About Debbie Sell

Dr Debbie Sell is a Senior Practitioner Speech and Language Therapist for the North Thames Regional Cleft Service, Head of Department at Great Ormond Street Hospital NHS Trust and is Visiting Professor at City University, London. In August 2011, Debbie is stepping down from her Head of Department role and will be returning to Great Ormond Street Hospital in a part-time capacity as Joint Allied Health Professions Research Lead.

She has been active as a clinician, researcher and teacher in the cleft palate field for over 25 years, having completed her PhD  on speech outcomes following late surgery within the context of the Sri Lankan Cleft Lip and Palate Project. She was a member of the Eurocleft Speech Group, led the speech research in the national CSAG 1998 study, and is now on the speech steering group of CSAG2, acts as consultant to the Americleft speech study, and has been involved in a breadth of outcome studies. More recently, she was central to the development, testing and implementation of the UK speech outcome tool: CAPS-A, and its associated national training package.

She has 50 peer reviewed publications and has co-edited two books, the most recent on the Management of Cleft Palate in the Developing World.

She has been an active member of the multidisciplinary cleft team since 1983, pioneering the use of nasendoscopy by speech and language therapists in the UK. In 2006 she was awarded an OBE for services to the National Health Service.