Fall 2026 Conference
Learn more about our speakers and their areas of expertise.
Cathy Watson Genna
BS, IBCLC
Catherine Watson Genna has been an IBCLC in private practice in NYC since 1992. She has a special interest in the anatomical, genetic and neurological influences on infant sucking skills, and writes and speaks on these topics. Catherine’s research with Columbia University and Tel Aviv University departments of Biomedical Engineering includes using ultrasound and cervical auscultation to study sucking and suck:swallow coordination in infants with ankyloglossia as well as biomechanical aspects of breastfeeding. She is an avid clinical photographer and the author of Supporting Sucking Skills in Breastfeeding Infants (Jones and Bartlett Publishers, 2023, 2016, 2013 and 2008) and Selecting and Using Breastfeeding Tools (Praeclarus Press, 2009). She served as the founding associate editor of Clinical Lactation for it’s first 7 years. (Lactspeak bio)
Julie Matheney
MS, CCC-SLP, IBCLC
When I was 10 years old I told my mom I wanted to feed babies for a living. I became a speech pathologist because the same things you speak with, you eat with. I’ve been a speech pathologist in a hospital for over a decade with a specialty in feeding and swallowing disorders. In working in the NICU setting, I realized I wanted a more intimate approach to working alongside families as they worked to feed their babies. I became a board certified lactation consultant and have really fallen in love with what I do. There’s nothing better than empowering families to reach their feeding goals, wherever they are in their journey. Speech pathology has given me a unique lens for approaching breastfeeding and I’m grateful or my unique journey into working with breastfeeding families. I started with the 90 credit hour program through Lactation Education Resources to become a CLC. I work part time as an SLP in acute and NICU. I then took the 45 credit hour course to be CLEC through UC San Diego. They brought Virginia Baker to my hospital in Los Angeles to teach the course live which was awesome. I was then hired by my same hospital to work per diem as a CLC to help me get my hours with the expectation to be able to sit for the IBCLE exam. I was able to sit under pathway 1 since breastfeeding was a large part of my role as SLP in NICU and in postpartum as a CLC. It took me the full five years to get all my hours and coursework done. (LA Lactation bio)