About

About the CSD Podcast:

The Pitt CSD Podcast is a student-run podcast designed to educate clinicians and trainees in CSD (Series 1) and to orient listeners from every walk of life to the rich tapestry of human communication experiences (Series 2).

SERIES 1: Research Unpacked is designed to bridge the knowledge gap between research and clinical practice in the field of communication science and disorders (CSD). Hosted by CSD PhD students at the University of Pittsburgh, each episode invites expert guests who are researchers to walk our listeners through a peer-reviewed research article of the guest’s choosing. Similar to a journal club, our discussion will discuss the relevant background that informs the present research and review the articles’ hypotheses, methods, results, and discussions. Most importantly, each Research Unpacked episode aims to provide clinicians with a better understanding of the field’s research and evidence-based take-home points that they can implement right away in their clinical practice.

SERIES 2: Modeled on NPR’s popular Storycorps podcast, the Lived Communication Experiences series features Pitt CSD MA-SLP and AUD students and alumni who help individuals tell their own human communication stories. Those stories might be told by patients living with, recovering from, and accepting their communication and aerodigestive disorders, or by anyone who wants to hold up and celebrate the differences and diversity of communication that are unique to them. If you want to help tell a lived communication experience story, email us at pittcsdpodcast@gmail.com and tell us a little about the story you’d like to tell!

About the hosts:

Cara Donohue, PhD, CCC-SLP, is a practicing speech-language pathologist and recent graduate of the PhD program in the Communication Science and Disorders Department at the University of Pittsburgh. Donohue completed her doctoral studies in the Computational Deglutition Lab under the mentorship of Dr. Jim Coyle. Currently, she is a post-doctoral research fellow in the Aerodigestive Research Core Laboratory at the University of Florida. Her long-term goal as a clinical scientist is to improve clinical care and quality of life for patients with swallowing disorders by 1) understanding the mechanisms of disordered swallowing that are associated with neurologic and respiratory etiologies and; 2) developing accurate assessment and effective treatment techniques for impaired pulmonary, cough, and swallow function by aligning them with the mechanisms of action of these diseases. 

Brett Welch, MS, CCC-SLP (he/him), is a speech-language pathologist who specializes in providing gender-affirming voice care and also a third year PhD student in the Department of Communication Science and Disorders at the University of Pittsburgh under the mentorship of Dr. Leah Helou. He researches the intersection between personality and communication behaviors, and how this relationship impacts mental health, voice therapy outcomes and its relationship to functional voice disorders. His long-term goal as a clinical scientist is to advance the field of speech-language pathology by 1) leveraging big data and scientific computing to interrogate the psychosocial factors driving patient behavior and; 2) centering identity in the assessment and treatment of voice and vocal pathologies.  

Featured guests:

• Dr. Lea Sayce
• Dr. Ryan Branski
• Dr. James Coyle
• Dr. Lisa Evangelista
• Dr. Bernard Rousseau
• Dr. Charles Ellis
• Dr. Brittany Krekeler
• Dr. Leah Helou
• Dr. Samantha Shune
• Dr. Marc Coutanche
• Dr. Valire Copeland