Our Team

Our People

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Our experienced speech pathologists are distinguished clinicians and clinical educators. Collaborating with our speech pathology students, they offer a wide spectrum of evidence-based services to both children and adults, including providing comprehensive assessment reports for external organizations, such as the NDIS.

Dr Olga Birchall

Clinic Director

Olga Birchall is a speech pathologist with a passion for innovation, informed decision making, and equity in healthcare service delivery. Her role as Clinic Director at MSPC is underpinned by Olga’s commitment to compassionate care, service, and life-long learning.

Olga graduated from La Trobe university with first class honours in 2000, and over the past 23 years has worked in clinical care, clinical education, and leadership across multiple healthcare settings, including acute teaching hospitals in Australia (Royal Melbourne Hospital, Western Hospital, St Vincent’s Hospital, Monash Medical Centre) and the UK (National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Charing Cross Hospital, Royal Brompton Hospital, and others). Since 2004 she has concurrently run a successful mobile Speech Pathology practice servicing adults living in the community, residential aged care homes (RACHs), and acute hospitals. Olga has had extensive experience in leading teams through service development, delivery, and evaluation across acute, rehabilitation, palliative care, community, and outreach settings.

In 2022 Olga completed PhD research, supported by the University of Melbourne (and funded by the Australian Government Research Training Scholarship) to generate evidence about onsite mobile flexible endoscopic evaluation of swallowing (mFEES). Olga was the first provider of mobile instrumental swallowing assessment in Australia. Olga is also working to raise community, government, and professional awareness of mobile FEES by lobbying government ministers, health departments, through social media and by initiating the first international mFEES special interest group and research database. Olga has published research in international peer reviewed journals, presented at numerous conferences, and media platforms – including an award-winning online Speech Pathology media campaign, and being guest speaker on 774 ABC Melbourne.

Beyond speech pathology, Olga is grateful for her husband and two vivacious children. She enjoys hiking, pottering in her garden, Latin dancing, and getting lost in books. She is mindful of her personal journey as a consumer of healthcare services, the power of hope, and the value of striving for humility in delivering person-centred and timely healthcare.

Charlie Fraser

Practice Administrative Manager (acting)

Charlie is our Practice Administrative Co-ordinator who has recently joined us from Wellington, New Zealand. She thrives in people-based roles and loves helping people from all walks of life. Charlie has administration experience in the tertiary education sector, where she worked as a Regional Coordinator in a non-profit organisation. This involved enrolling individuals into vocational education and maintaining excellent internal and external relations for company-client agreements.

Charlie also has a passion for working with individuals with additional needs and has experience as a support worker in the disability sector. It was in this role that Charlie realised how much she enjoys helping out other people and providing the best care and service to those who need it.

Charlie is hugely enjoying working here in Melbourne and meeting so many different people, with diverse backgrounds, needs and perspectives.

Emma White

Speech Pathologist

Emma completed a B.A. in Linguistics before completing a graduate entry Masters of Speech Pathology at La Trobe University. She has over 15 years of experience working with adults with communication and/or swallowing disorders across the continuum of care.

Emma’s area of expertise is the assessment and management of communication and swallowing disorders resulting from acquired and/or progressive brain injury, particularly aphasia and cognitive communication disorders. She is also interested in adult stuttering; gender affirming voice therapy; and in the intersection between mental health and communication. Emma is a diversity-affirming practitioner.

Emma champions the idea that communication is a basic human right and that the world would be a better place if everyone was able to express their needs, wants, thoughts and ideas effectively and respectfully.

Aislinn Twomey

Speech Pathologist

Aislinn is a graduate of the esteemed University College Cork in Ireland in 2018 and holds a Bachelor of Science in Speech and Language Therapy.

Her extensive career spans diverse healthcare settings, including acute hospitals, the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) sector, and the community. These experiences have equipped Aislinn to offer adult and paediatric clients transformative care by focusing on each client’s unique needs and evidenced-based ways to improve function and quality-of-life.

Aislinn’s experience extends to clients with a variety of complex needs relating to ageing, acquired brain injuries (including stroke and traumatic brain injury), progressive neurological conditions (including Parkinson’s disease, dementia, motor neuron disease, and multiple sclerosis), head and neck cancer, and developmental disabilities such as autism, cerebral palsy, and intellectual disability. Her special interest lies in acquired brain injuries and progressive neurological conditions. Aislinn has advanced skills in the assessment and management voice and swallowing disorders, including instrumental swallowing assessment.

Aislinn also brings extensive knowledge to paediatric clients with developmental disabilities, such as autism, developmental delay, and intellectual disability. She embraces neurodiversity-affirming practices when collaborating with neurodivergent clients, creating a supportive and inclusive environment.

Aislinn has an interest in augmentative and alternative communication (AAC), in low and high-tech forms. She understands the pivotal role that AAC plays in enabling clients with communication difficulties to express themselves effectively.

With a heart dedicated to healing and a spirit dedicated to empowerment, Aislinn welcomes clients to experience the transformative impact of her care.

Chloe Ma

Speech Pathologist

Chloe completed her Masters of Speech Pathology in 2015 and has worked in a range of settings including private practice, primary schools and in the NDIS sector.

Chloe has worked predominantly with children with language disorders, speech sound disorders and literacy difficulties. Throughout her career, she developed a passion for working with and supporting children with complex communication needs including Autism, Intellectual Disability, and developmental delays.

Chloe strives to ensure intervention is collaborative, functional, and meaningful by building positive connections with families to support their child in achieving their goals in the home, school and community environments. Chloe believes a team-based approach is vital to a child’s success and aims to work closely with other important stakeholders such as teachers and other allied health professionals.

Diana Mina

Speech Pathologist

Diana is a seasoned speech pathologist who completed her Masters of Speech Pathology degree at La Trobe University in 2017, earning the Golden Key International Honour Society Award for Academic Excellence . Diana has worked in a diverse range of settings, including private practice, primary and secondary schools, and the NDIS sector.

Diana has dedicated herself to working primarily with children facing various speech and language challenges. These include: language disorders, speech sound disorders, stuttering, literacy difficulties, and pragmatic issues. Diana has a special interest and skills in working with children who are deaf or hard of hearing. She has supported children with cochlear implants to develop their language, speech, and pragmatic skills.

In addition to this specialised area of focus, Diana has acquired proficiency in delivering evidence-based interventions, including the Lidcombe Program and the Hanen Program “It Takes Two to Talk.” This training equips her to provide effective early language and stuttering interventions to her clients.

Diana approaches her work with a professional yet warm demeanour, understanding the importance of fostering a supportive environment for her clients and their families. She believes in delivering therapy that is not only evidence-based but also engaging, finding fulfillment in empowering families and educators with the tools needed to support ongoing progress in speech, language, and fluency.

Rosie Zocco

Speech Pathologist

Rosie is experienced in providing articulation, phonology, language, voice, and social skills therapy for children with a range of complex needs, with a passion for treating stuttering. Rosie has worked extensively with both children and adults who stutter in her career, both in private practice and through the NDIS. She is an active member of the Stuttering Therapy Interest Group.

Rosie is also an experienced clinical educator, having coordinated both the adult and pediatric fluency programs at La Trobe University. She has a passion for clinical education and training the next generation of speech pathologists.

Outside of work Rosie loves spending time with her daughter, husband, and dog, drinking too much coffee, and singing.