Ep. 15 - A Conversation w/ Ronda Winans-Mitrik and Patrick Doyle: Intensive Aphasia Treatment

Ronda Winans-Mitrik, MA, CCC-SLP, has been a Speech-Language Pathologist since 2009. She began her career at the VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System (VAPHS) by providing intensive, evidence-based aphasia treatment to veterans and active duty service members from across the United States through the Program for Intensive Aphasia Treatment & Education (PIRATE). Since that time, she has provided countless hours of aphasia assessment and intervention services to patients with a wide range of aphasia severities. During her time with PIRATE, she developed the clinical processes for in-person and remote candidacy evaluations and follow-up using tele-practice technology. She is a recipient of the 2012 Association of Veteran Affairs Speech Language Pathologists (AVASLP) Outstanding Achievement Award for her work with the PIRATE Clinical Team and co-authored a peer-reviewed manuscript in 2014 that details the PIRATE program’s description, rationale, clinical processes, and outcomes. Dr. Patrick J. Doyle is a Speech Language Pathologist whose clinical and research work is focused on the rehabilitation of language processing disorders following brain injury. He is an Associate Professor of Communication Science and Disorders at the University of Pittsburgh, a Fellow of the American Speech Language and Hearing Association, and has received the Honors of the Association of VA Speech Language Pathologists. Dr. Doyle previously served as a Visiting Scientist in the Assessment, Classification and Epidemiology Unit of the World Health Organization in Geneva, Switzerland where he collaborated on the revision of the International Classification of Functioning Disability and Health (ICF). He is the developer of the Burden of Stroke Scale (BOSS) and the Founding Director of the Program for Intensive Residential Aphasia Treatment & Education (PIRATE). https://www.pittsburgh.va.gov/PIRATE/index.asp