Special Session
Alternative and Complementary Voice Management

Friday, May 31, 2019 * Philadelphia Westin Hotel
Moderator:  Nancy Pearl Solomon

8:00-8:20         When ‘Alternative’ Voice Care Becomes Mainstream
Nancy Pearl Solomon
8:20-8:50         Integrative and Holistic Voice Care by the Laryngologist
Benjamin Asher
8:50-9:20         Nutrition for the Vocalist: A Necessity, Not an Alternative!
Jennifer Nasser
9:20-9:50         Coffee Break
9:50-10:20       Laryngeal Manual Therapies: Evidence for Massage or Massaging the Evidence?
Kelly Silverio
10:20-10:50     Eastern Medicine for the Voice: Herbs, Acupuncture, and More
Edwin Yiu
10:50-11:50     Panel Discussion

FRIDAY MORNING SPECIAL SESSION INVITED SPEAKERS

When ‘Alternative’ Voice Care Becomes Mainstream
Nancy Pearl Solomon, PhD, CCC-SLP, is a research speech-language pathologist at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center and holds an academic appointment at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences and adjunct appointments at the University of Maryland and Gallaudet University. Dr. Solomon has published over 85 articles and chapters on topics related to voice, breathing, motor speech, and swallowing function and disorders. Dr. Solomon is Fellow of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association.

 

Integrative and Holistic Voice Care by the Laryngologist
Benjamin Asher, MD A New York City based, board-certified Otolaryngologist (Head and Neck Surgeon), Dr. Asher is renowned for his innovative, non-surgical approaches. In addition to being a highly-regarded conventional physician and exceptional diagnostician, he has been at the forefront of applying alternative methods to ENT (Ear, Nose and Throat) disorders since the beginning of his medical career over thirty years ago. Prior to attending medical school, Dr. Asher worked as a full-time meditation teacher. His four decades of meditation practice and spiritual inquiry have informed his perspectives on health and wholeness.

 

Nutrition for the Vocalist: A Necessity, Not an Alternative!
Jennifer Nassar, PhD, RD, Dr. Nasser’s clinical research focuses on dopamine-mediated mechanisms of food intake regulation in humans and its impact on metabolic homeostasis, especially as it applies to obesity, eating disorders and aging. Non-invasive methods of assessing brain dopamine in humans and nutritional and dietary interventions for neurophysiological disorders and drug-induced obesity are also under development.

 

Laryngeal Manual Therapies: Evidence for Massage or Massaging the Evidence?
Kelly Silverio, PhD, was a Visiting Researcher in the Laboratory for the Study of Upper Airway Dysfunction at Teachers College, Columbia University. The focus of her PhD study was voice disorders and electromyography. Dr. Silverio is a professor in the Department of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology, Bauru School of Dentistry, University of São Paulo—FOB/USP, Bauru, São Paulo, Brazil. She has been teaching undergraduate and post graduate students since 1997 She has experience with therapy in voice disorders and professional voice with singers and teachers. Dr. Silverio is interested in research about voice disorders, cough and upper airway dysfunction in Parkinson’s disease and other kinds of neurological disorders.

 

Eastern Medicine for the Voice: Herbs, Acupuncture, and More
Edwin Yiu, PhD is a speech-language pathology professor at The University of Hong Kong, Fellow of American Speech Language and Hearing Association (Asha). He is the Founder of the Voice Research Laboratory at the Division of Speech and Hearing Sciences, The University of Hong Kong. He held an Honorary Professorship at the University of Sydney and is currently Honorary Professor of the West China Hospital, Sichuan University and Honorary Research Fellow of Peking University. His major fields of research include voice analysis, efficacy of voice therapy, and complementary and alternative medicine in voice rehabilitation. He has published extensively in the field, with over 150 publications, including peer-reviewed journal articles, book chapters and edited volumes, and presented more than 200 research papers at various conferences.