Prof Yvonne Wren

Yvonne Wren, BSc, MEd, PhD, FRCSLT, FLSW

Professor of Speech and Communication, University of Bristol

Professor of Speech and Language Therapy, Cardiff Metropolitan University

I am Director of Bristol Speech and Language Therapy Research Unit (BSLTRU) and initiated the MISLToe study. In 2005, I qualified as a speech and language therapist at the University of Manchester. I then worked clinically in Liverpool and Bristol for ten years before embarking on my PhD which was awarded in 2005 from the University of Bristol. I was successful in my application for an NIHR Postdoctoral Fellowship in 2011 and more recently, was elected Fellow of the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists (2022) and Fellow of the Learned Society of Wales (2026).

I am a senior research advisor to the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists (RCSLT), a member of the International Expert Panel on Multilingual Children’s Speech and a consultant to the Child Speech Committee for the International Association of Communication Sciences and Disorders. The impact of my work beyond MISLToe includes the development of two sets of guidelines for the transcription and analysis of children’s speech with the Child Speech Disorder Research Network and the identification of risk factors for persistent speech disorders.

My awards include a Giving Voice award from the RCSLT in 2022, Certificate of Appreciation from the International Association of Communication Sciences and Disorders in 2021, the Patient Involvement and Engagement in Research (PIER) Award from the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (with colleagues in the Cleft Collective) in 2020, and the Editor’s award for the Speech Section of the Journal of Speech, Language and Hearing Research (with Sound Start Study colleagues) in 2017.

Current research

My research focuses on speech sound disorder and cleft lip and palate, and I lead multidisciplinary research across speech, language, communication, and swallowing disorders.

Current and recent research projects include: