Dr. Catriona Steele Receives Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal
This article has been republished from the Summer 2013 issue of Communiqué. Please note that this article was originally published when Speech-Language and Audiology Canada (SAC) was called the Canadian Association of Speech-Language Pathologists and Audiologists (CASLPA).Catriona Steele, S-LP(C), CCC-SLP, Reg. CASLPO, BRS-S, ASHA Fellow, PhD, was recently awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal. The medal, created to mark 60 years of the Queen’s reign, is given to Canadians in honour of their contributions to society and their achievements that have brought prestige to Canada. Catriona was awarded this medal for her contributions to gerontology in the area of dysphagia by the Canadian Association of Gerontology. Her work has shed light on the causes and treatments of swallowing disorders.
Currently, Catriona is the director of the Swallowing Rehabilitation Research Laboratory at the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute. She also teaches in the graduate department of speech-language pathology at the University of Toronto. Prior to completing her PhD, she worked as a medical speech-language pathologist for ten years.
Catriona is known for her commitment to pursuing theoretically-driven research that underpins clinical interventions with sound empirical evidence. She has received particular recognition for her work on tongue function in swallowing. She holds research funding from the National Institutes of Health in the United States, a Canadian Institutes of Health Research New Investigator Award and funding from the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario. She has written more than 50 peer-reviewed publications. Catriona is in demand as a teacher around the world and has given workshops and invited lectures across North America, Europe, Japan, China, Korea, New Zealand and Australia.
Catriona served as CASLPA President from 1998 to 2000. She is a past board member of the Dysphagia Research Society, is a board-recognized specialist in swallowing and is the immediate past coordinator of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) Special Interest Division 13 (swallowing and swallowing disorders). In November 2010, Catriona was inducted as an ASHA Fellow and received the University of Toronto’s Speech-Language Pathology Alumni Association Distinguished Service Award. In April 2011 she received the CASLPA Eve Kassirer Award for Outstanding Professional Achievement and in 2013 was awarded the CASLPA Mentorship Award.
Catriona was recently promoted to full professor at the University of Toronto. She also serves as the Canadian representative on the International Dysphagia Guidelines Task Force.
If you would like to contact Catriona, send her an email at catriona.steele@uhn.ca.
Do you have news to share? Let us know at pubs@sac-oac.ca.
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