Dysphagia Grand Rounds: To E stim or Not to E stim

Evidence-Based Practice (EBP) is the integration of clinical expertise, patient values, and the current best research evidence, into the clinical decision-making process for patient care. Learning how to access, appraise and apply scientific evidence to clinical practice significantly enhances the opportunity for optimal patient outcomes and quality of life. Dysphagia Grand Rounds (DGR) is an online monthly journal club for speech-language pathologists, which focuses on swallowing and swallowing disorders across the lifespan. The goal of DGR is help clinicians learn how to critically appraise dysphagia research literature and to apply research evidence to clinical practice, with greater confidence and critical thinking. In this webinar, swallowing researcher and expert Dr. Ianessa Humbert and speech-language pathologist Rinki Varindani Desai introduce clinicians to Dysphagia Grand Rounds. Using the DGR format, they further discuss a research study regarding the effects of surface electrical stimulation on swallow function in patients with chronic pharyngeal dysphagia in detail. Clinicians are encouraged to read the open-access journal article below before viewing this webinar, to maximize their learning experience.

Meet the Presenters:
Dr. Ianessa Humbert, Ph.D., CCC-SLP​ is an Associate Professor at the University of Florida in the Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences. She has expertise in swallowing and swallowing disorders. Dr. Humbert’s research program is focused on the physiological mechanisms of swallowing disorders and development of rehabilitation strategies for dysfunction. More recently, a major interest of her program has been to understand the neural mechanisms underlying normal and disordered swallowing and how principles of motor learning can be applied to examine these as well as swallowing interventions. Dr. Humbert’s research has been steadily supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health, The American Heart Association, and The American Speech Language Hearing Association since 2006. Dr. Humbert is a widely sought after invited speaker at several national and international clinical and scientific meetings. She has created online courses for CEU credit on swallowing physiology and clinical practice, for which hundreds of clinicians have registered to date and is also the author of the Swallowing Pocket Guide: A Quick Reference for Muscles and Innervation, which has sold several hundred copies nationally and internationally.

Rinki Varindani Desai, M.S.,CCC-SLP is an ASHA-certified Speech-Language Pathologist and a BIAA-certified Brain Injury Specialist, specializing in the assessment and treatment of cognitive-linguistic and swallowing disorders in adults. She has extensively treated adults with dysphagia in the acute care and long-term care medical settings. She is trained in the use of Fibreoptic Endoscopic Evaluation of Swallowing (FEES), Myofascial Release for swallowing disorders and certified in the use of NMES (Vitalstim) for dysphagia management. Rinki founded the Medical SLP Forum and co-developed the mobile app Dysphagia Therapy . She serves on ASHA’s SIG 13 Editorial Review Committee as the CE Editor of Perspectives and on the Dysphagia Research Society’s Website, Communications and Public Relations Committee . She has spoken at several national and international conferences on topics related to dysphagia in adults. Her articles have been featured in popular SLP blogs such as The ASHA Leader , Medbridge Education , Tactus Therapy and Dysphagia Café . Originally an SLP from Mumbai, India; Rinki currently practices in Rochester, New York. You can follow her Medical SLP Blog on Facebook or reach out to her via LinkedIn or Twitter.