Background
Dr. Mandulak joined the faculty in the Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences approximately 36 hours after defending her dissertation at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC-CH) on September 14, 2009. On September 15, she moved to Portland, and on the morning of September 16, she began her academic career at Portland State University. Since then, she has become a mother (to Henry), prepped many new courses, and has become a fan of Portland weather, in addition to all that Portland has to offer her and her family.
Dr. Mandulak’s clinical career has been focused on the assessment and treatment of children and families affected by cleft lip and palate, velopharyngeal dysfunction, and other craniofacial disorders. She has served on two Cleft and Craniofacial Teams, including the teams at the Children’s Hospital of Orange County in Orange, CA, and more recently at Duke University Medical Center. Her interest in cleft and craniofacial disorders started during her master’s work at the University of Iowa, under the mentorship of Dr. Michael Karnell, Dr. Jerry Moon, and Dr. Helen Sharp. Her clinical interests formed the basis for her research interests pursued during her doctoral training at UNC-CH, including applying acoustic analysis techniques for investigation of speech production and speech perception in children with repaired cleft palate, under the mentorship of Dr. Katarina Haley and Dr. David Zajac.
Dr. Mandulak currently has funding internally through PSU (Faculty Enhancement Grant) to investigate the relationship between speech production and perception of sounds often found in error in children with repaired cleft lip and palate, including [s] and [ʃ], in order to examine underlying factors that may contribute to speech sound disorders in this population. Another purpose of this research is to investigate ways to incorporate acoustic analysis an objective assessment technique for evaluating speech production skills in children with repaired cleft lip and palate, as well as how to incorporate these methods into documentation of treatment progress. Dr. Mandulak is also interested in pursuing research interests in the scholarship of teaching and learning, as teaching and connecting with students is one of her favorite aspects of her academic career.
Dr. Mandulak is active in the American Cleft Palate – Craniofacial Association, serving on several committees, and has served as the Secretary on the Board of Directors of the Cleft Palate Foundation for 6 years. She is currently serving on the Board of Directors of Ameriface, a support and resource organization for those affected by facial differences. Locally, she serves on the Medical Advisory Committee for Smile Oregon, a non-for-profit organization committed to improving care of children affected by cleft lip and palate in Oregon. Dr. Mandulak serves as the Continuing Education Administrator (CEA) for Special Interest Group 5 (Speech Science and Orofacial Disorders) within ASHA, as well as serving as the CEA for SPHR department at PSU. She also enjoys participating in the local support group for people who stutter, created by one of her graduate students as a special project!
Outside of work, Dr. Mandulak has enjoyed exploring Portland with her husband David and son Henry. She loves working on anything crafty, coming up with new and exciting things to cook for her family, and reading books not related to work!
