Joan Ma

Dr. Joan Ma is a Senior Lecturer in the Speech and Hearing Sciences Division at Queen Margaret University (QMU), affiliated with the Clinical Audiology, Speech and Language Research Centre (CASL). She holds a BSc (Hons) and a PhD, with her doctoral research focusing on the interaction between tone and intonation in Cantonese. Prior to joining QMU in 2010, she conducted post-doctoral research at Dresden University of Technology on speech analysis in Parkinson’s disease patients.

Dr. Ma’s expertise spans speech-language therapy, motor speech disorders, and dysphagia. Her research explores speech production and perception, motor control in speech, and the application of technology for monitoring motor speech disorders. She also investigates swallowing physiology, particularly the impact of food/drink viscosity on swallowing mechanisms.

She is a full member of the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists and actively contributes to teaching, including leading the BSc Speech and Language Therapy program. Her work emphasizes clinical practice across international settings, including Hong Kong and Singapore.