• Charles Sturt speech and language academic names among world's leading researchers by The Australian's 2023 Research magazine
• Professor McLeod was recognised as the leading researcher in the field of Audiology, Speech and Language Pathology
• The recognition was based on the quality and quantity of her published research in the past five years

There are few people in this world that recognise the power of language more than Charles Sturt University’s Professor Sharynne McLeod.

She has been giving people a voice for more than 30 years and the Charles Sturt academic and researcher is being recognised as one of the top researchers in the world, for the second time.

Professor of Speech and Language Acquisition with the Charles Sturt School of Education in Bathurst Sharynne McLeod was named by The Australian’s Research magazine as the world leader in research in the field of Audiology, Speech and Language Pathology for the second time. Professor McLeod is one of nine Australians to be included on the list.

Professor McLeod first received this international accolade in 2019 and was recently awarded it a second time for 2023 based on the quality, volume and impact of her work. This year, only nine people in Australia were recognised as world leaders in their research field.

She was named Australia’s Research Field Leader in Audiology, Speech and Language Pathology in 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2022.

The newspaper’s annual lists are compiled by selecting researchers and institutions who had the most research papers published in the top journals in their respective fields, determined by trailing a five-year impact factor, which is measured by Google Scholar. The citations and uses of those same papers by the author’s peers are also analysed.

Charles Sturt University Acting Vice-Chancellor Professor Mark Evans congratulated Professor McLeod for the well-deserved recognition.

“This is an outstanding achievement by Professor McLeod, who has again proved that her interdisciplinary research on children and speech development is leading the world in terms of disciplinary and policy impact,” he said.

“Professor McLeod’s work has allowed her to become part of an international community of researchers making a difference and being recognised as a global leader in her field, for the second time, is an amazing feat.

“Her work has improved the lives of millions of children around the world.

“Congratulations to Professor McLeod for continuing to lead the way in her chosen field. It would be difficult to find a research academic that better embraces the University’s ethos of creating a world worth living in.”

Professor McLeod has led or collaborated on research that has changed the lives of thousands of children in Australia and overseas.

She has helped develop a website to bridge barriers for regional children trying to access speech therapy and developed resources for bilingual families to teach children two languages.

She has used her voice to speak at national and international conferences to advocate for regional Australia, people with communication disabilities, children, people with English as a second language and more.

Accolades and achievements by Professor McLeod include:

• The Australian’s Research magazine’s world most cited expert in her field in 2019 and 2023
• Author of 13 books and more than 250 peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters. Two of her most influential papers to date have received 44,677 downloads and 106,550 downloads.
• Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia
• Fellow of the Royal Society of New South Wales
• Life Member of Speech Pathology Australia
• Honors of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association
• In June 2019, she presented research at the United Nations in New York
• In October 2022, she represented the International Association of Communication Sciences and Disorders at the 73^rd session of the World Health Organisation Regional Committee for the Western Pacific
• Co-chair of the Early Childhood Voices 2022 Conference

Professor McLeod said she was thrilled to receive this accolade again and attributes it to a team effort.

“This is exciting, it is a testament to the support from Charles Sturt and collaboration with my students and colleagues at Charles Sturt and across the world,” she said.

“Communication is a fundamental human right and it is important all people, especially children, have the right access and resources to receive the support and intervention they require.

“Through research, we can increase the knowledge and awareness and continue to advocate for these services and those who find it difficult to speak up.

“I am honoured to receive their acknowledgement and am encouraged to continue my advocacy for children’s communication rights.”