Mackenzie is the first Nancy Wilkins Endowed Research Speech Language Pathologist, a fellowship line funded by the generosity of our grateful patients Dr. Jon Wilkins and his late wife Nancy. You can read about this story below.
Mackenzi graduated with her Bachelor of Arts degree in Communication Sciences and Disorders from the University of South Florida and earned her Master of Science degree in Speech Language Pathology from Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton. Upon graduating, Mackenzi completed her clinical fellowship and worked for 5 years at a pediatric private practice providing clinic and home health services in Tampa, Florida. She treated children of all ages with varying diagnoses, including language disorders, speech sound disorders, childhood apraxia of speech, Autism Spectrum Disorder, and X-Linked Myotubular Myopathy. Mackenzi’s clinical focus on patients with dysphagia and feeding disorders led to her interest in orofacial myology, for which she has been steadily practicing since 2017.
Mackenzi is passionate about improving the lives of her patients, whether old or young. She strives to help develop a quality of life for both patient and family through improvement of communication, breathing, and swallowing. During her free time, Mackenzi enjoys traveling, watching sports, and spending time outdoors, particularly near the water. You can almost always find her with her Goldendoodle, Bailey, who volunteers as a therapy dog in the community.
Read about the inspiring story of this fellowship line and the beautiful connection of the fellowship donor and our first fellow here!