Meet the experts

Jessica Durkovich, MA, CCC-SLP graduated from Ball State University in 2005 with a Master's Degree in Speech-Language Pathology. Jessica's career-long passion has been caring for adults in acute care, with a specific love for dysphagia. However, since joining the IU Health Critical Care Rehab team in 2017 she has focused on learning more about the medically complex patients in the ICU and how the SLP can effectively manage both dysphagia and cognition. Joining the Critical Care Rehab team has spurred a drive to learn more about delirium and cognition and its implications for critically ill patients. She has demonstrated passion and dedication while developing the role of the SLP as an integral member of the critical care team. Jessica is an active member of the ICU Liberation Team and the Critical Care Innovative Network at IU Health Ball Memorial Hospital. Through this hard work, Jessica and her team were awarded the IU Health East Central Region Values Team Leadership award in 2020. Jessica has presented at several universities, state, and national conferences on the topic of the SLP’s role in the ICU and assessment of cognition.

Jillian McCarthy, PhD, CCC-SLP, is an associate professor at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center in the Department of Audiology and Speech Pathology. Her current research focuses on examining and developing evidence-based assessment and intervention strategies to address language and literacy development; more specifically, vocabulary and spelling development for children with complex communication needs who use or benefit from augmentative-alternative communication (AAC). She has received grant funding from the U.S. Department of Education to prepare speech-language pathology students in the areas of AAC, language, and literacy, as well as the National Institutes of Health.

Rhonda Mattingly Williams EdD, CCC-SLP, is a professor in the Department of Otolaryngology, H/N Surgery, and Communicative Disorders at the University of Louisville. She teaches courses in early language evaluation and intervention, pediatric feeding and swallowing, cognitive-communicative disorders, and professional issues. Dr. Williams has been practicing for over 33 years and currently provides clinical services to neonates, adolescents, and adults with a variety of disorders including aphasia, cognitive impairment, voice dysfunction, slow feeding of the newborn, and dysphagia within the University of Louisville Healthcare System. She is active in research, publishes in scholarly journals, maintains membership in several professional organizations, and provides interdisciplinary continuing education to professionals across the globe.