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Sandhya Seshadri, PhD, MS, MA
Sandhya Seshadri, PhD, MS, MA

Bio

Sandhya Seshadri is a researcher, educator, and clinician who is the Project Director for the ENGOAL (Engaging Older Adult Learners as Health Researchers) project. Her research focuses on the health of community-dwelling older adults. As a qualitative researcher, Seshadri has worked on several studies including an inter-professional longitudinal study examining older adults' transition from the Emergency Department to their homes. She has presented her work at local, national, and international conferences. As an educator she teaches students qualitative research methods and the clinical management of swallowing disorders, Aphasia, and motor-speech disorders. She also supervises the clinical practicum of graduate students at the York Wellness and Rehabilitation Institute at Nazareth College, Rochester and teaches them clinical skills related to the diagnosis and management of communication disorders stemming from neurologic etiologies. Seshadri practices at Strong Memorial Hospital and is a licensed speech-language pathologist with 20 years of clinical experience specializing in diagnosing and treating adults with neurogenic communication and swallowing disorders. She is a member of the American Speech Language and Hearing Association.



Professional Experience
Assistant Professor of Clinical Nursing, University of Rochester School of Nursing (Research), Rochester, NY, US. 2017 - Current

Speech Language Pathologist-Per Diem, University of Rochester Medical Center (Clinical), Rochester, NY, US. 2011 - Current

Adjunct Faculty, Nazareth College of Rochester (Teaching), Rochester, NY, US. 2003 - Current

Speech Language Pathologist, University of Rochester Medical Center (Clinical), Rochester, NY, US. 2010 - 2011

Awards
Phi Kappa Phi
Purdue University, 1997

American Speech-Language and Hearing Foundation Graduate Student Scholarship for academic achievement and promise
Purdue University, 1996

National Institute of Labor Management Award for Academic Excellence
Tata Institute of Social Sciences, 1986

Presentations
It’s a Balancing Act: A Model of Community-Dwelling Older Adults Navigating Health and Aging in Everyday Life
Duckles, J. M., Sellers, C. R., & Seshadri, S.
44th Annual Conference of the State Society on Aging of New York, 2017
Ithaca, New York

Older Adults' Perspectives on Accessing Acute Illness Care
Finta, M.K, Borkenhagen,A., Werner, N., Duckles, J., Sellers, C.R., Seshadri, S., Lampo, D., & Shah, M.N.
Society of Academic Emergency Medicine Annual Meeting, 2017
Orlando, Florida

Patient Perspectives on Accessing Acute Illness Care
Finta, M.K, Borkenhagen,A., Werner, N., Duckles, J., Sellers, C.R., Seshadri, S., Lampo, D., & Shah, M.N.
Medical College of Wisconsin's Emergency Medicine Research Forum., 2017
Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Exploring Interactions Across Sociotechnical System Boundaries: Barriers, Facilitators, and Consequences to Patient Care
Werner, N. E., Borkenhagen, A., Finta, M.K., Duckles, J., Sellers, C.R., Seshadri, S., Campo, D., & Shah, M.N.
Symposium on Human Factors and Ergonomics in Healthcare, 2017
New Orleans, Louisiana

“Whom do you abide by?” How Community-dwelling Older Adults Balance Fragmented Care with a Texture-Modified Diet
Seshadri, S. & Sellers, C.R.
Innovations in Inter-professional Collaborations: Individual, Community, and Global Engagement Conference at Nazareth College, 2016
Rochester, New York

The Greenhouse Effect: Collaborations between Aphasia Therapy and Horticultural Therapy
Brown, B, Coles, H., & Seshadri, S.
Innovations in Inter-professional Collaborations: Individual, Community, and Global Engagement Conference at Nazareth College, 2016
Rochester, New York

“What am I going to eat?” Understanding How Community-dwelling Older Adults Live With Dysphagia
Seshadri, S. & Sellers, C.R.
44th Annual Conference of the State Society on Aging of New York,, 2016
Ithaca, New York

It’s a Balancing Act: A Model of Community-Dwelling Older Adults Navigating Health and Aging in Everyday Life
Duckles, J. M., Sellers, C. R., & Seshadri, S.
44th Annual Conference of the State Society on Aging of New York, 2016
Ithaca, New York

“It’s Three Steps Forward, Two Steps Back”: A Case-Comparison of Community-dwelling Older Adults Balancing Tensions of Health and Aging in Everyday Life
Duckles, J., Seshadri, S., Sellers, C.R., Lampo, D., & Shah, M.N.
21st International Qualitative Health Research Conference, 2015
Toronto, Canada

“My Choice was Breathe or Eat”: Understanding the Choices made by Community-dwelling Older Adults with Dysphagia.
Seshadri, S., Sellers, C.R., Kearney, M. H., & Szekeres, S.
21st International Qualitative Health Research Conference, 2015
Toronto, Canada

Testing the Limits: Community-dwelling Older Adults’ Experiences with a Texture-modified Diet
Seshadri, S. & Sellers, C.R.
Annual Convention of the American Speech, Language, & Hearing Association (ASHA), 2015
Denver, Colorado

Designing a Fidelity Measurement for a Pilot RCT
Seshadri, S., Eichinger, K, & Flannery, M.
2014 ENRS conference, 2014
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

It’s Balancing Act: Understanding Relational Strategies of Community-Dwelling Older Adults In Navigating Post-Emergency Care & Health in the Context of Everyday Life
Sellers, C. R., Duckles, J. M., Shah, M. N., Seshadri, S., & Lampo, D.
20th International Qualitative Health Research Conference, 2014
Victoria, Canada

"What Makes for “Successful” Transitions from the Emergency Department to Home among Community-dwelling Older Adults?
Sellers, C. R., Duckles, J. M., Shah, M. N., Seshadri, S., Salerno, S., Elliot, A., Christensen, T., & Lampo, D.
19th International Qualitative Health Research Conference: Navigating the Diversity of Qualitative Research, 2013
Nova Scotia, Canada

Aphasia Therapy in the Greenhouse: A Life Participation Approach
Brown, B., Callari, S., Durant-Jones, L, Hyland, M., Seshadri, S. & Zumbo, J.
New York State Speech, Language, & Hearing Association Conference, 2010
Saratoga, New York

Aphasia Therapy in the Greenhouse: A Life Participation Approach
Brown, B., Callari, S., Durant-Jones, L, Hyland, M., Seshadri, S. & Zumbo, J.
New York State Speech, Language, & Hearing Association Conference, 2010
Saratoga, New York

“It’s Never Too Late”: An Application of the Life Participation Approach to Aphasia Therapy
Chirico, J., Durant-Jones, L., Orcutt, K., & Seshadri, S.
New York State Speech, Language, & Hearing Association Conference, 2008
New York

Publications
Seshadri, S., Sellers, C.R., & Kearney, M. H. (2018). Balancing Eating with Breathing: Community- Dwelling Older Adults’ Experiences of Dysphagia and Texture-Modified Diets. The Gerontologist, 58 (4), 749-758. PMID: 28082276 DOI: 10.1093/geront/gnw203

Seshadri, S. (2017). Assessment, Management, and Rehabilitation of Dysphagia in Older Adults. Geriatric Rehabilitation: Bedside to Curbside (1st Edition, Ch. 15). Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press.

Finta MK, Borkenhagen A, Werner NE, Duckles J, Sellers CR, Seshadri S, Lampo D, Shah MN (2017). Patient Perspectives on Accessing Acute Illness Care. Western Journal of Emergency Medicine, 18 (4), 569-576. PMID: 28611875 PMCID: PMC5468060 DOI: 10.5811/westjem.2017.3.33289

Seshadri, S., Duckles, J. M., & Sellers, C. R. (2016). “It’s three steps forward, two steps back”: A case-comparison of community-dwelling older adults balancing tensions of health and ageing in everyday life [Abstract]. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 51-52. DOI: 10.1177/1609406915625569

Seshadri, S., Sellers, C. R., & Kearney, M. H. (2016). “My choice was breathe or eat”: Understanding the choices made by community-dwelling older adults with dysphagia [Abstract]. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 51. DOI: 10.1177/1609406915625569

Duckles, J., Seshadri, S., Lampo, D., Sellers, C. R., & Shah, M. N. (2014). “It’s a balancing act”: Understanding relational strategies of community-dwelling older adults navigating post-emergency care and health in the context of everyday life. [Abstract - Oral]. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 13, 506-507.

Sellers, C. R., Duckles, J. M., Shah, M. N., Seshadri, S., Salerno, S., Eliot, A., & Christianson, T. (2013). What makes for 'successful' transitions from the Emergency Department to home and community among older adults? [Abstract - Oral]. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 12, 815-816.

Projects
Engaging Older Adult Learners as Health Researchers (ENGOAL)
University of Rochester PCORI
6/1/2017 - 8/31/2019
Role: Project Coordinator
PI: Silvia Sorensen