Dr Michelle McInerney
Qualified speech pathologist (SP) (B.Sc. Hons Clinical Speech & Language Studies from Trinity College Dublin (TCD), 2000))M.Sc. (Clinical Speech & Language Studies, TCD, 2008), PhD (Doctor of Philosophy (Australian Catholic University (ACU) - conferred May 2021).
14 + years lecturing/ senior academic roles in higher education institutions. Senior Fellowship of Higher Education Academy (SFHEA status) awarded in July 2024.
Dr Michelle McInerney is an early career researcher and clinical academic speech & language therapist (SLT) with a particular interest in the developing high-quality interventions for children to improve their health outcomes. Populations of interest include children with congenital heart disease (CHD) and those with childhood-onset disability. She is an honorary lecturer with UCL, having previously led and implemented the core module on swallowing, motor speech and voice (SLAN0010). She is currently in a Senior Research Fellow with Kids Research (Heart Centre for Children) in the Sydney Children's Hospitals Network (SCHN) and works actively with both clinical and research teams to help improve the care that children with CHD receive. Michelle is still an honorary lecturer in UCL. While at UCL, Michelle led the Implementation of the RCSLT Pre-Registration Eating, Drinking, and Swallowing (EDS) Competencies in the M.Sc. SLS programme between 2023 and 2024. She has over 20 years of clinical experience, having worked predominantly with children with cerebral palsy (CP) and other physical disabilities. More recently, she has worked as a Clinical Specialist SLT with high risk neonates who have CHD, extreme prematurity and oral feeding impairments in acute hospital settings.
Michelle is passionate about translating evidence-based practices in the field of SLT to optimise the care that people who have communication and swallowing impairments receive. She is an active researcher in the field of CHD and childhood-onset disability and works with UK-and international researchers on a number of projects related to oral feeding, swallowing and communication.
- Publications
- Media
- Grants
- Awards
- Research Activities
- Engagement
- Teaching and Supervision
- Principal investigator on successful grant application to profile voice impairments in children with Cerebral Palsy in 2023 from the Cerebral Palsy Alliance Research Foundation (CPARF) (Funding: $52,123).
- Chief Investigator, and a team-member who contributed to securing an NHMRC- IDEAS grant funding for ‘MYVoice Library’ in November 2021 (Funding: $1,092,492.00 AUD)
- Secured NHMRC- Centre Research Excellence in Cerebral Palsy (CRE-CP) funded PhD research scholarship in 2017 (Funding: $104,000).
- Awards received for published peer-reviewed journal articles: certificate for first publication from PhD Study 1 from the Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology Journal for top 10 most downloadable paper in Q4 2019, second publication from PhD Study 2 was also chosen for penultimate end of year issue (5) in the International Journal of Speech and Language Pathology. A third publication received ‘Article Excellence Award’.
- Senior Fellowship of Higher Education Academy (SFHEA status) awarded in 2024 awarded in July 2024
Research streams of interest: child health, developmental disability, dysphagia, outcome measurement, implementation science (translating evidence to improve health services that children with complex needs receive).
My research focuses on clinically relevant questions across speech pathology and allied health, with a strong emphasis on improving outcomes and translating evidence into practice. Key research activities include:
- Paediatric dysphagia and feeding: research examining swallowing, feeding and communication impairments in children, with a focus on assessment, intervention and clinical outcomes.
- Swallowing and communication: investigation of clinical assessment and management approaches for people experiencing swallowing and communication difficulties.
- Outcome measurement: research into the selection, development, evaluation and implementation of meaningful outcome measures to support evidence-based clinical practice and service evaluation.
- Implementation science: research focused on understanding and supporting the uptake, sustainability and translation of evidence-based practices within clinical and health service settings.
- Allied health research and service improvement: collaborative, interdisciplinary projects addressing clinically important questions, models of care, service delivery and quality improvement.
Across these areas, my research is characterised by a strong focus on evidence translation, clinically meaningful outcomes and research that can make a practical difference to patients, families, clinicians and health services.
My Research Supervision
Student MSc Research Project (Speech pathology): Respiratory outcomes of children with paediatric dysphagia: retrospective cohort review/ service evaluation. MSc. SLT Programme, University College London (UCL), UK.
Student MSc Research Project (Speech pathology): Clinical indicators for silent aspiration in children referred for idiopathic dysphagia: a hospital-based service evaluation. MSc. SLT Programme, University College London (UCL), UK.
PhD Student Project (Exercise physiology): Experiences of adults with congenital heart disease (CHD) of novel exercise programme (Led by Sally Gosbell, PhD, exercise physiologist (EP), SCHN.
PhD Student Project (Dietetics): Language preferences in communication interactions with health professionals: perspectives of adults with CHD. Led by Mel Clode, PhD candidate (Dietetics), MCRI, Melbourne
Student MSc Research Project (Speech pathology): Feeding skill outcomes following a transdisciplinary EALF team-based intervention for children with paediatric feeding disorder (PFD): a service evaluation. MSc. SLT Programme, University College London (UCL), London, UK.
Student MSc Research Project (Speech pathology): Psychosocial outcomes following a transdisciplinary EALF team-based intervention for children with (PFD): a retrospective chart study. MSc. SLT Programme, University College London (UCL), London, UK.