The American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology (AJSLP) is pleased to announce the selection of Rita R. Patel, PhD, CCC-SLP, as a new editor-in-chief of the journal. Dr. Patel will begin her term on January 1, 2024, succeeding Katherine C. Hustad, PhD, CCC-SLP, and serving alongside co-editor-in-chief Dr. Erinn Finke, PhD, CCC-SLP. Dr. Patel is an associate professor in the Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Science at Indiana University Bloomington.

Dr. Patel’s Background

Dr. Patel earned her master’s degree from the University of Mumbai in 1997 and her PhD from the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 2006. She has served as an editor for AJSLP since 2018, serving two consecutive terms. Dr. Patel also has strong ties with ASHA’s Special Interest Group 3, Voice and Upper Airway Disorders, having served on its coordinating committee from 2011 through 2014 before continuing on as coordinator for 2015–2017. She is an ASHA Fellow and has been involved in a variety of leadership activities within ASHA including the Pathways leadership team, mentor for Lessons for Success, Grant Review and Reviewer Training, and the Clinical Practice Research Institute.

Dr. Patel has published many highly cited articles in in AJSLP, JSLHR, and Perspectives of the ASHA Special Interest Groups. Her research interests include vocal physiology and voice production in normal and disordered voice across the lifespan, and her current research focuses on creating models of vocal development in typically developing children and children with vocal fold nodules; and bridging research and clinical practice in assessment of voice problems resulting from severe voice disturbances. Her work has been funded by the NIH (NIDCD).

About AJSLP

AJSLP publishes peer-reviewed research and other scholarly articles on all aspects of clinical practice in speech-language pathology. The journal has been published since 1991. You can read more than 30 years of articles in AJSLP‘s archive or check out the latest issue.

Dr. Patel can be reached at patelrir@indiana.edu. She welcomes your input and suggestions on how AJSLP can best serve the speech-language pathology community—and the discipline of communication sciences and disorders at large.