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Biography

Dr. Robbins' research interests focus on the effects of healthy aging and age-related disease on swallowing, with the clinical goals of devising age-appropriate interventions to remediate dysphagia when present and to prevent associated medical outcomes including pneumonia, dehydration and malnutrition. Dr. Robbins' NIH- funded efforts are directed at determining a normative database of swallowing parameters, including pressures generated in the oropharynx, kinematics of oropharyngeal structures and their impact on bolus transit, and food choices throughout the adult lifespan. Also, her work using video fluoroscopy and magnetic resonance imaging is revealing some of the effects of aging on the relationship between changes in the brain and swallowing physiology. Most recently, her Laboratory group is using MRI to quantify muscle in head and neck structures integral to swallowing. Preliminary work in this area suggests that sarcopenia, that is age-related loss of muscle mass, occurs in the tongue and may account for some of the age-related swallowing changes found in healthy old individuals Sarcopenia of head and neck structures may be a big risk factor for dysphagia secondary to the many age-related diseases such as stroke.

Dr. Robbins is Study Chair for the only randomized clinical trial in swallowing funded by the National Institute of Deafness and Communicative Disorders. It is designed to assess the efficacy of some of the most common behavioral interventions used for older patients with dementia with or without Parkinson's disease who aspirate on liquids. The UW/VA Swallowing Laboratory, under her direction is the Central Laboratory for this project which is currently in it's third of six years.

While Dr. Robbins conducts her own research program and provides guidance for the research component of the Madison Geriatric Research Education and Clinical Center (GRECC), she continues a clinical practice at the UW Hospital and Clinics. This UW Swallowing Program is multi-disciplinary, comprising the swallowing clinician, gastroenterologist, otolaryngologist, radiologist and nutritionist; it has provided diagnostic and treatment services to a diverse group of thousands of patients with complaints or symptoms of dysphagia.

Finally, Dr. Robbins also serves as the Interim Associate Director of the UW Institute on Aging.

Specialty: Swallowing/Geriatrics

Clinical Certification: Certificate of Clinical Competence (ASHA)

Medical Interests: Swallowing

Graduate School: Northwestern University, Evanston, IL

Postgraduate Education: Postdoctoral Fellowship (NRSA-NIH), Swallowing Physiology

Search for JoAnne Robbins' literature abstracts on PubMed

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