About Us
Eat Drink Swallow Safe
Eat Drink Swallow Safe was founded by Dr Julie Cichero, speech pathologist, researcher and Co-Founder of IDDSI Global and the IDDSI Framework. The practice provides evidence-based education, consulting and mentoring to clinicians, healthcare organisations, food and beverage manufacturers, government bodies and professional societies.
Paediatric content is led by Karrie Jardine, speech pathologist and International Board Certified Lactation Consultant. Karrie co-authored The Essential Dysphagia Handbook with Dr Cichero and has dedicated over 20 years of her career to paediatric feeding & swallowing.
The work spans adult and paediatric dysphagia across hospital, aged care, community, disability and private practice settings. Programs are delivered online and in person, in Australia and internationally.
Julie and Karrie first worked together in 2006. Twenty years on, they have reunited to relaunch Eat Drink Swallow Safe with a broader scope: bringing together their adult and paediatric expertise to deliver education, mentoring and consulting across the field.
Eat Drink Swallow Safe is growing from a shared belief in the importance of feeding, eating, drinking and swallowing as an area of clinical practice, and in the value of connection and shared knowledge among the clinicians who work in it. Over time, we hope to contribute to a stronger, more connected community of practice in this field.
BSpPath, PhD.
Founder of Eat Drink Swallow Safe
Co-Founder, IDDSI Global
Dr Julie Cichero
Dr Julie Cichero is a speech pathologist and researcher with more than 30 years' clinical and research experience in eating, drinking and swallowing. As the Co-Founder of IDDSI Global, Julie co-led development of the International Dysphagia Diet Standardisation framework now used in more than 50 countries around the world, and translated into 30+ languages.
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Julie holds a PhD in the assessment of swallow-respiratory coordination. She is an Honorary Associate Professor at The University of Queensland School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Research, where her research and teaching focus on medication swallowing issues in healthy people, as well as those with dysphagia (eating, drinking and swallowing problems).
She is a strong advocate of interdisciplinary education, conducting research and working with the School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical for 15 years.
From 2022 to 2024, Julie served as a clinical expert to the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care during the development of the Strengthened Aged Care Quality Standards, contributing subject-matter expertise on food, drink, mealtime and swallowing safety under Standard 5.
Julie's work spans clinical practice, academic research, professional standards development, government advisory work and Coronial subject-matter expertise. She has presented at international conferences across Europe, North America, Asia and Australia, and has consulted to professional societies, government organisations, academia, Coroners, boards, food and beverage manufacturers as a key opinion leader, aged care providers, and hospitals.
She is the co-author of two foundational dysphagia texts: Dysphagia: Foundation, Theory and Practice (Wiley) and The Essential Dysphagia Handbook, the latter co-authored with Karrie Jardine. Julie has also authored 12 book chapters and 85 peer reviewed academic publications.
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Co-Founder IDDSI Global: International Dysphagia Diet Standardisation Initiative
Co-Chair IDDSI Global (2012-2022), IDDSI Board Advisor (2023-present)
Faculty, IDDSI Academy (2023-present)
Honorary Associate Professor School of Pharmacy, The University of Queensland (2008-present)
Clinical expert (2022–2024) Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care: Strengthened Aged Care Quality Standards
Coronial subject-matter expert: Dysphagia (Eating, Drinking, Swallowing & Food Choking related matters)
Technical & Research Expertise Major Food & Beverage Companies (20+ years)
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IDDSI Framework implementation
Eating and drinking with acknowledged risk (EDAR)
Medication swallowing
Aged care mealtime safety
Food and beverage industry consulting
Medicolegal and Coronial expertise
Clinician teaching & training
Chef & Dietitian training
Cervical auscultation of swallowing (assessment of swallow-respiration coordination)
Nurse training in dysphagia
Clinician teaching & training: Assessment and management of dysphagia across care settings
Chewing assessment and rehabilitation
Food texture and liquid thickness training
BSpPath, IBCLC
Paediatric Education & Training Lead
Dysphagia & IDDSI Educator
Karrie Jardine
Karrie Jardine is a speech pathologist and International Board Certified Lactation Consultant, working in paediatric feeding and swallowing since 2004. She joins Eat Drink Swallow Safe as Paediatric Lead and Dysphagia & IDDSI Educator. Karrie and her highly experienced team from Queensland Lactation & Feeding Specialists are proud to partner with Dr Julie Cichero to bring paediatric dysphagia & nutrition training to clinicians across Australia and overseas.
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Karrie Jardine has spent her 20+ year career in paediatric feeding and swallowing. A dual-qualified Speech Pathologist and International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC), she has held advanced clinical and senior positions in Queensland’s major children’s hospitals since 2008. She also founded and directs Queensland Lactation & Feeding Specialists, a multidisciplinary practice dedicated to infant and paediatric feeding, and is Paediatric Lead at Eat Drink Swallow Safe.
Most of her work sits at the medically complex end of paediatric feeding: congenital heart disease, complex airway including tracheostomy, aerodigestive and gastrointestinal conditions, rare and life-limiting conditions, and tube weaning. She has worked across neonatal units, intensive care and medical & surgical wards. Karrie has innovated practice in tube-weaning and post-cardiac-surgery feeding approaches, and she has taught and mentored clinicians in this work in Australia and overseas. She has a particular clinical interest in supporting breastfeeding for infants with medical and surgical complexity, and teaching other clinicians to do the same.
She has also worked beyond her own service. She was invited to a major United States paediatric hospital by the Chief of Cardiothoracic Surgery for a two-week consultancy, reviewing clinical practice, mentoring staff and preparing recommendations for the development of their feeding services. Closer to home, her teaching has included workshops in advanced neonatal and infant palliative care, and ethical decision making in feeding.
Karrie co-authored The Essential Dysphagia Handbook (2013) with Dr Julie Cichero. Her research and clinical work has been presented at conferences in Australia and overseas, including the American Association for Thoracic Surgery (AATS), the World Federation of Pediatric Intensive and Critical Care Societies (WFPICCS), and the Australian Paediatric Palliative Care Conference.
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Infant feeding
Breastfeeding and lactation (IBCLC), bottle feeding, and the transition to solidsPaediatric dysphagia
Feeding and swallowing in infants, toddlers and children, including those with rare conditions and complex disabilityMedical and surgical complexity
Cardiac, respiratory and gastrointestinal conditions, and complex airway including tracheostomyTube feeding
Tube feeding and tube weaning (inpatient and in-home)Acute and post-acute care
NICU, SCN, PICU, wards and post-discharge care
Growth and feeding development
Feeding to support growth/FTT/, fussy eating, oromotor difficulties and delays
Palliative and complex care
Feeding support for infants and children with life-limiting conditions
Instrumental Assessment
VFSS, FEES
IDDSI
Practical implementation in paediatrics
Practices across paediatric hospital, private practice, community and education settings.