Michelle Dawson, MS, CCC-SLP, CLC, BCS-S, serves as a speech-language pathologist with Wolfe Speech Therapy, LLC, in Staunton, VA, and as an adjunct professor at North Carolina Central University (NCCU) in Durham, NC. Additionally, she is the acclaimed host of “First Bite: Fed, Fun, Functional,” a weekly speech therapy podcast that addresses “all thangs” of pediatric speech therapy and is presented by SpeechTherapyPD.com. Michelle authored Chasing the Swallow: Truth, Science, and Hope for Pediatric Feeding and Swallowing Disorders. She is an accomplished lecturer, traveling across the nation delivering courses on best practices for the evaluation and treatment of medically complex infants, toddlers, and children with pediatric oropharyngeal dysphagia, pediatric feeding disorder, and language acquisition within the framework of Early Intervention. She currently volunteers as the Vice President of Speech-Language Pathology (March 2025–2027), co-chair of the Speech-Language-Hearing Association of Virginia (SHAV) Dysphagia and Pediatric Feeding Disorder Group (2023–present), and on the convention committee for the 2025 Annual SHAV Convention. She has previously served twice as the Topic Chair for the Pediatric Feeding and Swallowing Disorders Committee for the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) Annual Convention, as Treasurer for the Council of State Association Presidents (CSAP), is a Past President of the South Carolina Speech, Language, and Hearing Association (SCSHA), a board of trustee member for the Communication Disorder Foundation of Virginia (CDF), a graduate of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association’s Leadership Development Program (ASHA LDP), and a recipient of the PFD Systems Innovator Award and the Pediatric Feeding Disorder Awareness Champion from Feeding Matters, the Louis M. DiCarlo Award for Outstanding Clinical Achievement from the SCSHA, the State Clinical Achievement Award from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association’s Foundation, recognized as an ASHA Innovator, and an eleven-time recipient of ASHA’s ACE Award for continuing education.

John Holahan, B.S., M.B.A. is President and Founder of SimplyThick, LLC, and an inaugural member of the IDDSI Hall of Appreciation. He is also a member Canadian IDDSI Reference Group (CIRG) and a founder of the US IDDSI Reference Group (USIRG). Mr. Holahan is also the inventor of the company’s original patented thickener, SimplyThick. Mr. Holahan has worked with thickeners – and not just in healthcare --for his entire business career. Over the years, Mr. Holahan has presented to various long-term care trade organizations on the topics of IDDSI, dysphagia, thickeners, and rheology. This includes training and presenting IDDSI to over 3,000 people. Recently in the world of social media, Mr. Holahan can be found primarily on TikTok as “SimplyThickJohn”. Yes, even he is amazed that more than 13,000 people have chosen to follow someone thickening beverages, making texture-modified foods, and talking about IDDSI. Outside of the business world, Mr. Holahan has been married for over 30 years to his college sweetheart. They have three wonderful kids (a girl and two boys) and a pair of dogs. Mr. Holahan is active with a local Boy Scout Troop, a robotics team, and his church leader. And somehow, in the middle of it all, he still finds time to run – slowly!