Bonnie Martin-Harris
Northwestern University, IL·Medicine & Clinical Research
Cancers of the throat region (oropharyngeal head and neck cancer, OP HNC) have risen sharply in the United States. Many patients now survive treatment but live with lasting swallowing problems, known as dysphagia, that can let food or liquid enter the airway.
- Fields
Medicine & Clinical Research
Biomedical Engineering
Physiology
- Topics
dysphagia
swallowing disorders
oropharyngeal cancer
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Jul 2027
What they work on
- Test in a randomized, sham-controlled trial of 88 oropharyngeal head and neck cancer survivors whether respiratory-swallow phase training increases the share of swallows started while breathing out.
- Determine whether the training improves swallowing safety on the Penetration-Aspiration Scale, plus residue and swallowing impairment scores, using videofluoroscopy synchronized with a wearable respiratory-swallow sensor.
- Measure whether swallows started during exhalation become more frequent during everyday eating and drinking, tracked with the wearable sensor for up to 12 weeks after treatment.
More about the research
Current therapies focus only on swallowing movements. They ignore when in the breathing cycle a person swallows. Swallowing while breathing out is mechanically safer. Patients who instead start swallows while breathing in tend to have more impairment, more leftover food in the throat (residue) and more airway entry.
Why it matters
Survivors of oropharyngeal head and neck cancer often face lifelong swallowing problems with few treatment options, and food entering the airway is a safety risk. If breathing-timed swallow training works, it could become a new therapy delivered at home by telehealth. It could also be combined with existing swallowing treatments to improve recovery for these patients.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Emily Plowman
Ohio State University, OH·Medicine & Clinical Research
Identify independent risk factors for dysphagia after heart surgery, collecting candidate predictors through the surgical period in 360 patients and using multivariable modeling to build a risk stratification tool and open-access app.
Steven Frank
University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, TX·Medicine & Clinical Research
Characterize late radiation-associated dysphagia (L-RAD) and identify its subtypes by extending follow-up of a 440-patient randomized trial of proton therapy (IMPT) versus X-ray therapy (IMRT) to 10 years.
Andreas Wieland
Ohio State University, OH·Microbiology & Immunology
Generate dimeric IgA antibodies that target the HPV cancer-driving proteins E6 and E7, using a platform of human monoclonal antibodies isolated from B cells inside patients' tumors.
The school
Northwestern University: 71 labs on PI Pages, $1.3B a year on research, 536 research doctorates a year.
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