Keynote Presentation Friday 22nd May 2026

We are delighted to welcome Julie Regan, Associate Professor in Speech and Language Pathology in the Department of Clinical Speech and Language Studies at Trinity College Dublin. Julie’s academic journey is rooted in Trinity, where she earned her BSc, MSc, and PhD. She was awarded a prestigious Healthcare Professional Grant from the Health Research Board to support her doctoral research within the School of Medicine, an early indicator of her commitment to advancing clinical knowledge and practice.

Julie is internationally recognised for her work in dysphagia, with a particular focus on the instrumental evaluation of swallowing and evidence-based rehabilitation for individuals with cancer and neurological conditions. Her research has made a significant impact in the field, reflected in her authorship of over ninety peer-reviewed publications and five book chapters.

Beyond her research, Julie plays a key leadership role within the global dysphagia community. She serves as Board Member and Secretary General of the European Society of Swallowing Disorders and contributes to the International Interprofessional Committee of the Dysphagia Research Society. She is also Co-Editor of Advances in Communication and Swallowing, the IASLT-affiliated journal, helping to shape the future of scholarship in the field.

Julie is equally dedicated to education and mentorship. Her teaching spans acquired dysarthria, adult neurology, and dysphagia across the lifespan, and her excellence in teaching was recognised with a Trinity Teaching Excellence Award in 2020. In 2025, she was awarded Fellowship at Trinity College Dublin. She has also recently been appointed Visiting Professor in the Faculty of Medicine at KU Leuven, where she lectures on the MSc in Deglutology, further extending her influence across Europe.

Julie brings a wealth of knowledge, clinical insight, and international perspective to her keynote, and we are excited for the depth and inspiration her session will offer.

We look forward to welcoming Julie and you all to Portlaoise in May!

Keynote Presentation Thursday 21st May 2026

AnneMarie MacRae  is a speech and language therapist with a range of clinical experience in community paediatric, CAMHS Community and CAMHS Inpatient Teams. She is now the clinical lead speech and language therapist for Scotland's National Adolescent Secure Inpatient Service - Foxgrove (NSAIS), which includes some provision of SLT Support to adult forensic services.

Along side her clinical work, AnneMarie is a PhD candidate at Queen Margaret University. Her research considers the language and communication rights of children in conflict with the law, including ways of measuring the impact of SLT in youth justice settings.

AnneMarie has a background in law, bringing a distinctive rights-based perspective to her clinical practice and advocacy. Following the publication of her report, Giving Voice to All of Scotland’s Children, she has been at the forefront of highlighting the critical role of speech and language therapy in realising children’s language and communication rights.

Drawing on her legal training, AnneMarie is particularly interested in how human rights frameworks—especially the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC)—can be used to shape practice and advocate for appropriately resourced services. With Scotland’s incorporation of the UNCRC into domestic law, she emphasises the opportunity and responsibility for professionals to act as duty bearers, ensuring that children’s rights are respected, protected, and fulfilled in meaningful ways.

AnneMarie’s work centres on the principle that communication is a fundamental human right and a cornerstone for accessing all other rights. She explores how rights such as the right to be heard and freedom of expression are intrinsically linked to children’s ability to participate, learn, and achieve the highest attainable standard of health. Her report underscores the interconnected and indivisible nature of rights, arguing that unmet speech, language, and communication needs (SLCN) can significantly hinder children’s ability to realise their full potential.

Through Giving Voice to All of Scotland’s Children, AnneMarie advocates for systemic change and positions speech and language therapists as essential to supporting children, families, and the wider workforce. She calls for greater recognition of the profession’s unique contribution and encourages practitioners to feel empowered in their role as advocates for children’s rights.

AnneMarie’s work is driven by a strong belief that children’s rights are everyone’s responsibility. She remains optimistic about the growing momentum behind rights-based practice and is passionate about ensuring that all children are given a voice and the opportunity to participate meaningfully in decisions that affect their lives.

Keynote Presentation:

Speech and Language Therapy for Rights-Respecting Impact for All.

Communication is a fundamental human right, but what does that mean and what can our profession contribute to making rights real for all, especially those with speech, language and communication needs.

We look forward to welcoming AnneMarie and you all to Portlaoise in May!

Keynote Presentation - Thursday 21st May 2026 

Katherine Broomfield qualified as a speech and language therapist in 2001, later completing a master’s in clinical leadership. She worked clinically with adults who acquired communication disability in multi-professional, post-acute and community rehabilitation teams before specialising in augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) and leading an AAC service in Gloucestershire.

Katherine was awarded her PhD in 2024 for research on the experiences of using AAC and developing a patient reported outcome measure. She is currently working as Senior Research Fellow, Bristol Speech and Language Therapy Research Unit (NBT) & Centre for Speech, Hearing and Communication Research, Cardiff Metropolitan University. Her research includes applying accessible and creative qualitative methods for inclusive research, developing person-centred outcome tools, and innovating AAC and assistive technologies.

Keynote Presentation:

Unspoken voices: collaborating with people who have communication disability to enhance speech and language therapy research and practice.

In this keynote, Katherine will share insights from her research into how mutual learning with people who use AAC and others with communication disability has reshaped her understanding of both research and clinical practice. She will invite delegates to reflect on how SLTs can collaborate more creatively and courageously with the people they support - amplifying voices that are too often overlooked and opening up new possibilities for outcomes, impact, and professional growth.

We look forward to welcoming Katherine and all of you to Portlaoise in May! 

Keynote Presentation: Friday 22 May 2026

We are delighted to announce that David Robert Grimes (PhD, CStat) will join us as a keynote speaker at this year’s conference.

David is a scientist, broadcaster, speaker, and author whose work sits at the intersection of science, medicine, and society. His expertise spans public understanding of science, critical thinking, medical misinformation, mathematical modelling, and research integrity. Through both his academic work and public engagement, he is widely recognised for his efforts to promote evidence-based thinking and improve how science is communicated to the public.

A prolific science communicator, David has written extensively for international publications including The Guardian, Scientific American, The New York Times, The Financial Times, and The Irish Times, among many others. His commentary and analysis explore topics such as misinformation, conspiracy theories, scientific literacy, and the challenges of communicating evidence in an increasingly complex information landscape.

David is also the author of the critically acclaimed book The Irrational Ape: Why We Fall for Disinformation, Conspiracy Theory, and Propaganda (Simon & Schuster, 2019), published in North America as Good Thinking: Why Flawed Logic Puts Us All at Risk, and How Critical Thinking Can Save the World (The Experiment, 2021). In this work, he examines why misinformation spreads so easily and how critical thinking can help individuals and societies navigate an era of information overload.

In addition to his writing, David is a highly experienced public speaker who regularly delivers talks and keynote presentations at conferences and events around the world. He frequently appears on television and radio internationally, including on the BBC, PBS, Newstalk, and RTÉ, where he discusses science, misinformation, and public health issues.

His contributions to science communication and advocacy for evidence-based thinking have been widely recognised. He is a recipient of the prestigious Nature / Sense About Science John Maddox Prize for standing up for science and is a Fellow of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry and the Royal Statistical Society.

We are very much looking forward to David’s keynote presentation and to the insights he will bring to this year’s programme.