Keiko Ishikawa, PhD, MM, CCC-SLP, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, and her lab recently joined others across to campus to attend the Fall Voice conference, a national-level conference for clinicians and researchers in voice and swallow rehabilitations, in Phoenix, Ariz.

“This October, the University of Kentucky was strongly represented at the Fall Voice Conference 2024, a national conference of leading clinical professionals and scientists in the fields of voice and swallowing disorders,” Ishikawa said. “Drs. Sanford Archer, Mark Fritz, and Rachel Jonas from the Department of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery; Ms. Haley DeWitt from the UK Voice and Swallow Clinic; research assistant Raleigh de los Reyes from the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders; and Dr. Jennifer Yeatts from the Rehabilitation and Health Sciences PhD Program; participated in the conference. Our team’s participation highlighted the innovative work being conducted at UK, emphasizing our synergy between the departments and the commitment to advancing the field through multidisciplinary collaboration.”

Fritz, an associate professor in the Department of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, served as the chair for a session, “Surgical Innovation.”

From the College of Health Sciences, Ishikawa, the director of the Voice and Speech Rehabilitation Research Laboratory, presented a podium talk, "Approaches for Measuring a Speaker’s Cognitive Load: Implications for Voice Therapy."

Raleigh de Los Reyes, a second-year master's student in CSD, presented a poster titled "How Well Do Existing Voice Disorder Databases Meet the Scientific, Educational, and Engineering Needs?"

Jennifer Yeatts, a PhD student in the Rehabilitation and Health Sciences PhD Program, presented a poster titled "Gargle Phonation & Water Swallow Treatments for Muscle Tension Dysphonia: An Acoustic Study."

Ishikawa also presented a poster titled “AI and Machine Learning 101 for Clinicians: A concept Tutorial.”

Projects for these posters were completed in collaboration with Dr. Diana Orbelo at the Mayo Clinic and Dr. Mary Pietrowicz at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

“The success at Fall Voice 2024 is just the beginning,” Ishikawa said. “We are inspired to continue our work, pushing the boundaries of research and clinical practice. We extend our heartfelt thanks to all the team members and supporters who made this achievement possible.”