rachel leonard

Lecturer
Tel: 353-91-495204
Email: rachel.leonardnuigalway.ie

Background and Qualifications

Rachel graduated from Queen Margaret College, Edinburgh in 1998 with a BSc in Speech Pathology and Therapy. She worked in Ireland prior to moving to Australia where she worked with CRS Australia in the area of vocational rehabilitation.  It was as a result of this position that Rachel developed an interest in Traumatic Brain Impairment (TBI) and went on to pursue a Masters degree in TBI in 2004 at the University of Sydney.  Her studies focused on the role of spontaneous versus pharmacologically induced neuroplastic recovery.

During her time with CRS Australia, Rachel participated in national teams such as The Network of Excellence for ABI and the Research and Evaluation Committee.  She was also a national trainer in employment strategies.

Rachel returned to Ireland in 2006 where she worked with the HSE West until January 2011 in order to establish a Speech and Language Therapy service in adult acute care. As part of this position she completed a post graduate diploma in Dysphagia at Trinity College Dublin in 2009.  She completed an MSc in Healthcare Ethics and Law at RCSI in 2011 which focused on young adults with disorders of consciousness in Ireland.  She is currently undertaking further research in this area. 

Rachel is a member of the ABI work stream of the National Rehabilitation Medicine Programme.  The objectives of the work stream are to produce clinical guidelines, develop care pathways and care bundles for acquired brain injury rehabilitation applicable to the Irish Health Service. 

Rachel is a peer reviewer for the International Journal of Speech and Language Pathology and the Journal of Clinical Speech and Language Studies. 

Teaching Responsibilities

Rachel’s teaching responsibilities in the undergraduate BSc programme include acquired communication disorders and disorders of feeding, eating, drinking and swallowing and the Aphasia Outreach Programme.  Rachel also contributes to other modules such as Neurology and Cognitive Neuropsychology.

Membership of Professional Associations

• Member of the Irish Association of Speech and Language Therapists (IASLT)

Poster Presentations

Leavy, D., Leonard, R. & McMenamin, R. (2011). The relationship between amateur singers' knowledge of voice care and perceptions of vocal health, at the Irish Association of Speech & Language Therapy Biennial Conference, Dublin, November 2011. 

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