprehensive Aphasia Test (the CAT: Swinburn, Porter, Howard 2006), and the Aphasia Impact Questionnaire (the AIQ: Swinburn 2018). She is a member of Working Group 2 Assessment & Outcomes, within the international network Collaboration of Aphasia Trialists, where she is supporting the adaptation of both the CAT and the AIQ into 17 international language adaptations (currently). She was made a Fellow of the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists in 2012. Currently she is an honorary lecturer at University College London and is a consultant working on curriculum development for St George’s University of London medical school. Kate was drawn to the LUNA project by both the team and the resource. She was impressed by the merging of evidence-based practice and painstaking co-production. She is excited to be able to bring her experience to the final stages of what she believes will be a fantastically practical and accessible resource for therapists and people with aphasia alike.
Carla Chynoweth
Twitter: @Carla_SLT
Carla is a Speech & Language Therapist who has joined LUNA as a Clinical Assessor for the final phase of the project. Furthermore, she is investigating the stability of personal narratives for people with aphasia for her Masters. Since qualifying from City with a Postgraduate Diploma in Speech & Language Therapy in 2018, she has worked in a community neuro-rehabilitation team within Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust for 18 months, working with adults with long-term communication and swallowing difficulties due to acquired and/or progressive neurological conditions. Carla especially enjoyed working alongside people with language difficulties to achieve something meaningful in their day-to-day lives. A fascination in the ways messages and stories shape our lives, communities and behaviours led Carla to obtain an undergraduate degree in Theology from the University of Durham, a Masters in Biblical Studies from King’s College London, and to work as an Internal Communications Specialist for four years. After identifying that working with individuals was a key part of job satisfaction, she retrained to work in the healthcare sector. Carla was attracted to the LUNA team because the researchers have shown commitment from the outset to collaborate with therapists and people with aphasia, and to facilitate the application of knowledge into action to make a tangible impact in clinical practice and in the lives of those with aphasia.
Lin Cockayne
Twitter: @LinCockayneSLT
Lin is a Speech and Language Therapist joining the LUNA team as a Clinical Assessor for the final phase of the project. Lin qualified with Distinction in Speech and Language Sciences from UCL in 2018 and since graduating has been working with Aphasia Re-Connect delivering peer-led community aphasia groups across London. She previously volunteered and worked for Connect – the communication disability network and has long been passionate about supporting people with aphasia to participate in every day conversations, conveying who they are in ways that are personally relevant, meaningful and fun. Lin was attracted to LUNA’s exciting new approach and its focus on enabling people to express their personal stories in their own words and language, and connect with others in a richer, more comfortable and more meaningful way.
Sarah Johnston
Twitter: @SarahJo96348027
Sarah qualified as a speech and language therapist in 1997 from City, University of London. Her passion was always to work with adults with acquired communication disability, but with a special interest in aphasia. Sarah has worked with this client group across a range of NHS settings; acute wards including critical care, designated stroke units, a neuro-rehabilitation centre, and in the community. In addition to clinical work Sarah has been committed to supporting the development of environments conducive to supporting communication with people with aphasia. Within the NHS this has involved offering training sessions for other staff members, as well as being a member of the Trust wide ‘Accessible Information Group.’ Sarah has also taught the communication module for the Physiotherapy MSc at Brighton University. The opportunity to join the LUNA team as a treating therapist was really exciting for Sarah as she is passionate about promoting inclusion for people with aphasia and is therefore committed to a ‘Life Participation Approach.’ LUNA offers a framework which can be replicated in clinical practice to focus on participation goals and make therapy more meaningful.
Richard Talbot
Twitter: @rtslt
Richard is a speech and language therapist and researcher joining the LUNA team as a therapist for the final phase of the project. He previously contributed to the therapist co-design phase. Richard has over 10 years clinical experience in a variety of adult neurology settings. He currently works part time in community rehabilitation in Sussex, alongside the post on the LUNA project at City, University of London, and is the Newsletter Coordinator for the British Aphasiology Society Committee. Richard was previously a project manager on the EVA Project also at City, and continues to support an early adopter initiative to promote uptake of the technology in clinical practice. The opportunity to continue to be involved with linking research and practice was a key motivator in applying for the therapist role on the LUNA project. Richard is excited to be able to learn from and contribute to the development of therapy co-designed to make a meaningful change to the communication of people with aphasia through telling their own story.
Gabriella Procida
Gabriella qualified as a Speech and Language Therapist from City University in 2009, following many years working in the charity sector. At City, she realised very quickly that her passion lay with working with adults with neurological conditions. Since then, Gabriella has worked in a number of roles in the Guy’s and St Thomas’ community neuro rehab service across Lambeth and Southwark. Here, she developed special interests including supporting people living with motor neurone disease; improving quality of life for people with dementia living in care homes; and the use of technology to support communication. Working in the community, her focus was very much on helping people get back to their real lives – with meaningful, everyday communication a key part of that. The LUNA approach to aphasia really struck a chord with Gabriella – telling our personal stories is the stuff of life, and how we tell our stories is central to who we are. She is very excited have the opportunity to help develop a practical tool for therapists to use in this key area of clinical practice – and which has the inclusion of people with aphasia at its heart.
Dr Madeleine Pritchard
Twitter: @pritchardmr
Dr. Madeleine Pritchard was a Postdoctoral Research Fellow on the LUNA project at City, University of London between May 2018 and December 2019. Madeleine trained as a Speech and Language Therapist, completing her BSc (Hons) in Speech and Language Therapy (City, University of London). Madeleine has researched language, gesture, communication, memory, and discourse in aphasia. Her PhD in Language and Communication Science (City, University of London) focused on psychometric quality of discourse measures (thesis entitled ‘Discourse measures describing coherence and language in aphasia’). She was a member of the British Aphasiology Society Committee (Therapy Symposium Coordinator).