Laurette Tahmassian-Zarneh

Laurette has co-developed the BSc (Hons) Speech and Language Therapy at the University of Huddersfield. Laurette is currently Programme Lead for the BSc(Hons) Speech and Language Therapy as well as Senior Lecturer.

After obtaining a First-Class MA (Hons) at the University of St Andrews in Social Anthropology with Linguistics in 2009, Laurette completed a GDip in Speech and Language Therapy from Queen Margaret University in 2011. Thereafter, as a Health and Care Professions Council registered Speech and Language Therapist with certified Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists membership, Laurette worked in the NHS to provide holistic assessment and management of adults with speech, language, communication, voice and swallowing difficulties subsequent to complex aetiologies. Settings included acute, rehabilitation, clinics and the community. Laurette’s clinical area of specialism is dysphagia (swallowing difficulties), dementia and end of life/palliative care. 

Throughout her practise, Laurette has assumed leadership responsibilities in service development initiatives, audit and evaluation. Moreover, she undertook roles in training, supervision and mentoring of others, including learners completing practice-based education. In 2016, she co-established a dysphagia training programme for care home staff across Sheffield.

In 2017, Laurette was awarded a National Institute for Health Research funded studentship to undertake an MA in Research Methods at the University of Nottingham. This included undertaking a qualitative empirical study with NHS ethics to explore the facilitators and barriers for informal caregivers when following dysphagia recommendations for those living with dementia at home.

Laurette is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy after completing a PgCert in Health Professional Education (with Distinction) in 2021. At present, Laurette is undertaking a PhD exploring service user and carer involvement in pre-registration education.