Cohort 
2016

Bárbara Costa Beber, PhD

Speech & Language Pathologist

If we improve communication among people with dementia and their loved ones, we can improve their quality of life.

Current Work

Bárbara is an associate professor of the Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences Department at the Universidade Federal de Ciências da Saúde de Porto Alegre. She is committed to improving the training of speech and language therapists from Brazil to work in dementia.

Words of Strength

Making things happen

Vision

To reduce the scale and impact of dementia, Bárbara believes we need to promote education about brain health and feasible solutions to be used in low- and middle-income countries.

Strategy

Bárbara is training speech and language therapists in Brazil to intervene in communication disorders due to dementia. Communication is an important skill to keep our social life. She believes if we improve communication among people with dementia and their loved ones, we can improve their quality of life.

Impact

As an Atlantic Fellow, Bárbara has learned important leadership skills to put into practice her projects. The fellowship gave her the confidence that she can achieve her goals to reduce the impact of dementia in her community.

Motivation

People with dementia present communication difficulties that can negatively impact their quality of life. Brazil has about forty thousand speech and language therapists that may help to improve communication in this population.

Education & Experience

Bárbara Costa Beber received her speech and language therapy training and her master's degree from the Universidade Federal de Santa Maria, Brazil. She completed her PhD at the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, and did part of her PhD research in the Memory and Aging Center of the University of California, San Francisco. In 2017, after her fellowship at the GBHI (in Ireland) she joined the speech, language and hearing sciences department of the Universidade Federal de Ciências da Saúde de Porto Alegre as an associate professor.

UCSF Memory and Aging Center
Visiting Scholar
Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
PhD
Universidade Federal de Santa Maria, Brazil
Master's Degree
Universidade Federal de Santa Maria, Brazil
Speech and Language Therapy Training

Awards & Honors

Associação Brasileira de Neuropsiquiatria Geriátrica
Award Cassio Machado de Campos Bottino
Sociedade Brasileira de Fonoaudiologia
Best campaign in public health of the XXIV Congresso Brasileiro de Fonoaudiologia
Laboratório Achè
Best clinical case in neurology

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