Ryan J. Burdick, M.S., CCC-SLP, BCS-S
Doctoral Candidate
Swallowing and Salivary Bioscience Lab
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Department of Medicine
Division of Geriatrics and Gerontology
Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders
Beyond Swallow Safety: Preserving Dignity and Autonomy During Mealtime
This job talk outlines doctoral candidate Ryan J Burdick’s background, and how his experience led to his current research program. His research interests are two-pronged, with both prongs aimed at maximizing safety and autonomy during eating and swallowing for older individuals with Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementia (ADRD). Prong 1 focuses on contextualizing swallowing to mealtime, as the context in which swallowing is occurring is ever-present, often overlooked, and presents tremendous opportunity for intervention. Prong 2 focuses on improving the measurement of swallowing safety so as to improve assessment accuracy and to make the evaluation of swallowing safety more accessible and naturalistic. Combining these aims, Ryan is researching the impact of feeding dependence on swallow function and physiology (Prong 1), while working toward the development of wearable technology for individuals with ADRD that can allow assessment of feeding and swallowing to occur in a naturalistic environment (Prong 2).