USA

Dr. Ghaheri hails from the great land of southwestern Ohio. He did his undergraduate training in Spanish and Anthropology at The Ohio State University, and remained there for medical school. In 2002, he and his wonderful wife relocated to Portland, Oregon, where he did his residency training in otolaryngology / head and neck surgery at Oregon Health Sciences University. In 2007, he joined The Oregon Clinic, the largest multispecialty clinic in Oregon. His clinical interest is helping babies with breastfeeding difficulties. This desire stems from personal experiences, where both of his daughters had significant problems breastfeeding. He is one of the only ENT surgeons in the US who uses an in-office laser treatment for assisting babies to latch on to the breast, in addition to treating older children and adults for certain dental and speech issues.

USA

For more than 20 years, Linda owned a private practice in Portland Oregon, focusing in craniofacial disorders, oromyofunctional disorders, feeding disorders and dysphagia, and sensory-motor speech disorders. She completed her Masters at the University of Oregon, her medical externship at the Oregon Health Sciences University Medical Center with a focus on inpatient neurological acute care and outpatient cognitive rehabilitation, and she completed her clinical fellowship at the Oregon VA Medical Center with a focus on dysphagia, aphasia, brain injury, and oral cancer. Her paper, Oral Dysfunction as a Cause of Malocclusion has twice been awarded most downloaded research paper for Orthodontics and Craniofacial Journal. She has participated on a local craniofacial team and on a local sleep neurology team. She has reviewed manuscripts for the Journal of Oral Rehabilitation and Folia Phoniatrica et Logopaedica. Linda is a member of the American Speech-Language Hearing Association, a past president of the Oregon Speech­ Language Hearing Association, and has lectured on oral physiology at several dental and orthodontic programs, including Stanford, Tufts, and the Vienna School for Interdisciplinary Dentistry.

USA

Melissa Cole has been supporting families working through feeding and health concerns for almost two decades. She is a board-certified lactation consultant, neonatal oral-motor assessment professional and clinical herbalist in private practice. Melissa is passionate about providing comprehensive, holistic lactation support. Recently, she has spoken and published on the topics of lactation after loss, tongue tie issues, digestive health, galactogogues and more.

Melissa is dedicated to improving the level of clinical lactation skills for aspiring lactation consultants and other healthcare professionals. She is a past adjunct professor at Birthingway College of Midwifery in Portland, Oregon where she taught advanced clinical lactation skills for more than 6 years. Melissa is active with several lactation and health care professional associations and enjoys lecturing, publishing and conducting research.

Melissa’s bachelor’s degree is in maternal/child health and lactation and her master’s degree is in therapeutic herbalism. Before diving into the field of lactation, Melissa had a background in education and cultural arts. She has found that this diverse background has served her well in her work as a lactation consultant and healthcare educator. Melissa has a passion for continuing education and has studied a variety of topics from craniosacral and oral motor therapy to clinical herbalism and Japanese tea ceremony and many things in between! She firmly believes that learning is never done! On a personal note, Melissa lives in the beautiful Pacific Northwest. In her free time Melissa can be found gardening, working with herbs, studying some topic or another, and enjoying the great outdoors with her family.

USA

Carol Gray has been a therapeutic bodyworker for over 35 years specializing in Craniosacral Therapy for pregnant, birthing, postpartum parents and infants. She teaches perinatal and infant Craniosacral Therapy to bodyworkers, birth attendants and other health professionals.

She attended births as a doula for over 35 years and as a home birth midwife for 12 years.

Carol is convinced that if parents are appropriately supported in growing, birthing and nurturing their babies, their lives will improve. When parents’ lives improve their children’s health improves. Healthy children grow up to be healthier adults who create healthier communities and a saner, more peaceful world.

Carol has spent years developing hands-on and movement techniques to enhance mobility in pregnant people’s bodies. The goal is to give babies more room to develop, grow and get born.