Speech and Swallow Service Team

Aaliyah Adams
Practice Assistant II

Aaliyah Adams has been with Mass General Brigham (MGB) since June 2022 when she worked as a Unit Coordinator for the Department of Oncology at Brigham and Women’s. She joined the Speech and Swallow Department in 2023 and works closely with the Department of Radiology scheduling video swallow studies and also with the clinicians in the ambulatory clinics scheduling patients. She graduated the University of Hartford with a BS in Health Sciences and a Minor Psychology. She is a lifelong Bostonian and looks forward to advancing her career in radiology technology in the future.

Darling Batiz
Per Diem Practice Assistant

Darling Batiz has been the Practice Assistant for the Speech and Swallow Department since 2016. Prior to this, Darling served as a Patient Care Coordinator at Manet Community Health Center. She is a Certified Medical Assistant, bilingual in Spanish and English, and has over 10 years of customer service experience. Darling is dedicated to providing excellent patient care and support in all of her tasks at BWH.

Eleanor (Ellie) Bernstein, MA, CCC-SLP
Senior Speech-Language Pathologist

Eleanor (Ellie) Bernstein received a Bachelor of Arts in Communication Sciences and Disorders from the University of Pittsburgh in 2014 and a Master of Arts in Speech-Language Pathology at the University of Pittsburgh in 2016. She completed her Clinical Fellowship in 2017 at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, where she continued to work in the acute care setting. She joined the Speech and Swallow Department at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in the fall of 2019 and was promoted to Senior Speech-Language Pathologist in 2024. Her primary clinical interests include evaluation and treatment of dysphagia in medically complex patients including video swallow studies and managing the transplant and cardiac surgery population. She regularly presents at the neuroscience nursing orientation classes on the topic of the role of the Speech-Language Pathologist in acute care. She is also a member of the Brigham and Women’s interdisciplinary tracheotomy team.

Eleanor Blase, MS, CCC-SLP
Speech-Language Pathologist

Eleanor Blase earned her post-baccalaureate degree in Speech-Language Pathology from California State University San Marcos in 2019 and her Master of Science in Communication Sciences and Disorders from Boston University in 2022. She completed her Clinical Fellowship Year at Lowell General Hospital working with medically complex inpatients and outpatients with communication and swallowing disorders. She joined the Speech and Swallow Department at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in 2024 with a clinical interest in dysphagia management across diverse populations.

Kelsey Boyce, MS, CCC-SLP
Speech-Language Pathologist

Kelsey Boyce received her Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from Gettysburg College in 2013, Master of Arts in Sociolinguistics from Georgetown University in 2017, and Master of Science in Speech-Language Pathology from Northeastern University in 2019. Kelsey joined the Speech and Swallow Department at Brigham and Women’s in 2024. Prior to her time at Brigham, Kelsey worked managing dysphagia in adults in the inpatient setting and treating patients with speech, language, and swallowing concerns across the lifespan. She has a clinical interest in dysphagia management.

Ashley Breton, MS, CCC-SLP
Speech-Language Pathologist

Ashley Breton received her Bachelor of Science in Communication Sciences and Disorders from the University of Vermont in 2017 and her Master of Science in Speech Language Pathology from Northeastern University in 2022. She completed her Clinical Fellowship at Brigham and Women's Hospital and has remained on the Speech and Swallow service team since. Ashley specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of Dysphagia with a primary clinical interest in Trauma, Burn, and Critical Care patient populations.

Elaine Burke, MS, CCC-SLP
Senior Speech-Language Pathologist

Elaine Burke completed the BS/MS combined program at Boston University with her Bachelor of Science in Communication Disorders in 1992 and Master of Science in Speech-Language Pathology in 1993. Elaine began her career in the subacute setting in Connecticut and quickly transitioned to acute care at St. Francis Hospital in Hartford, CT which allowed her to work with inpatient populations including TBI, Neuro, Cardiology, Head and Neck Cancer. She also worked in the outpatient setting and treated the head neck cancer population including laryngectomy patients with TEPs.

Elaine came to the Speech and Swallow Department at BWH in 2004 to work with inpatients and to develop speech and swallow services at Dana Faber Cancer Institute (DFCI). She is skilled in video swallow studies, FEES and swallowing disorders associated with head and neck cancer. Elaine has been a guest lecturer at Harvard Dental School and presented at the DFCI Annual Head and Neck Conference as well as the DFCI Dysphagia Conference.

Pamela Dodrill, PhD, CCC-SLP, BCS-S, CNT
Clinical Specialist

Pamela Dodrill graduated as a Speech-Language Pathologist from the Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia in 2001. She received her PhD from the Children’s Nutrition Research Centre, Department of Medicine, University of Queensland in 2008. She worked at the Royal Children’s Hospital, Brisbane for over a decade before relocating to Boston to work at Boston Children’s Hospital and then the Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH). Pamela has worked in the BWH Newborn Intensive Care Unit (NICU) since 2015. She is a Clinical Specialist on the Feeding and Developmental Therapy Team and has more than 20 years of experience working with infants with feeding difficulties and dysphagia. Pamela has numerous publications in this area, and regularly presents at international scientific conferences on this topic.

Lorraine Downey Cuddy, MS, CCC-SLP
Clinical Supervisor

Lorraine Downey Cuddy received her Master of Science from Boston University Sargent College. She specialized in swallowing disorders and radiographic imaging of swallowing (video swallow studies) in both the inpatient and outpatient clinics at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) in Boston from 1998-2002 and was promoted to Senior Speech-Language Pathologist during that time.

In 2002, she joined the Speech and Swallow Department at BWH and was promoted to Clinical Supervisor. Over the course of her career, she has headed the student internship program, guest lectured at Boston University, written several of the first Speech/Swallowing Standards of Care at BWH, presented at several national conferences, organized and ran the department continuing education program, and worked closely with the Department of Otolaryngology including participating in research in swallowing disorders. Lorraine is dedicated to providing the highest standard of care for patients with swallowing and speech/language disorders.

Tamara Elsamna, MS, CCC-SLP
Senior Speech-Language Pathologist

Tamara Elsamna joined the speech team in 2024 as a senior SLP. Tamara received a Bachelor of Arts in Linguistics from Rutgers University and a Master’s of Science in Communication Sciences and Disorders from William Paterson University. She completed her clinical fellowship at a skilled nursing facility in 2016. Tamara continued her work in acute care and specialized in traumatic and non-traumatic brain injury patients in an inpatient rehabilitation setting. She also has experience in the home health setting, working with the elderly population. Tamara is a board certified brain injury specialist and a LSVT-LOUD certified clinician. Tamara's professional interests include complex dysphagia cases, traumatic and non-traumatic brain injuries, and aphasia. She currently treats patients in the Department of Rehabilitation Ambulatory Clinics.

Joan Fitzgerald, MS, CCC-SLP
Senior Speech-Language Pathologist

Joan received her Master of Science in Communication Sciences and Disorders from La Salle University in 2011 and most recently received a Certificate of Pediatric Dysphagia from New York Medical College in 2022. Joan’s clinical career has focused on the pediatric population with specific interest in pediatric feeding and swallowing disorders. She has worked in home care, inpatient, and outpatient settings. She joined the BWH Center for Child Development/Feeding Team as a Senior Speech Language Pathologist in 2022 offering families feeding support for their infants following discharge from the NICU.

Elizabeth Gee, MS, CCC-SLP
Speech-Language Pathologist

Elizabeth Gee received her Bachelor of Science in Speech Language Pathology and Audiology from Ithaca College in 2020 and her Master of Science in Communication Disorders and Sciences from The University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. Elizabeth completed her Clinical Fellowship Year at Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston Texas. During her time at Texas Children’s she served as a member of the Infant Feeding Clinic and Swallowing Disorders Clinic. She joined the Feeding and Developmental Therapy Team at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in the Winter of 2024 working both in the Center for Child Development and the NICU.

Katherine A. Gibson, MS, CCC-SLP, BCS-S, CNT
Clinical Specialist

Katherine Gibson is a Senior Speech-Language Pathologist who has worked in pediatric dysphagia since 2009. She received her Master’s degree at UNC-Chapel Hill where she initiated her training in the NICU. Prior to joining the Developmental Team in the NICU at Brigham and Women’s Hospital she worked at the Greater Baltimore Medical Center and New York Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center in the NICU and Neonatal Cardiac ICU. During her time at Columbia, Katherine served as a member of the Aerodigestive, Single Ventricle, and Comfort Care teams. She has presented at several national speech pathology conferences and regional perinatal conferences.

Kelly Egan Hansen, MS, CCC-SLP, BCS-S
Per Diem Speech-Language Pathologist

Kelly Egan Hansen is a practicing speech pathologist with 20 years of clinical experience. Kelly is recognized as a board-certified specialist in swallowing and swallowing disorders. She works per diem at Brigham & Women’s Hospital serving medically complex adult patients who are experiencing dysphagia. Additionally, she is a lecturer at Boston University training graduate speech-language pathology students on dysphagia and instrumental assessments as well as supervising clinical training within the university clinic. She is a certified Parkinson Voice Project SPEAK OUT! provider. She has held positions at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and City of Hope (Cancer Center), both in the Los Angeles area.

Throughout her career, Kelly has served as a mentor for training instrumental swallowing assessments, clinical swallow evaluations, providing patient-centered care, and advocating for the role of the SLP in the multi-disciplinary team settings. She has published articles, a book chapter, and presented abstracts/posters at national conferences as well as lectured on dysphagia and outcomes for head and neck cancer. Her clinical and research interests are in head and neck cancer rehabilitation, dysphagia, and advocacy of care.

Laura M. Kasparian, MS, CCC-SLP
Senior Speech-Language Pathologist

Laura Kasparian received her Bachelor of Arts in Cognitive Science from Yale University in 2006 and her Master of Science in Communication Sciences and Disorders from Boston University in 2012. Laura completed her Clinical Fellowship Year at Whittier Rehabilitation Hospital in Westborough, MA where she worked with both pediatrics and adults in both inpatient and outpatient settings. She joined the Speech and Swallow Department at BWH in September 2013 where she specializes in dysphagia diagnostics and treatment in medically complex patient populations. She led the department as clinical supervisor 2018-2022. In addition to dysphagia, Laura also has clinical interests in facial transplantation, language disorders and aphasia. She is involved in research in both dysphagia and aphasia and has presented at national conferences including ASHA and has guest lectured at Harvard Dental School regarding oral physiology of speech and swallowing.

Elizabeth Kling, MS, CCC-SLP, CNT
Speech-Language Pathologist

Elizabeth Kling received her Bachelor of Arts from James Madison University and Master of Science in Speech-Language Pathology at Seton Hall University. During her time in graduate school, she began her training at St. Peter’s NICU and University Hospital’s NICU in New Jersey. Following completion of her clinical fellowship in a level IV NICU at Valley Children’s Hospital in California, Elizabeth joined the NICU Feeding Therapy Team at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in 2021. Elizabeth is a Certified Neonatal Therapist, and is Certified in Neonatal Touch and Massage.

Semra Koymen, MA, CCC-SLP
Senior Speech-Language Pathologist

Semra Koymen earned her Master’s degree in Communication Sciences & Disorders from Northwestern University in Chicago, Illinois. Her clinical career has focused on providing diagnostic assessment and management of dysphagia in a variety of populations including neurogenic, trauma, surgical, trach/vent dependent, and medically fragile patients. Semra joined the Speech and Swallow Department at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in 2011 and led the department as clinical supervisor 2015-2020. She has presented at various conferences and seminars throughout her career and has lectured at Harvard Dental School regarding oral physiology of speech.

Katherine Lemire, MS, CCC-SLP
Speech-Language Pathologist

Katherine Lemire (Litis) completed the combined BS/MS program at Northeastern University with a Bachelor of Science in Communication Sciences and Disorders in 2018 and Master of Science in Speech-Language Pathology in 2019. After graduation, she completed her Clinical Fellowship through the Oconee County School District in western South Carolina. Always having had a passion for medical-based SLP services, she continued her career as a traveler for several years across the skilled nursing, adult/pediatric outpatient, and adult inpatient acute settings. In 2023, Katherine returned to Boston and joined the Speech and Swallow Department at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Since then, she has focused her practice on dysphagia evaluation and treatment across medically complex inpatient populations.

Allison Ma, MS, CCC-SLP
Per Diem Speech-Language Pathologist

Allison Ma earned her Master’s Degree in Communication Sciences and Disorders from Massachusetts General Hospital’s Institute of Health Professions in 2013. Prior to joining the rehabilitation team at the BWH NICU, Allison was part of the Feeding and Swallowing Team at Boston Children’s Hospital. Before that, she worked with medically complex and fragile infants at Children’s Specialized Hospital in New Brunswick, New Jersey. She has also worked as a pediatric speech language pathologist in Beijing, China.

Brittany Mahoney, MS, CCC-SLP
Speech-Language Pathologist

Brittany Mahoney received her Bachelor of Arts in Linguistics from the University of New Hampshire and her Master of Science in Communication Sciences and Disorders from the University of Vermont. Prior to joining the Feeding and Developmental Team in the BWH NICU as well as BWH NICU Follow Up Program in 2023, Brittany worked at Elliot Hospital in New Hampshire. Brittany has experience in outpatient and inpatient settings, working primarily with infants and children with feeding difficulties and dysphagia.

Jacquelyn (Jackie) Marchi, MS, CCC-SLP
Speech-Language Pathologist

Jacquelyn (Jackie) Marchi joined the speech team in 2024. She attended The Ohio State University where she majored in speech and hearing science with a minor in creative writing. Jackie received my master’s degree from the Indiana University of Pennsylvania in the spring of 2022. Prior to working at BWH, Jackie provided inpatient and outpatient services at a rural community hospital in Bedford, PA with patients across the lifespan. She is currently working with inpatients who have presented with dysphagia.

Stacey McCauley, MS, CCC-SLP
Senior Speech-Language Pathologist

Stacey McCauley received her Bachelor of Science in Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology in 2014 from Towson University. She received her Master of Science in Speech-Language Pathology in 2016 from Rush University. She completed her Clinical Fellowship Year at University of Maryland Charles Regional Medical Center and joined the Speech and Swallow Department at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in 2018.

Stacey specializes in dysphagia diagnostics including video swallow studies and the treatment in medically complex patient populations with a special interest in dysphagia with patients with head and neck cancer. She currently manages patients at both Brigham and Women’s and at Dana Farber’s Head and Neck Oncology Clinic. Stacey has presented at the neuroscience nursing orientation classes on the topic of the role of the Speech-Language Pathologist in acute care and ASHA conference.

Jacqueline Melton, MS, CCC-SLP
Speech-Language Pathologist

Jacqueline Melton received her Bachelor’s Degree from Mount Holyoke College and her Master’s Degree in Speech-Language Pathology from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. Jacqueline completed an intensive 13-month clinical fellowship program at Johns Hopkins Hospital specializing in neurological rehabilitation for adults with acquired swallowing and communication disorders. She has presented at the Annual Academy of Aphasia Conference. Jacqueline joined the Speech and Swallow Department at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in the fall of 2024. Her primary clinical interests include the evaluation and treatment of acquired language, motor speech, and cognitive-communication disorders.

Brittany Morris, MA, CCC-SLP
Per Diem Speech-Language Pathologist

Brittany Morris received her Bachelor of Arts in Early Childhood Education from Boston University in 2013 and her Master of Arts in Communication Disorders from the University of Massachusetts- Amherst in 2015. Brittany completed her Clinical Fellowship Year at Regional West Medical Center in Western Nebraska, where she worked with both adults and pediatrics, in both inpatient and outpatient settings. She returned to Massachusetts in 2016 to work at Brigham and Women’s Faulkner Hospital. Brittany joined the Speech and Swallow Department at BWH in June 2020, working mainly with adults with dysphagia. She has a particular interest in head and neck cancer and has participated in outpatient dysphagia management at Dana-Farber’s Head & Neck Oncology clinic.

Patricia Onofre-Vissani, BS
Per Diem Practice Assistant II

Patricia (Patty) Onofre received her BS in Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology with a minor in Spanish in 2020 from The University of North Texas. Prior to joining the Speech and Swallow team at BWH in January 2022, she worked as a Patient Care Technician at Medical City Denton and Select Rehabilitation Hospital, both in Texas. Patricia is bilingual Spanish/English and is currently working toward her Master’s Degree in Speech-Language Pathology.

Bridget Perry, PhD, CCC-SLP
Per Diem Speech-Language Pathologist

Dr. Bridget Perry received her Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration from the University of Notre Dame in 2003, her Master’s Degree in Speech-Language Pathology from Rush University in 2009 and her PhD in Rehabilitation Sciences from MGH Institute of Health Professions in 2018. She joined the Speech and Swallow Department at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in 2009, after completing her Clinical Fellowship Year at the Boston VA Healthcare System. She began her post-doctoral research fellowship in 2018 at Tuft’s Medical Center in the Department of Clinical and Translational Sciences.

Her research interests include the evaluation and treatment of neurologically-based speech and swallowing impairments and evidence-based, patient-centered decision-making surrounding feeding management in persons with dysphagia. She has presented her work exploring speech and swallowing impairments in persons following facial transplantation and in persons diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) at several national conventions and has co-authored numerous peer-reviewed publications.

Elisabeth “Beth” Regan MS CCC-SLP
Senior Speech Pathologist

Beth Regan received her Bachelor of Science in Speech Language Pathology in 2004 from Northeastern University. She went on to receive her Master of Science in Communication Disorders from Emerson College in 2006, and obtained a Certificate of Clinical Competence in 2007. Beth began her career at the New England Rehabilitation Hospital in Woburn, working in both the inpatient and outpatient settings with people post stroke, brain injury, and other neurological disorders until 2012. She was employed as the primary outpatient therapist at Brockton Hospital from 2012-2019 and as part of her role also completed videofluoroscopic swallowing studies for patients with dysphagia.

Beth joined the Brigham and Women’s Rehabilitation team in October of 2019. Her areas of clinical interest include neurological disorders, post-concussion, head and neck cancer, voice disorders, cognitive impairment, and swallowing disorders. She is also a certified in LSVT LOUD® (Lee Silverman Voice Treatment). She currently treats ambulatory patients at the Foxborough Campus Rehabilitation Department.

Sofia Vallila Rohter, PhD, CCC-SLP
Per Diem Speech-Language Pathologist

Sofia Vallila Rohter received her PhD in Speech and Hearing Bioscience and Technology in 2014 from MIT as part of the Harvard-MIT Health Sciences and Technology Program. She has been a part of the Speech and Swallow Department at Brigham and Women’s Hospital since 2013 and continues to practice on a per-diem basis in the acute care setting.

Dr. Vallila Rohter is currently an Assistant Professor at the MGH-Institute of Health Professions in Communication Sciences and Disorders and is the Co-Director of the Cognitive Neuroscience Group (CNG) a collaborative research group that uses behavioral and neuroscience methods to examine the relationship between learning, language ability and cognitive factors. More specifically, Dr. Vallila Rohter examines behaviors using computer paradigms, eye-tracking and electroencephalography (EEG) to better understand the underlying mechanisms contributing to relearning in individuals with aphasia. The broad goal of her research is to improve clinicians’ abilities to evaluate and tailor treatment to individuals, improving the predictability and efficacy of treatment for aphasia.

Anna Marie Sulminski, MS, CCC-SLP
Speech-Language Pathologist

Anna Marie Sulminski received her Bachelor of Science in Communication Sciences and Disorders in 2020 and a Master of Science in Speech-Language Pathology in 2022 at Bowling Green State University. Prior to BWH, Anna Marie worked in both acute care and inpatient rehab where she worked with patients on swallowing, language, speech, voice, and cognition disorders at Maine General Medical Center. She joined the Speech and Swallow Department at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in the spring of 2023 where she has a focus in evaluation and treatment of speech, language, and cognition. She has been involved in research on aphasia and bilingual language development and has presented at national conferences.