Elaine Kelman is a consultant speech and language therapist and the head of the Michael Palin Centre. She qualified as a speech and language therapist in 1979, then obtained a masters degree in Human Communication at City University, London in 1989 and a certificate in Cognitive Behaviour Therapy in 2009. She has worked at the Centre since 1986, contributing to the development of the various therapy programmes for children who stammer, particularly the management of early childhood stammering. She has published a number of papers, chapters and books, having co-authored the Palin Parent-Child Interaction Therapy manual in 2008. She participates in the Centre's national and international training programme and has been invited to present at many international conferences. She also participates in the Centre's research programme.