Erika Bergström Börlin
Phd Student
E-mail: erika.bergstrom.borlin@ki.se
Visiting address: Blickagången 9 A, Enheten för logopedi F67, 14186 Stockholm
Postal address: H9 Klinisk vetenskap, intervention och teknik, H9 CLINTEC Logopedi, 171 77 Stockholm
About me
- I am a certified Speech and Language Pathologist since 2016 and a doctoral
student at the division of Speech and Language Pathology, CLINTEC, since
December 2021. I am employed at the Medical Unit of Speech and Language
Pathology at Karolinska University Hospital where, in parallel with my
doctoral studies, I work as a speech and language pathologist. My focus in
the clinic is investigation, assessment and intervention of voice disorders
and mainly voice and communication in trans people with gender dysphoria.
Prize for best degree project in the field of “VOICE” 2017, Röstfonden
and Patricia Grammings minnesfond.
Admitted to doctoral studies, Karolinska Institutet 2021
Degree in Speech and Language Pathology, Karolinska Institutet 2016
Research
- My doctoral project “Assessment and Intervention of Severe Voice
Disorders” include research on voice disorders because of scar tissue in
the vocal folds and voice disorders after thyroid surgery.
Vocal fold (VF) scarring is difficult to treat, and no effective and
long-lasting treatment is currently available for patients with chronic,
severe dysphonia. Scar resection and injection with Mesenchymal stromal cells
(MSC), a type of stem cells, that can attenuate inflammation and stimulate
the formation of healthy tissue, has shown promising results for improving
voice function in a study including 16 patients with VF scarring (Hertegård,
Nagubothy, Malmström & - LeBlanc, 2020) but further research is needed to
evaluate treatment efficacy.
Thyroid surgery is associated with risks to the voice such as vocal cord
paralysis due to damage to the Recurrent laryngeal nerve (RLN). Previous
research has also shown that patients experience voice problems, and that
voice function can be extensively impaired after surgery, even though the
recurrent laryngeal nerve is intact (Aluffi et al., 2001, Bergström Börlin
& - Hillgren, 2016). Today, there is a lack of knowledge about the prevalence
of voice problems, and a need to further investigate long-term voice outcomes
after surgery.
The project has an overall goal to improve voice-related health care for
patients by: 1) evaluating the efficacy of vocal cord surgery and injection
with Mesenchymal stromal cells in patients with vocal fold scarring and
severe dysphonia, and by 2) investigating prevalence of dysphonia and vocal
cord paralysis and incidence of long-term voice problems after thyroid
surgery and developing and validating a self-assessment questionnaire for the
patient group.
Employments
- Phd Student, Department of Clinical Science, Intervention and Technology, Karolinska Institutet, 2021-2024
- Research Assistant, Department of Clinical Science, Intervention and Technology, Karolinska Institutet, 2023-2023
Degrees and Education
- Degree Of Master Of Science In Speech And Language Pathology, Karolinska Institutet, 2016