Debbie Sell, Senior Research Fellow/ Speech and Language Therapist

Previously in managerial and leadership roles in GOSH, Debbie now focuses on research, mentoring, supervision, teaching and independent clinical practice. Her PhD study in Sri Lanka (speech in patients with unoperated and late operated cleft palate) led to its Speech and Language Therapy training course. She has led on developing and testing speech outcome tools in cleft palate/VPI, setting standards for measuring speech outcomes and has participated in several multicentre national and international studies of speech outcome. Debbie’s current interests are parents undertaking articulation therapy in children with cleft palate supported by therapists and technology and is a Founder and co-Director with Dr Triona Sweeney of Speech at Home. CLEFT - Bridging the Gap funded the GOSH arm of the P.L.A.T. randomised controlled trial and was really fantastic at helping secure funding for the devlopment of the Speech@Home website.

If you would like to listen to Debbie reflecting on research into speech and language therapy, please click here.

[email protected]; [email protected]

Twitter @debbie_sell

Latest

Rona, Richard, Jon and Simon ride 100 miles

Join us in raising funds for the CLEFT: Bridging the Gap! CLEFT has 2 great aims: to support sustainable and multidisciplinary cleft care in lower and middle income countries (surgery is important but only part of the journey), and to support research into the causes and provision of cleft care in the UK.
Zhi's Dublin Marathon Fundraiser

I am raising money to provide long-term, sustainable ways to improve cleft care both in the UK and overseas.
Nick and Kathleen's Wedding Fundraiser

We are raising money to provide long-term, sustainable ways to improve cleft care both in the UK and overseas.
The difference a Comprehensive Cleft and Craniofacial Centre can make

During his visit to Dhaka earlier this year, Mr Brian Sommerlad (Chair of CLEFT and Consultant Plastic Surgeon) saw a number of familiar faces in the clinic. Shahriah and Khadjiatul are two patients requiring a large number of operations and complex treatments throughout their lifetime.

Rowan Griffiths
Ghassan S. Abu-Sittah
Chloé Rolland

Consultant Orthodontist
Liz Grant
Paul Whittaker

I began working with CLEFT as a filmmaker and photographer in 2016, initially to highlight the progress of the multi-disciplinary cleft centre CLEFT has helped create in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Chris Hill
Mahen Bulumulla

I am excited to support the work of CLEFT charity team, a charity close to my heart.
Kate Le Marechal

Dr Kate le Maréchal is a Consultant Clinical Psychologist who has worked as the Clinical Psychology Lead within the Evelina London Cleft Service since 2009.
David Orr, Consultant Plastic Surgeon

David Orr has been a Consultant Plastic Surgeon at Our Lady's Children's Hospital and St James's Hospital, Dublin since 1998.
Triona Sweeney

Dr Triona Sweeney (BA, MSc, PhD) is a Cleft Specialist Speech & Language Therapist. She is a Founder and co-Director with Dr Debbie Sell of Speech at Home, an online therapy resource centre which aims to empower parents of children with cleft palate to deliver speech therapy at home under the supervision of a speech and language therapist.

Sheikh Hasina National Institute of Burns and Plastic Surgery

We are working with Bangladeshi specialists at the new Sheikh Hasina National Institute of Burns and Plastic Surgery to create a sustainable centre to treat children with cleft lip and palate.
Nawrin and the C-Arm

This important piece of equipment was supplied by CLEFT and is used to see moving images of the cleft palate. Nawrin is a 13 year old girl who was experiencing speech difficulties and needed the C-Arm to show the cleft team if further surgery was required.
Our mission

CLEFT was established in 2007 with one aim, to help improve the lives of children born with cleft lip and palate, either by funding research into the likely causes of the condition or by helping support teams in lower and middle income countries.
Donate

You can make a one-off donation today or sign up to giving a regular monthly gift. All donations, small or large, will help us to improve the lives of those born with cleft lip and palate both now and in the future. 100% of your donation today will go towards funding an international or research project thanks to a charitable trust covering all our administrative costs until February 2025.
About us

CLEFT was established in 2007 by cleft surgeon Brian Sommerlad - based at Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, together with a former patient and a patient's grandmother.
The genetics of cleft lip and palate

Investigations into the genetics of cleft lip and palate to understand more about why cleft lip and palate occurs.
Brian Sommerlad, Consultant Plastic Surgeon and Chair of Trustees

For over 40 years, I have been involved in operating on babies, children and adults who have been born with cleft lip and/or palate.
Our research vision

At CLEFT, our vision is of a future where clefts are preventable. Until we get there, we want to improve the lives of those born with cleft lip and palate.
Trusts and Foundations

Today, 1-in-700 babies in the UK are born with a cleft lip and palate, the most common form of birth defect. The impact on a child’s life as they grow is profound. Typically, they will need at least four operations. They may also require ongoing tests, treatment or therapy. It will affect the way they look but also their speech, hearing and dental development. It can leave deep psychological scars.
MRI Speech Assessment

This important research looked at using MRI to assess whether further surgery could improve speech for people with repaired clefts.