Dysphagia Clinical Resources

The Aerodigestive Research Core (ARC) is comprised of passionate clinician scientists who are dedicated to improving dysphagia care and outcomes. The mission is to improve assessment and clinical management approaches for upper aerodigestive tract disorders to optimize functions of swallowing, breathing, and airway clearance, patient quality of life, and survivorship. Emily Plowman, PhD, and her team strive to conduct pragmatic, meaningful and translatable clinical research that can be utilized by clinicians working ‘in the trenches’ to improve patient outcomes. 

This website provides resources on the topics of feeding, speech, and mouth development/function for parents, family members, and professionals. This site contains free blogs, questions and answers, and other resources on these topics. The goal of the website is to educate parents, family members, and professionals about the best possible feeding, speech, and mouth development/function practices for babies, children, and adults.

Research led by Dr. Ashwini Namasivayam-MacDonald, focuses on swallowing difficulties in older adults. This work aims to deepen understanding of the nature of swallowing difficulties across various conditions, identify factors that influence these difficulties, and explore the most effective ways to support adults living with swallowing impairments, as well as their caregivers.

ASHA is the national professional, scientific, and credentialing association for more than 173,070 members and affiliates who are audiologists, speech-language pathologists, speech, language, and hearing scientists, audiology and speech-language pathology support personnel, and students.

Aspire  Respiratory Products are the makers of the EMST150 and the EMST75 expiratory muscle strength trainers and the IA150 Inspiratory Adapter. We have been partnering with world class researchers since 2008 to create therapeutic devices that target cough, swallowing and increased breathing capacity. The EMST150™ was the first of its kind, a calibrated expiratory muscle strength trainer designed specifically for individuals who want to enhance their breathing and swallow function. Our goal is to improve the quality of people’s lives responsibly with scientifically proven science behind every product we bring to market.

Bracco Diagnostics manufactures standardized barium products specifically designed for the Modified Barium Swallow study. Bracco provides a full range of radiology supplies for fluoroscopy, CT, MR, Nuclear Medicine and Ultrasound.

The Computational Deglutition Lab is an interdisciplinary research team consisting of speech-language pathologists and medical engineers at the University of Pittsburgh. The lab aims to improve assessment, treatment, and quality of life for people with swallowing disorders by using swallow kinematic analysis and computational modeling techniques. Current research work in the lab is focused on improving swallow screening techniques and biofeedback for dysphagia therapy. The lab uses high resolution cervical auscultation to investigate the association between acoustic and vibratory signals and physiological events that occur during swallowing.

Passionate about innovation in healthcare, CranioRehab specializes in medical rehab devices designed to prevent and treat trismus, dysphagia, microstomia, and facial contractures. Our focus on quality patient care drives us to create viable solutions for head, neck, mouth, and jaw rehabilitation.

A multi-disciplinary, non-profit society dedicated to encouraging and enhancing research in normal and disordered swallowing. The Dysphagia Research Society is organized exclusively for charitable, educational and scientific purposes.

Dr. Erin Kamarunas’s research is centered on advancing the understanding and rehabilitation of dysphagia, with a particular emphasis on innovative therapeutic techniques and their clinical implications. The Eating and Swallowing Analysis and Treatment (EAT) Lab is based out of James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia.

The Esophageal Co-Lab is part of a collaborative effort created by founders Dr. Stephanie Watts and Jessica Gregor, SLP to act as a resource hub for esophageal dysphagia education and connect providers with a special interest in esophageal dysphagia research clinical management. The aim of the Co-Lab is to promote collaboration and scientific discovery.

Feeding Matters is spearheading the effort to conquer pediatric feeding struggles by developing tools, resources, and educational opportunities for both parents and professionals. Working alongside internationally recognized feeding experts, Feeding Matters is addressing the many aspects of feeding and swallowing disorders, including growth, cognitive development, physical strength, behavior, and nutritional status.

Led by principal investigator, Dr. Kate Hutcheson, this clinical research lab is dedicated to head and neck cancer survivorship, with a particular focus on swallowing and communication outcomes. The laboratory’s mission is to advance the science and care of head and neck cancer survivors from the time of diagnosis through the management of long-term effects.

The Hutcheson Laboratory aims to optimize functional outcomes and quality of life for cancer survivors through rigorous clinical research. The team has developed protocols and methodologies to assess functional outcomes, emphasizing practical, real-world approaches to outcomes measurement and clinical care.

The Upper Airway Dysfunction (UAD) Laboratory conducts research aimed at improving health outcomes and quality of life for individuals with disorders of airway protection. Led by Director and Principal Investigator Dr. Michelle Troche, the lab takes a comprehensive, two-pronged approach that integrates both basic science and clinical research.

The basic science arm of the lab focuses on uncovering the mechanisms that underlie airway protection and its associated disorders. The clinical research arm is dedicated to developing innovative, evidence-based methods for evaluating and treating dystussia (disordered cough) and dysphagia (disordered swallowing).

Current projects explore a range of behaviors that contribute to airway protection, with a particular emphasis on modifying these behaviors through non-pharmacological treatment strategies. Research participants include healthy individuals as well as those living with Parkinson’s disease, other movement disorders, and ischemic stroke.

The Laboratory of Applied Swallowing & Research (LASR) seeks to enhance understanding of healthy and impaired swallowing, known as dysphagia, with the goal of improving patient outcomes.

The research focuses on various aspects, including the coordination of breathing and swallowing in conditions like chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), changes in sensorimotor swallowing related to aging and disease and the effectiveness of different doses in swallowing treatments.

This lab is led by Dr. Teresa Drulia and it is based out of Texas Christian University (TCU).

Their commitment is to provide patients with hope and improve the quality of life for those suffering from all types of swallowing disorders. By enhancing direct patient support, education, research, and raising public, professional, and governmental awareness, their mission is to advance the prevention and treatment of swallowing disorders within their lifetime.

The NYU Swallowing Research Lab conducts research on both healthy and disordered swallowing (also known as dysphagia). The lab is led by Dr. Sonja Molfenter, a clinically trained speech-language pathologist. Much of the lab’s research focuses on biomechanical changes to swallowing associated with various health-related conditions. More information can be found on the “Current Projects” page. Research from the NYU Swallowing Research Lab has been funded by the National Institutes of Health, the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, the NYU CTSA grant, and the NYU Mega Grants fund.

The NYCDSG is a unique group of medical speech-language pathologists from the New York metro area who meet once a month for a specialized conference to discuss various clinical care topics and research related to the field of dysphagia and medical speech pathology. Follow the link for meeting details.

The work of the O-SEE Lab focuses on better understanding swallowing in context among healthy older adults and across various clinical populations. Swallowing impairments (dysphagia) can lead to profound biopsychosocial disability, affecting both individuals and their loved ones. The shared mealtime offers a particularly meaningful opportunity to explore the complex relationships between social interaction and health-related symptoms and outcomes. By situating swallowing within the broader contexts of eating, mealtimes, and socialization processes, the lab seeks to develop more holistic, ecologically valid approaches to managing swallowing- and eating-related impairments—ultimately aiming to improve both life expectancy and quality of life for individuals and their families.

The O-SEE Lab is located at the University of Oregon and is directed by Samantha Shune, PhD, Assistant Professor of Communication Disorders and Sciences.

The Purdue I-EaT Swallowing Research Lab and Clinic, directed by Dr. Georgia Malandraki, is dedicated to high-quality interdisciplinary clinical and biomedical research focused on: a) understanding the neural underpinnings of swallowing in health and disease, b) using that knowledge to develop new physiology-based interventions for dysphagia, and c) developing and validating telehealth systems for swallowing rehabilitation. The Clinic serves both pediatric and adult patients with dysphagia, enabling the rapid translation of research findings into clinical practice.

This website from Emily M. Homer, CCC-SLP, ASHA Fellow is designed to provide school-based SLPs, OTs, nurses, and others with information on addressing swallowing and feeding in a school setting.  Information and resources are provided on using a step-by-step district approved procedure to establish and maintain safe eating at school. The site provides articles, resources and information on how to successfully address swallowing and feeding in the schools.

Research in the Swallowing & Communication Collaborative is centered around optimizing the management of swallowing and speech impairments to improve quality of life for adults living with serious illnesses. Specifically, work in the lab focuses on the development of novel swallowing and speech assessment and treatment methodologies that incorporate patient preferences, improve patient-provider communication, and allow patients’ values and preferences to be both known and included in the medical decision-making process.

This lab is led by Dr. Bridget Perry at it is based out of MGH Institute of Health Professionals in Boston.

The Swallowing Cross-Systems Collaborative (SCSC) at Northwestern University, led by principal investigator Dr. Bonnie Martin-Harris, uses a clinical-research framework to improve the quality of life for people suffering from dysphagia. Within our state-of-the-art facility, we utilize refined diagnostic equipment to identify deficits in upper aerodigestive physiology, and test the effect of novel therapeutic regimens. Findings from these investigations are carefully translated into clinical care through our integration of aspiring and practicing clinicians within the research laboratory. Here, trainees learn using a multi-modal clinical training approach that links didactic instruction with hands-on experience – providing clinicians with the scientific foundations to enhance patient care.

The Swallow Modulation Lab, led by Dr. Corrine Jones and located at the University of Texas at Austin, uses motor learning principles and sensitive tools to study swallowing physiology in both healthy individuals and those with neurodegenerative conditions. The lab’s goal is to identify opportunities for developing novel models of dysphagia rehabilitation.

The Swallowing Rehabilitation Research Laboratory (SRRL) was founded in 2003 by Professor Catriona Steele. The SRRL is affiliated with the KITE Research Institute, a research enterprise within the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute (TRI), Canada’s largest rehabilitation hospital. Both TRI and KITE are part of the University Health Network (UHN), Canada’s largest academic teaching hospital, which is affiliated with the University of Toronto. The lab receives generous funding from the National Institutes of Health (USA) and maintains several industry collaborations. The lab consists of a multidisciplinary group of individuals from speech-language pathologists, PhD students to clinical engineers who are interested in exploring the exact mechanisms of swallowing and improving clinical practice.

TIMS Medical offers cutting-edge video recording and archiving for medical imaging procedures. Our TIMS MVP solution enables live video recording from any medical modality, with advanced diagnostic imaging tools for review, editing, and reporting. With seamless connectivity to PACS, VNA, and EMR, TIMS MVP optimizes productivity, cuts costs, and enhances patient outcomes.

The Swallowing & Salivary Bioscience Lab, led by principal investigator Dr. Nicole Rogus-Pulia, is a translational research program focused on dysphagia, or swallowing dysfunction, in patients with Alzheimer’s disease. The goal of our work is to systematically identify and characterize factors underlying dysphagia in patients with Alzheimer’s disease and then to translate these findings into novel, evidence-based treatments for maintenance of quality of life and prevention of pneumonia onset. Specific research interests include the effects of intensive dysphagia rehabilitation, including tongue strengthening, on swallow function and health status; the feasibility of exercise-based approaches to dysphagia treatment for patients with early-stage Alzheimer’s disease; and the impact of oral microbial profiles and saliva production on oral health and pneumonia risk in patients with dysphagia.

SwallowStudy.com is a dysphagia resource for professionals and patients and strives to provide an up-to-date, evidenced-based resource for the busy dysphagia practitioner. This website includes a dysphagia blog, as well as quick links for clinicians and patients, conference and literature reviews, and patient handouts. More information is being added all the time. We welcome suggestions and encourage discussions.

Research and education dedicated to swallowing disorders from the department of speech and hearing sciences at the University of New Mexico. Led by principal investigator, Dr. Phyllis Palmer, the lab conducts research investigating the essential characteristics of oral, pharyngeal, and laryngeal motor function as it relates to swallow function across the lifespan in healthy individuals and individuals with various disorders. 

The V.A.S.T. Research Lab, led by Dr. Barkmeier-Kraemer at the University of Utah, is a collaborative, interdisciplinary, clinical research laboratory that supports both funded and unfunded projects addressing normal and abnormal voice, breathing, and swallowing. In partnership with departments such as Otolaryngology, Neurology, Urology, Radiology, and others, the lab works toward its mission and vision: providing accessible and effective prevention and care for voice, airway, and swallowing problems, and enhancing care and support for individuals with voice, airway, and swallowing disorders through basic and applied scientific methods. This approach leads to innovative and effective clinical evaluation, treatment, clinical training, and patient advocacy.