Catriona M. Steele | |
---|---|
Known for | former President of Speech-Language and Audiology Canada |
Academic background | |
Education | M.H.Sc., Speech-Language pathology, 1991, PhD, Speech-Language pathology, 2003, University of Toronto |
Thesis | Kinematics and coordinative dynamics in normal human swallowing. (2003) |
Academic work | |
Institutions | University of Toronto |
Main interests | Dysphagia |
Website | steeleswallowinglab |
Catriona Margaret Steele is a Canadian clinician-scientist. She is a Senior Scientist at the KITE Research Institute of the University Health Network,Full professor in the Department of Speech-Language Pathology,Rehabilitation Sciences Institute at the University of Toronto and Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Swallowing and Food Oral Processing.
Steele earned her Master's degree and PhD from the University of Toronto. After earning her Master's,Steele practiced as a medical speech-language pathologist before returning for her doctorate. [1]
From 1998 until 2000,Steele served as President of the Canadian Association of Speech-Language Pathologists and Audiologists (CASLPA). [1] In her role as president,she called for universities to increase their training programs for speech and hearing specialists. [2] She also began to measure pathological signals in swallowing and use surface electromyography as a way to treat Dysphagia. [3]
Upon earning her PhD,Steele accepted a position at the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute. [4] While there,she launched an online learning education course titled An Evidence Based Approach to Dysphasia Intervention in 2004. [5] She also conducted therapy meant to retrain swallowing muscles using biofeedback. [4]
In 2010,Steele and Tom Chau began designing a new technique to detect whether someone with Dysphagia had inhaled food or liquids based on sound wave vibrations. [6] In some cases,her research team used Fluoroscopy,a diagnostic imaging tool,to determine how much food or liquid went down her throat. Using this technique on a stroke victim,Steele worked with Dorothy four times a week for six weeks to strengthen her swallowing muscles,eventually allowing her to return to solid foods. [7] As a result of her research,she was elected a fellow of the American Speech–Language–Hearing Association [1] and received the Eve Kassirer Award for Outstanding Achievement. [8] By 2013,Steele was promoted to Full professor by the University of Toronto, [9] received the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal, [10] and earned the CASLPA 2013 Mentorship Award. [11]
As a member of the International Dysphagia Diet Standardisation Initiative (IDDSI) Board,Steele helped set universal guidelines for texture-modified foods and instructions for simple methods to test food and drink consistency. [12] She also worked alongside colleagues at the University of Waterloo to published a study titled Making the Most of Mealtimes, a project focused on the nutritional value of food for seniors at 32 long-term care facilities across Canada. [12] [13] In 2016,Steele received the Speech-Language and Audiology Canada Lifetime Achievement Award for "her pivotal role in the advancement of speech-language pathology,particularly as it relates to the assessment and management of dysphagia." [14]
Dysphagia is difficulty in swallowing. Although classified under "symptoms and signs" in ICD-10,in some contexts it is classified as a condition in its own right.
Laryngectomy is the removal of the larynx. In a total laryngectomy,the entire larynx is removed with the separation of the airway from the mouth,nose and esophagus. In a partial laryngectomy,only a portion of the larynx is removed. Following the procedure,the person breathes through an opening in the neck known as a stoma. This procedure is usually performed by an ENT surgeon in cases of laryngeal cancer. Many cases of laryngeal cancer are treated with more conservative methods. A laryngectomy is performed when these treatments fail to conserve the larynx or when the cancer has progressed such that normal functioning would be prevented. Laryngectomies are also performed on individuals with other types of head and neck cancer. Less invasive partial laryngectomies,including tracheal shaves and feminization laryngoplasty may also be performed on transgender women and other female or non-binary identified individuals to feminize the larynx and/or voice. Post-laryngectomy rehabilitation includes voice restoration,oral feeding and more recently,smell and taste rehabilitation. An individual's quality of life can be affected post-surgery.
University Health Network (UHN) is a public research and teaching hospital network in Toronto,Ontario,Canada. It is affiliated with the University of Toronto,and is the largest health research organization in Canada,ranking first in Canada for total research funding. It was named Canada's top research hospital by Research Infosource from 2015 to 2022. The network includes four hospitals –Toronto General Hospital,Toronto Western Hospital,Princess Margaret Cancer Centre –West Park Healthcare Centre,the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute,and The Michener Institute,a post-secondary institution granting diplomas and certificates in health sciences and leadership. In the 2019-2020 fiscal year,there were over 39,000 acute inpatient stays and close to 121,000 emergency department visits across the three acute care hospitals. Newsweek has consistently named UHN's Toronto General Hospital as among the world's top hospitals,most recently ranking Toronto General as the world's 3rd best hospital in 2024,and first in Canada.
Oral myology is the field of study that involves the evaluation and treatment of the oral and facial musculature,including the muscles of the tongue,lips,cheeks,and jaw.
Oropharyngeal dysphagia is the inability to empty material from the oropharynx into the esophagus as a result of malfunction near the esophagus. Oropharyngeal dysphagia manifests differently depending on the underlying pathology and the nature of the symptoms. Patients with dysphagia can experience feelings of food sticking to their throats,coughing and choking,weight loss,recurring chest infections,or regurgitation. Depending on the underlying cause,age,and environment,dysphagia prevalence varies. In research including the general population,the estimated frequency of oropharyngeal dysphagia has ranged from 2 to 16 percent.
Salus University is a private university in Elkins Park,Pennsylvania,specializing in degree programs for the health care professions.
Speech–language pathology (a.k.a. speech and language pathology or logopedics) is a healthcare and academic discipline concerning the evaluation,treatment,and prevention of communication disorders,including expressive and mixed receptive-expressive language disorders,voice disorders,speech sound disorders,speech disfluency,pragmatic language impairments,and social communication difficulties,as well as swallowing disorders across the lifespan. It is an allied health profession regulated by professional bodies including the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) and Speech Pathology Australia. The field of speech-language pathology is practiced by a clinician known as a speech-language pathologist (SLP) or a speech and language therapist (SLT). SLPs also play an important role in the screening,diagnosis,and treatment of autism spectrum disorder (ASD),often in collaboration with pediatricians and psychologists.
Lisa Steele is a Canadian artist,a pioneer in video art,educator,curator and co-founder of Vtape in Toronto. Born in the United States,Steele moved to Canada in 1968 and is now a Canadian citizen. She has collaborated exclusively with her partner Kim Tomczak since the early 1980s.
JoAnne Robbins is an American authority on dysphagia and biomedical engineering,and is professor of medicine at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. For more than three decades she has been a leading researcher in the field of swallowing abnormalities. Her work has uncovered correlations among elderly populations who are at increased risk for pneumonia,choking and other serious medical conditions as a result of dysphagia. Using grants from N.I.H. and the Department of Veterans Affairs,Robbins developed a medical device designed to help people afflicted with swallowing disorders.
Keren D. Rice is a Canadian linguist. She is a professor of linguistics and serves as the Director of the Centre for Aboriginal Initiatives at the University of Toronto.
Sali A. Tagliamonte is a Canadian linguist. Her main area of research is the field of language variation and change.
Heather Joan Ross is professor of medicine at the University of Toronto in Ontario,Canada. Ross is a scientific lead for the Ted Rogers Centre for Heart Research,the director of the Ted Rogers Centre of Excellence in Heart Function and Director of the Cardiac Transplant Program at Toronto General Hospital. She has been the president of the Canadian Cardiovascular Society and the Canadian Society of Transplantation.
Sylvia Beth Bashevkin,is Canadian academic and writer known for her research in the field of women and politics.
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Alison Keith is a classical scholar who is Professor of Classics and Women's Studies at the University of Toronto,where she has been a Fellow of Victoria University of Toronto since 1989. She is an expert on the relationships between gender and genre in Latin literature,and has published widely on topics including Latin epic poetry,Ovid,Propertius,and Roman dress.
Colleen M. Flood is the Dean of Queen's University Faculty of Law.
Ayelet Shachar is a legal scholar. She is the Director of the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity in Göttingen. She previously held the Canada Research Chair in Citizenship and Multiculturalism at the University of Toronto.
Anna Taddio is a Canadian pharmacist. She is a professor in the Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy at the University of Toronto,and adjunct senior scientist and clinical pharmacist at SickKids Hospital.
Deborah Beth Zamble was a Canadian chemist and Canada Research Chair in Biological Chemistry at the University of Toronto. Her research considered how bacteria processed metal nutrients.
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Catriona M. Steele publications indexed by Google Scholar