Reader

SHS

Division: Speech and Hearing Sciences

Tel: 0131 474 0000

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.

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.