Joshua Schindler, MD

Dr. Schindler is an Assistant Professor and the Medical Director of the OHSU-Northwest Center for Voice and Swallowing. He graduated from Stanford in 1993 with bachelor's degrees in both Classics and Biology. In 1998, he received his medical degree from the University of California, San Francisco and is a member of the Alpha Omega Alpha Society. After completing his residency in Otolaryngology at Johns Hopkins Medical Center, he undertook fellowship training in Head and Neck Surgery at Johns Hopkins and Laryngology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. He is board certified in Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery and is a Fellow of the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery.

Dr. Schindler's current clinical interests include voice disorders in both professional and non-professional voice users, swallowing disorders, breathing and upper airway disorders, and cancer of the upper aerodigestive tract. His research interests include molecular diagnosis and management of early vocal fold cancers, treatment of spasmodic dysphonia and other neurologic voice disorders, and hoarseness in association with laryngopharyngeal reflux.

Donna Graville, PhD, CCC-SP

Dr. Graville is an Associate Professor and the Director of the OHSU-Northwest Center for Voice and Swallowing.  She earned her Master’s degree in Speech and Hearing Sciences at Portland State University and completed her Fellowship at the Portland V.A. Medical Center.  Dr. Graville developed her expertise in voice restoration and dysphagia at OHSU’s Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery Center.  Her desire to develop a comprehensive voice and swallowing center led her to pursue a Ph.D. in Communication Disorders and Sciences at the University of Oregon. She is currently an Adjunct Professor at both University of Oregon and Portland State University.

Dr. Graville’s current clinical interests include voice restoration after laryngectomy and swallowing restoration after treatment for head and neck cancer.  Research interests include voice and swallowing treatment outcomes after head and neck cancer.

Paul W Flint, MD

Paul W. Flint, MD received his medical degree from Baylor College of Medicine and completed his post-doctoral training at the University of Washington.  He joined the faculty at Johns Hopkins in 1991, where he has served as Residency Training Program Director, co-Director of the Minimally Invasive Surgical Training Center, Director of the Laryngeal and Voice Disorders Center and Director of the Division of Speech-Language Pathology.

Dr. Flint received The Richard S. Ross Clinician Scientist Award at Johns Hopkins in 1992; and, in 2005 he was installed as the first Charles W. Cummings Professor. Dr. Flint was appointed Professor and Chair, Otolaryngology – Head & Neck Surgery at OHSU in 2009.  He is a founding member of the Society for Airway Management, and an active member in the Triological Society and the American Academy of Otolaryngology.  He is the Senior Editor of the fifth edition of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, considered to be the definitive textbook for the specialty. 

Dr. Flint’s research interests include neuroanatomic and physiologic changes occurring with laryngeal injury, the use of prosthetic materials for laryngeal implantation in patients with laryngeal paralysis, gene therapy to enhance nerve regeneration in the paralyzed larynx, and the application of micro-robotics for laryngeal surgery. His clinical interests include the treatment of benign and malignant diseases of the airway, development of procedures to improve voice and breathing, and movement disorders affecting the head and neck including dystonia and Parkinson’s disease.

Yong-Bing (Baker) Shi, MD, PhD

Dr. Shi specializes in laryngeal EMG and Botox injections in the NW Center for Voice and Swallowing. He received his MD and PhD in China, was a Post-Doc Research Fellow at Temple University from 1992-94 and returned to become a Research Associate /Neurophysiologist there in 1997. He has been with the Department of Otolaryngology at OHSU since 1998 and is an Assistant Professor.

Melanie Fried-Oken, PhD, CCC-SP

Melanie Fried-Oken is a certified speech-language pathologist and Associate Professor of Neurology, Pediatrics, Biomedical Engineering, and Otolaryngology at OHSU. She received her Ph.D. from Boston University in 1984 in the Interdisciplary Study of Language Behavior, and a Master's degree in Communication Disorders from Northwestern University in 1978. Dr. Fried-Oken is a leading international clinician and researcher in the field of Augmentative and Alternative Communication and provides expertise about assistive technology for persons with developmental and acquired disabilities who cannot use speech or writing for expression. She is associate editor of the international journal, Augmentative and Alternative Communication; Adjunct Faculty at Portland State University where she taught the Augmentative and Alternative Communication graduate course in 2006; and editor of the book Speaking Up and Spelling It Out, a collection of essays written by adults with disabilities using speech technology. Dr. Fried-Oken is the principal investigator on federal grants to research communication technology for persons with Alzheimer's disease, ALS and other neurodegenerative diseases, and the normally aging population. She is Director of the OHSU Augmentative Communication Clinic through the Northwest Center for Voice and Swallowing.

Karen Drake, MA, CCC-SP

Karen Drake received her Master's degree in Communication Disorders and Sciences from the University of California, Santa Barbara. She has over ten years of experience in speech pathology, voice restoration and dysphagia. Ms. Drake developed the Voice Program at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, a Harvard affiliate. She has conducted research and has published in the area of voice disorders. She serves as Adjunct Faculty at the University of Oregon and Portland State University. Ms. Drake’s current clinical interests include voice disorders in both professional and non-professional voice users and vocal cord dysfunction.  She is dedicated to professional and community education in the area of professional voice use and optimal voice technique. She is also certified in the Lee Silverman Voice Treatment program for individuals with Parkinson disease.

Andrew Palmer, MS, CCC-SLP

Andrew Palmer earned his Master's degree in Communicative Disorders at San Francisco State University. He interned at the Voice Center at the University of California San Francisco and completed his fellowship at OHSU. His clinical focus is in the area of head and neck cancer rehabilitation and dysphagia. He is a certified provider of VitalStim for dysphagia. He regularly teaches graduate classes in adult dysphagia, is an Adjunct Faculty at Portland State University, and has taught Fiberoptic Endoscopic Evaluation of Swallowing (FEES) courses nationally. He is also interested in alaryngeal speech rehabilitation and is part of the faculty of the International Association of Laryngectomees’ (IAL) Voice Institute each year. Research interests include swallowing, voice and quality of life outcomes after surgery.

Linda Bryans, MA, CCC-SLP

Linda Bryans earned her Master's degree in Speech and Hearing Sciences from the University of California at Santa Barbara in 1988. She has clinical experience with adults and children with a broad range of communication and swallowing disorders. Her primary focus has been in the area of evaluating and treating voice disorders. She is certified in the Lee Silverman Voice Treatment approach for patients with Parkinson disease. Linda also has participated in clinical research in the areas of voice, motor speech disorders and dysphagia. She currently is a Senior Instructor in the Northwest Clinic for Voice and Swallowing at OHSU as well as an Adjunct Faculty in the Speech and Hearing Sciences Department at Portland State University.

Jana Childes, MS, CCC-SLP

Jana Childes received her Master of Science in Speech-Language Pathology from the University of Nebraska.  Following completion of her Fellowship, she received specialized training in voice and swallowing disorders while working at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics.  Her clinical interests include the evaluation and treatment of organic, neurogenic, and functional voice disorders in adults and children, vocal cord dysfunction, voice and swallowing disorders secondary to head and neck cancer, and augmentative and alternative communication (AAC).  She is certified in the Lee Silverman Voice Therapy program. Jana has completed in research in the areas of perceptual voice assessment, communication impairments related to ALS, and dysphagia. She is an Adjunct Faculty in the Speech and Hearing Sciences Department at Portland State University.