Victoria Joffe has recently taken up the role of Professor and Dean of the School of Health and Social Care at the University of Essex. She was previously the Academic Director, International and Professor in the Enhancement of Child and Adolescent Language and Learning at City, University of London.
Victoria is a speech and language therapist and completed her BA Honours in Speech and Hearing Therapy at the University of Witwatersrand, South Africa. Thereafter, she completed her DPhil degree in Experimental Psychology in the Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford. Her thesis focused on the language and literacy of children with developmental language disorders.
Victoria’s areas of clinical and research expertise include speech, language and communication disorder in children and young people, the interface between education and speech and language therapy collaborative practice and the training of teaching staff, language and literacy development, and evidence-based practice.
Victoria works with various health trusts, education authorities and third sector organisations devising and evaluating research into models of service delivery across the lifespan. She provides training and consultancy to professionals working with children and young people with diverse needs.
Victoria has been a trustee of ICAN, a national children’s communication charity in the UK, and the Link Schools, a special educational provision for children and young people with complex communication difficulties. She is editor of the journal, Child Language Teaching and Therapy, and acts as a speech and language therapy partner for the Health and Care Professions Council. She has recently completed a 5-year term as trustee for research and development at the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists (RCSLT) and is chair of the RCSLT’s national clinical excellence network for older children and young adults with speech, language and communication needs. Victoria is currently working on three National Institute Health Research (NIHR)-funded research projects looking into new and innovative interventions for children with social communication disorder, children who stammer and children with Down Syndrome.