- By 31 May, please review and update your Discovery Profiles using the Te Waka Huia Rangahau | Research Outputs system.
- Use the Profile Review Checklist as a guide of the activities to complete as you review and enhance your profile.
- On 7 June, the University Directory will be fully decommissioned and will no longer be accessible or visible inside or outside of the University, Discovery Profiles will replace the externally facing elements of University Directory.
Dr Anna Miles
PhD - Canterbury University / BSc hons - University College London
Biography
Anna Miles PhD is a full-time faculty member in Speech Science, Psychology at The University of Auckland. Dr Miles is a researcher, lecturer and clinician in the area of swallowing and swallowing disorders. She is the New Zealand Speech-language Therapists’ Association Clinical Expert in Adult Dysphagia. Anna is Principle Investigator of the Swallowing Research Laboratory in the Centre of Brain Research at The University of Auckland.
The Swallowing Research Laboratory at The University of Auckland, led by Dr Miles, strives to improve the lives of people with swallowing difficulties through improved assessment, treatment and medical education. The laboratory hopes to reduce the risks of pneumonia and death associated with swallowing difficulties as well as improve the quality of life of suffers.
In addition to research supervision, Anna provides clinical teaching to students at The University of Auckland and provides a considerable amount of international and national teaching each year. Anna is a specialist speech-language therapist in dysphagia and provides national teaching in speciality areas of endoscopic evaluation of swallowing, videofluroscopic study of swallowing, surface EMG in dysphagia management and tracheostomy management.
Research | Current
Research is being completed investigating the predictive value of objective swallowing measures and airway responsiveness on aspiration and aspiration pneumonia in both adults and children. Work is underway with international collaborators to combine databases to further our understanding of the effect of age on swallowing function. In collaboration with Nutrition and Dietetics and Engineering, the Lab has an interest in the impact of age on swallowing and nutrition. Work is in progress looking at the effect of Lee Silverman Voice Treatment (LSVT) on swallowing and cough function.
In addition to our studies with people with swallowing difficulties within district health boards, we also have an education focus. We are investigating the efficacy of innovative teaching approaches including simulation and virtual patients on allied health education both at under-graduate and post-graduate level.
The University of Auckland Swallowing Research Laboratory's most salient achievement is the completion of a comprehensive normative database of video fluoroscopic swallowing studies and the accumulating dysphagia database of video fluoroscopic swallowing studies. This includes 4000+ New Zealanders aged 20-98 years old. The normative database is the first New Zealand normative swallowing database and will provide objective norms for all observational and experimental studies in the future.
Teaching | Current
Academic Courses
Swallowing Disorders
- SPCHSCI721 Dysphagia
- SPCHSCI701 Dysphagia - distance learning
Voice and Fluency
- SPCHSCI746 Voice and Fluency
Anatomy & Physiology
- Introduction to Speech Science
- Anatomy and physiology of swallowing
Research Methodology and Research Skills
- Special Topics Papers (SPCHSCI751, 753, 754) - research skills
- Research Project: SPCHSCI752
- Research Project: SPCHSCI790A/B
- Psychology Honours - Research Project
Clinical Teaching
Speech-language Therapy Clinical Practice (SPCHSCI 714, 724,734,744)
Postgraduate supervision
Research Supervision
Masters of Speech-language Therapy Practice
Expert clinical supervision to workforce
Academic mentoring
Distinctions/Honours
2019 AMRF Excellence in Research Award - Waitemata District Health Board
2019 Excellence in Patient Experience Award - Waitemata District Health Board
2019 CEO Publication Prize – Waitemata District Health Board
2019 Commendation from Dean for teaching
2018 CEO Publication Prize – Waitemata District Health Board
2018 Most Innovative Research Award - New Zealand Disability Support Network Conference
2018 Nominated for the Inaugural CBR Emerging Researcher Collaborator Prize
2016 Commendation from Dean for teaching
2015 Excellence in Research and Innovation Award - Waitemata District Health Board
2014 Research Excellence Award - New Zealand Speech-language Therapists’ Association
2013 Jean Seabrook Prize, Communication Disorders, University of Canterbury – for outstanding PhD thesis concerned with neurological aspects of communication or swallowing disorders in the New Zealand population
Responsibilities
Dr Miles is Editor in Chief of Speech Language and Hearing Journal and Editor for the International Journal of Speech Language Pathology.
Dr Miles provides specialist teaching in digital analysis of videofluoroscopic study of swallowing, cough reflex testing, fibreoptic endoscopic evaluation of swallowing and tracheostomy management.
Areas of expertise
- Swallowing Disorders- assessment and treatment
- Videofluoroscopic Study of Swallowing
- Cough Reflex Testing and swallowing assessment
- Tracheostomy Management
- Fibreoptic Endoscopic Study of Swallowing
Committees/Professional groups/Services
Vice President New Zealand Speech-language Therapists' Association
Professional Standards Portfolio for New Zealand Speech-language Therapists' Association Executive Board
Expert Advisor for New Zealand Speech-language Therapists' Association - Adult Dysphagia
New Zealand Speech-language Therapists' Association since 2000
Board Member (2017-2021) and Chair COVID-19 Taskforce (2020-2021) Dysphagia Research Society Member (since 2015, ongoing)
Treasurer Laryngology Society of Australasia Member (since 2015, ongoing)
Selected publications and creative works (Research Outputs)
- Jackson, B. N., Brady, A., Friary, P., Braakhuis, A., Sekula, J., & Miles, A. (2020). Educator-student talk during interprofessional simulation-based teaching. BMJ SIMULATION & TECHNOLOGY ENHANCED LEARNING, 6 (4), 206-213. 10.1136/bmjstel-2019-000455
Other University of Auckland co-authors: Andrea Braakhuis, Bianca Jackson - Allen, J., Greene, M., Sabido, I., Stretton, M., & Miles, A. (2020). Economic costs of dysphagia among hospitalized patients. The Laryngoscope, 130 (4), 974-979. 10.1002/lary.28194
- Allen, J. E., & Miles, A. (2020). Parkinson’s disease. In P. A. Weissbrod, D. O. Francis (Eds.) Neurologic and neurodegenerative diseases of the larynx (pp. 143-159). Cham, Switzerland: Springer Nature. Related URL.
- Vaughan, A., Gardner, D., Miles, A., Copley, A., Wenke, R., & Coulson, S. (2020). A systematic review of physical rehabilitation of central facial palsy. Frontiers in Neurology, 1110.3389/fneur.2020.00222
- Dharmarathna, I., Miles, A., & Allen, J. (2020). Twenty years of quantitative instrumental measures of swallowing in children: a systematic review. European journal of pediatrics, 179 (2), 203-223. 10.1007/s00431-019-03546-x
- Hearne, A., Miles, A., Douglas, J., Carr, B., Nicholls, J. R., Bullock, M. S., & Southwood, H. (2020). Exploring teachers’ attitudes: knowledge and classroom strategies for children who stutter in New Zealand. Speech, language and hearing (London, England), online first.10.1080/2050571X.2020.1750756
- Henderson, M., & Miles, A. (2020). Pediatric pharyngoesophageal trauma leading to phagophobia. Laryngology: A case-based approach. San Diego, CA, USA: Plural Publishing. Related URL.
- Miles, A., & Allen, J. (2020). Vagal injury following ruptured carotid pseudoaneurysm. Laryngology: A case-based approach. San Diego, CA, USA: Plural Publishing. Related URL.
Contact details
- +64 9 923 8177
- +64.9.923.8177
- a.miles@auckland.ac.nz
- amil153@aucklanduni.ac.nz
Alternative contact
Research Gate:
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Anna_Miles3?ev=hdr_xprf
Centre of Brain Research
https://www.fmhs.auckland.ac.nz/en/faculty/cbr/our-research/research-teams/clinical-neuroscience/swallowing-research-laboratory.html
Primary office location
M&HS BUILDING 507 - Bldg 507
Level 2, Room 2066
28 PARK AVE
GRAFTON
AUCKLAND 1023
New Zealand