Profile

Dr. Shune is an Associate Professor and the Director of the Communication Disorders and Sciences Program at the University of Oregon. Her research and clinical interests include the effects of healthy and pathologic aging on swallowing and the mealtime process. She is particularly interested in better understanding the shared mealtime and food-related activities as opportunities to therapeutically target improved quality of life for older adults, healthy and otherwise, and their caregivers. Her work has been recognized by the National Foundation of Swallowing Disorders, the Dysphagia Research Society, and the European Society for Swallowing Disorders, and funded by grants from the National Institutes of Health, American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, the Oregon Tax Checkoff for Alzheimer's Research Fund, and the University of Oregon. She directs the Optimizing Eating and Swallowing for the Elderly Lab (https://eatinglab.uoregon.edu).

Prior to returning to school for her PhD and throughout her doctoral program, she worked as an ASHA certified speech-language pathologist in various medical settings (inpatient/outpatient rehabilitation, skilled nursing, acute care), with a particular focus on dysphagia and stroke rehabilitation. In addition to her research, she currently teaches in the area of medical speech-language pathology and organizes a community-based swallowing disorders support group.