Patrick J. Doyle, Ph.D.
Associate Director for Research, Geriatric Research Education and Clinical Center
Director, Audiology and Speech Pathology Program
Dr. Doyle received his Ph.D. in Communication Science and Disorders from the University of Pittsburgh in 1987. He has over 30 years of experience as a provider of clinical services to veterans with aphasia and as a clinical research scientist. He has served as a Visiting Scientist at The World Health Organization in Geneva, Switzerland, and has published over sixty peer-reviewed data-based studies in the areas of aphasia treatment and the measurement of patient-reported health outcomes. He is the developer of the Burden of Stroke Scale (BOSS), a patient-reported measure of functioning and well-being for stroke survivors.
Mary L. Sullivan, B.S.
Intake Coordinator and Case Worker
Ms. Sullivan received her Bachelor of Science degree in Communication Disorders from St. Cloud State University, MN in 1982. She has over 24 years of experience working with persons with aphasia in various rehabilitation settings, including the Minneapolis VAMC. Her experience includes aphasia and brain injury rehabilitation, and case management of inpatient and outpatient stroke programs.
Brooke A. Swoyer, M.A.
Speech-Language Pathologist
Ms. Swoyer received her Master's Degree in Communication Sciences and Disorders at the University of Pittsburgh in 2008. She completed her Clinical Fellowship year at the VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System and has been involved with PIRATE since the programs’ inception. Her specific areas of interest include phonological processing impairments in aphasia.
Ronda L. Winans-Mitrik, M.A.
Speech-Language Pathologist
Mrs. Winans-Mitrik received her Master's Degree in Communication Sciences and Disorders at the University of Pittsburgh in 2009. Her specific areas of interest are phonological processing in aphasia, acquired reading impairments, and the implementation of speech-language pathology services via telehealth.
Rebecca L. Owens, M.A. Speech-Language Pathologist
Ms. Owens received her Master’s Degree in Communication Sciences and Disorders at the University of Pittsburgh in 2011. Her specific areas of interest include acquired reading impairments and phonological processing in aphasia.
James G. Schumacher, M.S.
Speech-Language Pathologist
Mr. Schumacher received his Master's Degree in Communication Disorders from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1986. He has over 25 years of service with the Department of Veterans Affairs. His areas of interest include aphasia advocacy and the diagnosis and treatment of neurogenic communication disorders, including aphasia, apraxia of speech and dysarthria.
Christine T. Matthews, CScD
Speech-Language Pathologist
Dr. Matthews received her Doctorate of Clinical Science Degree in Communication Disorders from the University of Pittsburgh in 2010 and has nearly 15 years of clinical experience in treating persons with aphasia and other communication disorders. Her areas of interest include treatment of phonological processing impairments and motor speech disorders. She has authored several papers on language performance in persons with aphasia.
Geoffrey V. Fredericks, Ph.D. Speech-Language Pathologist
Dr. Fredericks received his Ph.D. in Communication Science and Disorders from the University of South Alabama in 2002 and completed a two year post-doctoral clinical Fellowship in Medical Speech-Language Pathology at the Mayo Clinic. He has over a decade of clinical experience in treating persons with aphasia and other communication disorders. His areas of interest include neurogenic speech, language, and cognitive-communication disorders with an emphasis in motor speech disorders.
Malcolm R. McNeil, Ph.D.
VA Rehabilitation Research Career Scientist
Geriatric Research Education and Clinical Center
Dr. McNeil received his Ph.D. in Speech Pathology from the University of Colorado in 1977. With nearly 40 years of clinical experience, Dr. McNeil is an internationally recognized expert in the diagnosis and treatment of aphasia and related neurogenic communication disorders. In addition to publishing numerous articles on aphasia treatment and the relationships between impairments of attention and language deficits in aphasia, he is the developer of the Revised Token Test, a widely-used instrument for measuring auditory comprehension ability in aphasia.
William D. Hula, Ph.D.
Research Speech-Language Pathologist
Dr. Hula obtained a Ph.D. in Communication Science and Disorders from the University of Pittsburgh in 2007. He is the recipient of a Level II VA Rehabilitation Research Career Development Award to pursue research activities in the areas of lexical access in aphasia and the development of clinical outcome measures. Dr. Hula is the author of several peer-reviewed studies in these areas.
Michael W. Dickey, Ph.D.
Research Scientist
Geriatric Research Education and Clinical Center
Dr. Dickey received his Ph.D. in Linguistics from the University of Massachusetts in 2000 and has over 10 years of experience as a clinical research scientist. Dr. Dickey has published several peer-reviewed studies examining sentence comprehension and production in adults and their impairment in aphasia.
Therapy Session Schedule
What our clients
