Meet Our Faculty

Our incredible faculty is made up of some of the world’s leading researchers, doctors, scholars, teachers, representing a broad range of expertise in various medical fields related to myofunctional therapy.

Kevin Boyd

Kevin Boyd, DDS is a board-certified pediatric dentist with over 20 years experience delivering outstanding dental healthcare to infants, children, adolescents, and young adults with physical and/or mental disabilities, and other special needs. After graduating from Loyola University’s Chicago College of Dentistry…


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Jennifer Flage Hobson

Dr. Jennifer Flage Hobson, PT, DPT, MTC, CFC, CMTPT, is a European-trained physical therapist; she earned her degree in physical therapy with an emphasis on manual therapy at the Hogeschool van Amsterdam, The Netherlands. She completed Hogeschool internships in Holland and Madrid…


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Triin Jagomägi

Triin graduated from the University of Tartu, Estonia in 1993 with DDS in stomatology, soon after that from University of Kuopio, Finland with master’s degree (MSc) in Orthodontics in 1995. In 2005 she got diploma of Membership in Orthodontics (MOrth RCSEd) by the Royal College…


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Umakanth Khatwa

Dr. Umakanth Khatwa is a graduate of Karnataka Institute of Medical Sciences in Hubli, Karnataka, and completed his pediatrics
residecy at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi.He came to United States and completed his pediatric residency at…


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Martha Macaluso

Martha Macaluso MLT, RDH BS is a practicing Registered Dental Hygienist and Myofunctional Therapist. She received her degree in Dental Hygiene from Farmingdale State University and specialized in Myofunctional Therapy through the AOMT. Martha is faculty at New York University College of Dentistry…


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Irene Marchesan

Irene Marchesan, PhD SLP is a Research Associate at CEFAC, Department of Orofacial Myofunctional Therapy. She is world-renowned in this field having authored over 300 articles and books and presided over 400 thesis defences. She has over 30 years of experience…


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Patrick McKeown

After receiving accreditation from Dr. Konstantin Buteyko in 2002, Patrick has spent the last 13 years reaching out to thousands of children and adults who suffer unnecessarily due to the asthma, sleep disordered breathing and dysfunctional breathing patterns. His latest book is titled “The Oxygen Advantage”…


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Joy Lea Moeller

Joy Moeller, BS, RDH is a dental hygienist, author and formally an associate professor at Indiana University, who has worked as a myofunctional therapist for many years and currently has a private practice in Pacific Palisades, California…


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Sharon Moore

Sharon Moore is a Speech Pathologist and Myofunctional Practitioner, with 38 years clinical experience across a wide range of communication and swallowing disorders. She has worked in diverse clinical settings in Australia and London. Currently, she runs a Private Practice in Canberra…


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James Murphy

James G. Murphy, MD, is an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at the F. Edward Hébert School of Medicine, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Maryland. He served 25 years on active duty as a physician with the US Navy, 12 years as a contract pediatrician…


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Giovanni Olivi

Giovanni Olivi, MD, DDS is native of Rome, Italy, where he graduated in Medicine and Surgery (MD) and specialized in Dentistry cum laude (DDS). In 2002 Giovanni completed a one-year post graduated laser course at the University of Florence. He achieved the laser certification from ISLD (Bergamo, Italy, in 2004)…


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Melody Ouyoung

I have specialties in early intervention in children and adult who have both speech / voice and swalllowing problems. I have conducted swallowing and voice rehabilitation for children. Head and neck cancer, Parkinson patients both locally, national and international for many years…


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Licia Paskay

While working as a dental hygienist in Italy in the 1990’s, Licia’s boss used to question her ideas on myofunctional therapy: “Who said so? Where is the information coming from?” Those nagging phrases pushed her to learn more about orofacial myofunctional therapy and to pursue evidence…


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Cynthia Peterson

Cynthia Peterson is a physical therapist and works at Canyon Rim Physical Therapy where the physical therapists have over 50 years combined experience in treating head neck and jaw disorders. Cynthis works with each patient one on one to help them identify problematic postures and habits…


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Paola Pirelli

Paola graduated in Dentistry and Specialist in Orthodontics. She is Assistant Professor and Researcher at the Department of Clinical Sciences and Translational Medicine, University of Rome “Tor Vergata”. For over 35 years she has been involved in Dentofacial Orthopedics…


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Marileda Tome

Marileda Tomé holds a degree in Speech and Hearing Therapy from the Federal University of Santa Maria, Brazil (1995), a Master’s Degree in Human Communication Disorders from the Federal University of Santa Maria (1998) and a PhD in Rehabilitation of Human Communication Disorders…


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Sanda Valcu-Pinkerton

Sanda Valcu-Pinkerton, RDHAP believes in treating people, not problems. As a therapist, she works with patients of all ages to help train the orofacial muscles to develop optimally. During surgery, she supports Dr. Zaghi in their functional frenuloplasty procedures, incorporating myofunctional therapy to optimize outcomes…


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Doris Waite

Doris graduated Dental Hygiene from George Brown College in Toronto in 1978 and moved to Owen Sound in 1979 to started working for a certified specialist in orthodontics. She has worked in general practice until 1992. A graduate of the AOMT Myofunctional therapy course in 2012, and later, Buteyko Breathing Educator certificate in 2012…


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Samantha Weaver

Samantha Weaver, MS, has been practicing myofunctional therapy since 2009 working in two clinics that specialize in breathing remediation and orofacial myofunctional therapy with children and adults. In addition to being a therapist, she is a director of the Academy of Orofacial Myofunctional Therapy (AOMT)…


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Heidi Widoff

Professionally, Heidi Widoff, RDH, COM, is both an accomplished Registered Dental Hygienist and a private practice Certified Orofacial Myologist. Apart from her commitment to dental hygiene a few days per week in dental offices, Heidi consults and treats her patients at her private office…


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Audrey Yoon

Dr. Audrey Yoon is a dual trained sleep orthodontist and pediatric dentist. She completed her orthodontic, pediatric and craniofacial
training at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), the nation’s pre-eminent program of its type. She obtained a Master of
Science degree…


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Soroush Zaghi

Dr. Zaghi graduated from Harvard Medical School, completed residency in ENT (Otolaryngology- Head and Neck Surgery) at UCLA, and Sleep Surgery Fellowship at Stanford University. The focus of his sub-specialty training is on the comprehensive treatment of tongue-tie, nasal obstruction…


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Lilyanna Zmijak

Lilyanna Zmijak is an ASHA board certified speech-language pathologist with an interest in interdisciplinary evaluation and treatment of the stomatognathic system, orofacial myofunction, respiration and neuromuscular reeducation. She holds a PhD in Communication Sciences and Disorders..


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