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Ripich to head College of Health Professions Ripich comes to MUSC from Case Western Reserve where  she served as associate dean of College of Arts and Sciences by Kristen Karig Public Relations The words that best describe the career of Danielle N. Ripich, Ph.D., are “effective communication.” Ripich joined MUSC on Aug. 1 as professor and dean of the College of Health Professions.  A speech pathologist by training, Ripich spent the early years of her career at Case Western Reserve University studying language problems in children and communication in the classroom. An invitation to teach a course in aging led to a change in interest—communication at the other end of the human lifespan. In 1987, funded by the National Institute of Aging, Ripich began to explore the breakdown of language in patients with Alzheimer's disease. Her research uncovered a common challenge faced by caregivers of Alzheimer's patients—the need for more effective ways to communicate with their loved ones as they slipped further into the murky world of the disease. Responding to that need, she developed an innovative program called FOCUSED to help caregivers maximize their loved one's ability to participate in a conversation. Through FOCUSED, caregivers learn the importance of such techniques as structuring questions and speaking face-to-face in creating the optimal communication environment.  In follow-up studies, FOCUSED program strategies were shown to improve communication as long as one year after initial training. The program earned Ripich the 1996 National Society of Aging Best Clinical Practice Award.  Changing the communication environment was a strategy that had already proven effective for Ripich in her endeavors to reduce problems in the classroom that interfere with a child's ability to learn.  After receiving her Ph.D. in speech pathology from Kent State University in 1982, she joined the faculty of Case Western Reserve as an assistant professor and director of clinical education in the Department of Communication Science. There she began studying children with common communication problems: those who were non-native English speakers, and those with hearing impairments or learning disabilities. Her findings revealed that by making teachers and school speech pathologists aware of ways to optimize the classroom communication environment, many of the roadblocks that hindered children's learning were eliminated.  She translated her research into a text, School Discourse Problems, now being published in its second edition. “The vast experience in research and teaching that Dr. Ripich brings to MUSC, combined with her demonstrated leadership ability make her an invaluable asset to this institution,” said Ray Greenberg, M.D., Ph.D., vice president for academic affairs and provost.  Ripich chaired Case Western's Department of Communication Science for nine years before accepting a position as associate dean of the school's newly established College of Arts and Sciences in 1995. In her role as associate dean, Ripich was instrumental in the creation and development of the college. During her tenure, the number of applicants more than doubled. A capital campaign for the college recently exceeded its original goal of $50 million by more than $20 million. For seven years, Ripich served as associate director of the University Center on Aging and Health. Under her leadership, the center raised almost $10 million to support interdisciplinary research and generated several programs for Alzheimer's disease and geriatric education. In 1996, as a Congressional Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Ripich spent a year advising members of Congress on policy and legislation issues related to science and higher education. For 15 years, she and a fellow Case Western faculty member served as consultants to companies nationwide helping executives improve their communications skills. Ripich's honors include a fellowship from the American Speech, Language and Hearing (ASLHA) Association. During her career she has accepted appointments to several editorial positions and authored or co-authored more than 60 book chapters, reviews and peer reviewed articles. Ripich's current research interests lie in the development of accurate language assessment tools for cognitively impaired older adults. Results of her earlier research indicated significant differences in the breakdown of language between male and female and between African American and Caucasian patients. She plans to develop a “culture-fair” assessment that takes into account these differences to provide a truer picture of a person's communication ability.