Scientific Committee
Dr. Wael A. Al-Dakroury, Ph.D.,CCC-SLP
Dr.Nahla Ahmed Dashash, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, BCS-CL, ASHA Fellow
Dr. Slivia Martinez, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, ASHA Fellow
Dr. Fadi AlSwaiti,Ph.D.
Professor Yaser Natour,
Ph.D.,CCC-SLP
Dr. Wael A.Al-Dakroury
Dr. Wael A. Al-Dakroury, Ph.D., CCC-SLP is an International Consultant and Speaker and a highly experienced bilingual pediatric Speech-Language Pathologist. Currently, Dr. Al-Dakroury is the International Speech-Language Pathology Ambassador for the American Speech-Language and Hearing Association (ASHA) and a Member of the ASHA SIG 17 Coordinating Committee. Dr. Al-Dakroury is Co-Founder and Director of the Communication Disorders Department at Psych Care Clinics and Associate Professor at the Faculty of Medicine, Alfaisal University, Riyadh. Dr. Wael is recognized for his outstanding international contributions, he has received a certificate of recognition award from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (2023). Dr. Wael took part in various symposia, forums, and conferences as director, coordinator; Head, and member of the scientific committees (i.e., Member of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association Annual Convention Scientific Committee). Over 30 years, he worked as a Consultant Speech-Language Pathologist, Clinical Supervisor, and Professional Trainer for different medical, rehabilitation, and educational institutions. Dr. Al-Dakroury's research and publication interests focus on the pragmatic disorders in children with ADHD and Autism Spectrum Disorder, as well as language disorders in pediatrics. Finally, Dr. Wael is an Editorial Board Member and Reviewer for several leading peer-reviewed journals in the field (i.e., Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, JSLHR).
LinkedIn profile : linkedin.com/in/waelslp
Dr. Martinez, Professor Emeritus, Howard University is interested in issues concerning inner city and immigrant populations, addressing topics such as bilingualism, education and health disparities, Spanish development, phonology, and dialectology. Her website, of www.myhealthystories.com, contains materials for health education for low literate populations in English and Spanish to address low health disparities in low-literate populations Dr. Martinez also does international capacity building and mentors international professionals. She was a member of the National Black Speech Language and Hearing Association Executive Board (Chair of the Awards Committee), was the Vice-President of the ASHA Hispanic Caucus, the Multicultural Advisor to the National Student Speech Language and Hearing Association, the Associate Chair of ASHA Special Interest Division on Global Affairs, and the Associate Chair ASHA Honors Committee. She has served as Advisor to the ASHA-PAHO Project and was the Chair of the Honduras Ad-Hoc Committee. For her professional work, she has received numerous awards. During her spare time, Dr. Martinez is a community organizer, political activist and artist.
LinkedIn Profile :linkedin.com/in/silvia-martinez-ed-d-ccc-50172532
Dr. Silvia Martinez
Dr Fadi AlSwaiti is an assistant professor in the Department of Audiology and Speech Pathology at AlAhliyya Amman University. He received his bachelor's and master’s degrees from the University of Jordan, and his Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG). Dr Fadi AlSwaiti worked as a speech pathologist for ten years with much of that time spent in the medical sector. After graduating from his PhD program in 2019, he assumed a tenure track position as an assistant professor at the University of Wisconsin River Falls teaching both undergraduate and graduate students. Currently, he serves as the speech and hearing disorders department at AlAhliyya Amman University as well as the director of the speech and hearing clinics located on campus. His current research focus is on creating a normative database and determinants of lexical retrieval in Jordanian Arabic speakers. Additional scholarly work is focusing on validation research in the development of the Jordanian Arabic aphasia test.
LinkedIn Profile : linkedin.com/in/fadi-alswaiti-b6135832
Dr. Fadi AlSwaiti
Nahla Ahmed Dashash, holds a Doctor of Philosophy in Communication Sciences and Disorder since 2004 from Howard University, A Master's Degree In speech and language pathology form San Jose state University, USA and a bachelor's degree in Speech and Hearing Disorders for King Saud University, SA. She has the Certificate of Clinical Competency CCC from the American Speech and Hearing Association ASHA since 1999. She was awarded ASHA Fellowship from the American Speech and Hearing Association ASHA in 2022 and became a Board-Certified Specialist in Child Language (BCS-CL) in 2022 from the American Board of Child Language and Language Disorders ABCLLD. She is currently the Clinical Services Director at the Jeddah Institute for Speech and Hearing JISH. She is also an adjunct assistant professor at Dar Al Hekma University. Over the last two decades she has been working as a clinician with individuals with communication disorders directly or supervising SLP's while working with clients in Saudi Arabia. She has also presented several workshops and lectures to professionals in the field of speech pathology in Saudi Arabia. She also participated and presented papers in international conferences. Over that last 10 years she has headed and was a member of several scientific committees and boardsat the Saudi Commission for Health Specialties SCFHS. Currently she is a member of the Medical Rehabilitation Scientific Board as well as a program surveyor at the SCFHS. She also serves as a board member and the vice president of the Saudi Society for Speech and Audiology SSSPA.
Dr.Nahla Ahmed Dashash
Professor Yaser Natour, a faculty member at the University of Jordan. Professor Natour is a Fulbright Alumnus and a graduate of the University of Florida, USA, 2001. He has published more than 29 peer-reviewed papers and has authored three books in Arabic and multiple book chapters through international publishers. Professor Natour has co-established multiple speech pathology programs throughout the Arab World. He also launched the teletherapy group In Jordan and other Arab countries during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. He is one of the few who have obtained the rank of professor of communication sciences and disorders in the Arab world. He has devoted his career to evidence-based clinical practice and supervision. He is also a certified ASHA member CCC-SLP. And the Jordanian Ministry of Health. He served in multiple leadership positions (Department chair, vice dean, SLP Certification committed chair, Jordanian Ministry of Health, and the hearing and speech center chair.