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The Robin Tavistock Award 2026

Professor Rosemary Varley

The Trustees of The Tavistock Trust for Aphasia are delighted to announce that Professor Rosemary Varley is the 2026 recipient of The Robin Tavistock Award.   This announcement was made at the British Aphasiology Conference, Cardiff 2026.

This award is named after Robin Tavistock, the 14th Duke of Bedford who founded The Tavistock Trust for Aphasia.  It is presented annually to a person, or group, who is inspirational and has made a significant contribution to the field of aphasia.

It is impossible in a press release to list all Professor Varley’s achievements, especially as her work covers such a broad spectrum, sitting at the intersection of cognitive neuroscience, neurorehabilitation and compassionate clinical practice.   She has dedicated her career to understanding aphasia and related disorders – conditions that affect not just speech, but the very fabric of human connection.  The sole focus of this Award is on her aphasia related work.

Professor Rosemary Varley has challenged long-held assumptions, opened new pathways of enquiry and, with others, has shown that the brain is far more adaptive than we once believed.  As an example, we would highlight her pioneering work on the relationship between language and thought.  This has not only advanced our theoretical understanding but also provided intriguing evidence of how aspects of our intellect can withstand even severe aphasia.

The Robin Tavistock Award is also in recognition of her novel and important rehabilitation research.  Working from an often complex theoretical basis, she has developed practical and user-friendly therapy techniques that make a real difference to the lives of people with speech and language disorders.  A prime example here was the SWORD program which was shown to improve speech production in apraxia, a disorder that commonly accompanies aphasia.  This work also demonstrates her early adoption of computing technology in the rehabilitation of aphasia, and her commitment to making that technology available to the wider clinical community.  We also await with excitement the findings from her current UTILISE trial.

Professor Varley’s theoretical and rehabilitation research has generated an impressive publication record, with over 140 papers and thousands of citations.  But her work and its impact cannot be measured by citations alone. She has trained and mentored students, clinicians, and researchers, instilling in them not only scientific rigour but also compassion and curiosity.  Both at Sheffield and UCL, Professor Varley has made a huge contribution to the teaching of speech and language therapy. We are sure that countless clinicians working today owe their inspiration to her.

Professor Varley has demonstrated, time and again, that the study of language is inseparable from the lives and voices of those who live with its loss. Critically, she ensures that the person with aphasia is at the heart of all work done on their behalf.

To colleagues, she is a collaborator who brings clarity, insight, and generosity. To her students, she is someone who encourages them to ask bold questions and pursue answers with persistence. And to the wider aphasia community, her work represents hope—that through research, empathy, and innovation, people with aphasia can improve and find new ways to face the struggle of loss of communication.

The criterion for this Award is to recognise a person or group who is inspirational and has made a significant contribution to the field of aphasia.  Professor Rosemary Varley has done this and more and she is indeed a worthy recipient of The Robin Tavistock Award 2026

If you require further information, please contact:

The Tavistock Trust for Aphasia Distinguished Scholar Awards 2026

The Trustees of The Tavistock Trust for Aphasia are pleased to announce this year’s recipients of The Tavistock Trust for Aphasia Distinguished Scholar Awards in the United States of America and Canada:


Dr Kristen Nunn, Geriatric Research Education and Clinical Center of the US Veteran’s Administrative Health System in Pittsburgh


Dr Yina Quique, University of New Mexico

Dr Carla Tierney-Hendricks, Harvard Medical School and Spaulding Rehabilitation Outcome Center.


Dr Eun Jin Paek, University of Tennessee


Dr Nichol Castro, University at Buffalo

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Professor Alan Crockard retires

It is with a mixture of sadness and gratitude that we mark Professor Alan Crockard’s retirement from his formal role as a Trustee of the Tavistock Trust for Aphasia.

Without him there would be no TTA. Without him Robin Tavistock would have died. It was his courage and skill that meant that Robin not only lived, but had a further 15 fulfilling years, during which time he went on to establish the Trust and lay the foundations for the work we continue today. It is no exaggeration to say that Alan did not just save his life—— he helped create a legacy.

Henrietta, Robin’s wife, writes:

“When Robin had his aneurysm, I had virtually no knowledge of what lay ahead. I just knew, instinctively, that I had total belief in what Alan told me and our sons Andrew, Robin and Jamie.

After Alan operated on him, he had put him in an induced coma to rest his brain and when Robin regained consciousness after several days……he was unable to speak.

I was told he had aphasia……I had absolutely no idea what that was or what it meant.

Later on I was told that speech therapy might help. I remember asking Alan about it and him saying to me that if Robin doing it would make me feel better then to go ahead, however he was not sure it would make any difference.

We did go ahead and we were incredibly fortunate that Robin was sent to see Eirian Jones at Addenbrookes Hospital, one of the very best speech and language therapists. We continued to see Alan, and he noticed the improvement Robin was making due to speech therapy. He remarked one day that he rarely saw his patients once they had recovered from his surgery, so was generally unaware of their lives afterwards. When Robin set up The Tavistock Trust for Aphasia, to Robin’s delight he said he would like to become a Trustee. You can imagine what this meant to the TTA, to have such a well-respected senior neurosurgeon as a Trustee.

Alan has played a vital and pivotal role in the life of the Trust. The Trustees will never be able to express adequately their gratitude to Alan for his wisdom, insight and kindness over the last 35+ of service to the Trust. He is our longest serving Trustee.”

Alan writes: “The Tavistock Trust for Aphasia has a very important place in my heart and I am so pleased that all has worked out so that those with aphasia nowadays have so much more help and hope than when Robin was ill.  Robin and the Trust have shone a light on a part of neurological recovery that conventional medicine and therapy had ignored and I am so pleased to have been a small part of the process.  I know that it will continue to expand globally and influence the recovery of ’speech’. Although not as a Trustee, I will always want to be part of it for as long as the Trust wishes to have me and, as long as I’m able.”

Although Alan may not be a Trustee formally anymore, he remains an Honorary (informal) Trustee and we will all look forward to seeing him at TTA Meetings.

Alan, thank you for your skill, your judgement, your compassion, your friendship and for believing that more could be done, when others did not.

With gratitude and every good wish for your and Caroline’s next chapter, with your family and adventures with all the boys. And of course, taking stunning photographs of beautiful birds.

On 16 December, the Scottish Parliament held its first-ever debate on aphasia. The debate, secured by Rona Mackay MSP, marks an important step forward in raising awareness of aphasia and the real challenges faced by people living with the condition, as well as their families.

The TTA would like to congratulate Dr Abi Roper, part of our Aphasia Software Team, whose efforts were instrumental in bringing this issue to the attention of her local MSP, Michael Marra.  Mr Marra also spoke during the debate (video below).

The full debate can be seen at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qatWfsiWaY

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The Aphasia Software Finder

The Aphasia Software Finder has had a significant redesign in 2024 with the aim of making the website more aphasia friendly and thereby easier to navigate for everyone.

To learn more about what you can find and what is new on the Aphasia Software Finder, please watch this short video: