NYU Voice Center

That’s a wrap! It was an absolute joy to collaborate with Amplified Voice Manual Therapy’s () Aliza Rudavsky and Christine Schneider at NYU this past weekend. What an amazing 2 days of learning and laughter. As a voice team, we’re invested in multidisciplinary collaboration, and our goal with this course was to widen the lens of what voice therapists typically consider when evaluating and treating patients, particularly those with musculoskeletal issues. Christine and Aliza bring a wealth of information to this discussion, and so beautifully demonstrated how to integrate meaningful change with manual therapy. The NYU Voice team was so happy to collaborate with them in discussing the state of manual therapy for voice clinicians, as well as the physician perspective. Thanks to everyone who attended!

We are thrilled to announce a new manual therapy course designed specifically for voice-specialized SLPs on February 27-28, 2026 in NYC. This course was developed in collaboration with Christine Schneider, LMT and Aliza Rudavsky, DPT, PhD, co-founders of Amplified Voice Manual Therapy (AVMT). The course represents a special adaptation of their AVMT curriculum to meet the specific educational and logistic needs of speech pathologists. Material will be integrated with clinical perspectives from our team at NYU.

For instructor bios and more details, please visit the registration link in our bio, and contact [email protected] with any further questions!

The team that plans strategy together hangs together after! Our clinical and research teams met up for a fantastic night out with great food and even better company. ❤️

Dr. Kwak and Dr. Johnson lectured on vocal health to a full house of freshman acting majors at NYU Tisch earlier this week! We’re so excited to help these young performers get a jump start on their vocal health early in their careers!

What a great Fall Voice 2025! Three of us had a blast taking part in a PechuKucha session (look it up!), moderated a panel with a visor on (sadly no photo of that one), and we got to present on some great ongoing research. Always so wonderful to learn what our peers have been working on and catch up with our community.

It’s National SLP Day! Although, really…shouldn’t every day be National SLP day? We’re so proud to celebrate our SLPs, who bring so much expertise and perspective to our clinical and research work. In honor of the occasion, we’re spotlighting the fabulous voice-specialized SLPs who have joined our team this year, Taylor Darden and Anya Freedman-Doan! Taylor is a native southerner but has lived in Philly for most of the last decade, and Anya hails from Ann Arbor, Michigan. We’re so thrilled to have them on board!!

Join us for a lunchtime World Voice Day webinar as we debunk some myths surrounding vocal health! Featuring members of our multidisciplinary team and your Q&A, it’s sure to be a great discussion. 🥳

Register for FREE at our link in the bio!

The NYU Voice and Swallowing Center was proud to host Dr. Peter Belafsky for the Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery’s 43rd annual John F. Daly Day Symposium. Held annually, Daly Day features presentations and panel discussions about emerging research and core concepts across the division’s clinical and translational endeavors. Dr. Belafsky is the director of the Center for Voice and Swallow at UC Davis Medical Center. He spoke on “Surgical Innovation and the Importance of Failure,” as well as “Solid-Food Dysphagia;” he regaled us with stories of perseverance and failure through his career of innovation in medicine. It was a fantastic day of panels and research presentations featuring the stars in our division, of whom we are so proud.

A HUGE congratulations to Dr. Aaron Johnson (), co-director of the Voice Center, on his second (count 'em! ✌️) R01 research grant by the NIH! This 5-year research project will investigate the synergistic perilaryngeal muscle network using multi-sensor surface electromyography (a gadget you can wear!) to improve diagnosis and treatment of voice disorders. We are SO proud and thrilled for you to continue this awesome work. 🥳

Congrats also to his collaborator at NYU Tandon School of Engineering, Dr. Farokh Atashzar!

Live from in Chicago – we are proud to share that Gary Gartling, PhD, received the Young Faculty/Practitioner Award from the American Laryngological Association at this year’s Combined Otolaryngology Spring Meetings (COSM)! Dr. Gartling, a research scientist mentored by Dr. Ryan Branski, was recognized and distinguished among all researchers this year who submitted their work, for his research, “Investigating the Effects of Acute Intracordal GC Administration on Vocal Fold Epithelial Barrier Function following Iatrogenic Injury in a Preclinical Model.” Congratulations, Gary!!
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*pictured here with Dr Ryosuke Nakamura, who also presented his work at the conference; and Dr Branski*
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We are also proud of our fantastic students, Naomi Tesema, and Yaerin Song. Naomi presented a podium talk at the ALA, entitled “Long-Term Outcomes of In-Office KTP Laser Ablation of Vocal Fold Polyps in Performers” and a poster on “Patient Factors associated with Voice Improvement following In-Office Vocal Fold Steroid Injections for Vocal Scar.” Yaerin presented a poster on “The Role of CPAP in Acute VCD Post-Thyroidectomy.” Congrats to all for this recognition of their hard work!!
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Did you know that today is National SLP Appreciation Day?? We may be biased, but we happen to think ours are the very best, so what better opportunity to spotlight and thank them for the immense work they do with our patients with voice and swallowing disorders!! We would literally cease to function were it not for the countless hours they spend in evaluation and rehabilitation of our patients. And let’s not forget our research-focused SLPs who investigate new pathways to understanding voice and swallowing disorders to improve treatments for all! Happy SLP Appreciation Day, to our team, and to SLPs everywhere!
1 L-R Natalie Chiappetta, Raquel Tripp, Matina Balou, Shirley Gherson
2 Sonja Molfenter, Claire Crossman
3 Aaron Johnson, Ryan Branski (with a cameo from Dr. Amin and Dr. Kwak)