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ProfessorKirrie Ballard

Professor of Speech Motor Control and Disorders

Faculty of Medicine and Health

Orcid identifier0000-0002-9917-5390 (opens in a new tab)⁠
  • Professor of Speech Motor Control and Disorders
    Faculty of Medicine and Health

Research projects & supervision summary

Current Research Projects include:

  1. Real time MRI of the vocal tract in adolescents through older adults and in individuals with acquired speech disorders
    • PhD student: Tharinda Piyadasa; MPhil student: YaoYao Yue [graduated]; Postdoc: Dr Tuende Szalay
    • Funding: ARC Discovery, NHMRC Ideas
  2.  Building speech corpora for development of automated speech analysis for Australian children and adults, with and without speech disorder
    • Postdocs: Dr Tuende Szalay
    • Funding: ARC LIEF, ARC Discovery
  3.  Using video gamification to achieve high intensity, high dosage speech therapy practice for accelerated outcomes
    • PhD student: Adam Hair [graduated]
    • Funding: Qatar National Research Foundation, AMP Tomorrow Maker
  4.  Exploring the application of Processability Theory to assessment and treatment of acquired agrammatic language production.
    • PhD student: Jessica Feng
  5.  The effect of long term communication intervention for people living with primary progressive aphasia.
    • PhD student: pending; Research Officer: Dr Penelope Monroe
    • Funding: Philanthropic

 

Current PhD Students:

Primary Supervisor

  • Emily Yun (Topic: Orofacial dys/function in preschoolers)
  • Jessica Feng (Topic: Assessment and treatment of acquired agrammatic language production)

Auxiliary Supervisor

  • Tharinda Piyadasa (Topic: rtMRI for 2D/3D modeling of the vocal tract during speech)
  • James Carrick (Topic: Apathy in progressive neurological conditions)

RESEARCH PROJECTS & ACTIVITIES

  • RESEARCH-BASED DEGREE SUPERVISION
    A Deep Learning Approach to Extracting Vocal Tract Information from real-time MRI
  • RESEARCH-BASED DEGREE SUPERVISION
    Advances in the Treatment of Head and Neck Cancer: Impact on Swallowing Impairment
  • RESEARCH-BASED DEGREE SUPERVISION
    Advancing Understanding of Orofacial Dysfunction Orofacial Myofunctional Disorder and the role of Speech-Language Pathologists
  • RESEARCH-BASED DEGREE SUPERVISION
    Apathy and social health in neurocognitive disorders
  • RESEARCH-BASED DEGREE SUPERVISION
    Applying principles of motor learning to speech intervention for children with cleft palate: is it effective?
  • RESEARCH-BASED DEGREE SUPERVISION
    Dysphagia in Adults with Multiple Sclerosis
  • RESEARCH-BASED DEGREE SUPERVISION
    Effect of prosthodontic rehabilitation on masticatory performance and speech intelligibility in children with severe hypodontia
  • RESEARCH-BASED DEGREE SUPERVISION
    Exploring the use of multiplex network science to guide selection of treatment stimuli for word finding disorders in individuals with Primary Progressive Aphasia
  • RESEARCH-BASED DEGREE SUPERVISION
    Feeding Disorders in Infants: Clinical Presentation Assessment and Intervention
  • RESEARCH-BASED DEGREE SUPERVISION
    Polysyllabic production in children with speech sound disorders: Dynamic assessment and intervention
  • RESEARCH-BASED DEGREE SUPERVISION
    Real-Time Magnetic Resonance Imaging for Vocal Tract Analysis
  • RESEARCH-BASED DEGREE SUPERVISION
    Social isolation and social functioning in dementia syndromes: Mechanisms and interventions
  • RESEARCH-BASED DEGREE SUPERVISION
    The Effects of Group Singing on the Cognitive Communication Skills and Wellbeing of Individuals with Dementia
  • RESEARCH-BASED DEGREE SUPERVISION
    Uncovering communication changes in multiple sclerosis: Understanding the patient experience and a way forward