Skip to content

School welcomes new academic lead for Speech Pathology

The School of Health Sciences has announced the new Academic Lead - Speech Pathology Professor Anne Whitworth (pictured).

"Professor Whitworth joins the School at an exciting time as the Allied Health Expansion Program launches postgraduate study options to help develop the future workforce and support transformation of health outcomes for the state," Head of School Professor Nuala Byrne said.

"She is a passionate educator, clinician and researcher in the field of Speech Pathology and has worked in communication disorders in acquired neurological disorders for more than 30 years in Australia and the UK.

"Professor Whitworth’s professional and academic history illustrates a dedication to clinical practice and education, ensuring speech pathology graduates are responsive to clinical populations they work with. She is currently Associate Professor in the School of Allied Health at Curtin University and is Editor-in-Chief of the main discipline journal in Australia, the International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology.

"Professor Whitworth trained at Curtin University and was awarded her PhD from Newcastle University in the UK, where she worked for 20 years, heading up the Speech and Hearing Sciences prior to returning to Curtin University.

"Her research efforts have focused on helping to improve the lives of people living with aphasia, a breakdown in understanding language, speaking, reading and/or writing. Her interest led her to co-author a popular textbook for aphasia, A Cognitive Neuropsychological Approach to the Assessment and Intervention in Aphasia (Whitworth, Webster, & Howard, 2005, 2014). The book has been translated in several languages and is a key text in many speech pathology courses across Australia, Europe, the UK and the United States.

"Professor Whitworth is also passionate about developing clinicians and enhancing research capacity. She led the creation of an innovative model of academic-practice collaboration between community speech pathologists and academic partners in the UK to help support and enhance research capacity.

"No stranger to Tasmania, her first position after graduation from Curtin University was at Launceston General Hospital as a Speech Pathologist. Professor Whitworth is looking forward to returning to Tasmania and contributing to the creation of a new allied health workforce for the state.  While Professor Whitworth will have input into the Master of Speech Pathology course development with the Allied Health Expansion Team over the remainder of the year, she will relocate to Tasmania and formally commence with the University in January 2022."

Published on: 20 Sep 2021 1:16pm