About Us

Eat Drink Swallow Safe

Karrie Jardine and Dr Julie Cichero in a kitchen, looking and smiling at each other.

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.

About Dr Julie Cichero
About Karrie Jardine
Dr Julie Cichero, smiling and standing in front of a white and red brick wall.

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.

  • 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 18 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.

    • 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)

    • 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

A smiling woman with shoulder-length brown hair, wearing a striped button-up shirt, sitting in a room with abstract artwork on the wall behind her.

BSpPath, IBCLC

Paediatric Education & Training Lead
Dysphagia & IDDSI Educator

Karrie Jardine

Karrie Jardine is a dual qualified 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.

  • Karrie Jardine has worked in paediatric feeding and swallowing for more than 20 years. She is a dual qualified Speech Pathologist and IBCLC, and since 2008 has held advanced and senior clinical roles in Queensland’s major children’s hospitals. She is founder and director of Queensland Lactation & Feeding Specialists, and Paediatric Lead at Eat Drink Swallow Safe.

    Her work focuses on complex infant feeding cases, including congenital heart disease, complex airway and tracheostomy, aerodigestive and gastrointestinal conditions, rare and life-limiting illness, and tube weaning. She has worked across neonatal units, intensive care, and medical and surgical wards, and has developed tube-weaning and post-cardiac-surgery feeding approaches. Karrie has a particular interest in supporting breastfeeding for infants with medical and surgical complexity.

    Karrie has taught and mentored countless clinicians. She was invited by the Chief of Cardiothoracic Surgery at a major US paediatric hospital to spend two weeks reviewing clinical practice, mentoring staff, and advising on the development of feeding services. Her teaching has included advanced neonatal and infant palliative care, and ethical decision-making in feeding. Karrie co-authored The Essential Dysphagia Handbook (2013) with Dr Julie Cichero, and has presented her work at conferences in Australia and overseas, including American Association of Thoracic Surgery, World Federation of Pediatric Intensive and Critical Care Societies, and the Australian Paediatric Palliative Care Conference.

  • Infant feeding
    Breastfeeding and lactation (IBCLC), bottle feeding, and the transition to solids

    Paediatric dysphagia
    Feeding and swallowing in infants, toddlers and children, including those with rare conditions and complex disability

    Medical and surgical complexity
    Cardiac, respiratory and gastrointestinal conditions, and complex airway including tracheostomy

    Tube 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