Dysphagia Assessment and Treatment Planning 2025

Rebecca Leonard, PhD, CCC-SLP, is a Professor Emeritus in the Department of Otolaryngology at the University of California, Davis, and former Clinical Director of the Voice-Speech-Swallowing Center in the ENT Clinic. Dr. Leonard continues to be actively involved in research activities associated with the center. Her research interests include normal and disordered swallowing, changes in swallowing across the life span, development of quantitative radiographic techniques to assess the upper airway and esophagus during swallowing, aversive effects on structures of the upper airway associated with environmental stimuli (ozone), and the effects of ablative procedures on voice, speech, and swallowing and the rehabilitation of these effects with prosthetic appliances and reconstructive procedures. Her MS and PhD degrees are from Purdue University, and she is a Fellow of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. **** Katherine A. Kendall, MD, FACS, completed her residency in Otolaryngology at the University of California, Davis. After residency, she joined the faculty at the University of California, Davis, where she was the medical director of the dysphagia team and the Voice, Speech and Swallowing Center and, along with co-author Dr. Rebecca Leonard, developed the Laryngology and Swallowing Assessment program. In 2004, Dr. Kendall joined the otolaryngology department at Park Nicollet Clinic in Minnesota. As director of laryngology services, Dr. Kendall was actively involved in education and training of speech pathologists in the area of voice and swallowing. Dr. Kendall joined the otolaryngology faculty at the University of Minnesota in 2007 and created a Voice Clinic at the Minneapolis VA Medical Center, offering multidisciplinary evaluation and treatment of voice and swallowing disorders. Dr. Kendall joined the Division of Otolaryngology at the University of Utah in 2012 and continues her work on the treatment of voice and swallowing disorders.