Our Infrastructure

The Deafness and Hearing Problems Theme builds on the unique partnership of the UCL Ear Institute and the new state of the art Royal National ENT and Eastman Dental Hospitals (RNENTH).

Therefore we are ideally placed to deliver world-leading translational research in the field of hearing loss by linking UCL’s expertise in genomics, data and neuroscience multidisciplinary discovery hearing science to the clinical excellence of RNENTH, one of the  largest specialist centres for the treatment of conditions relating to the ear, nose and throat (ENT), and hearing speech and balance.

Our partnerships include:

  • NIHR Health Informatics Collaborative (HIC) Hearing Health - Established in collaboration with NIHR Nottingham and Manchester BRCs. The aim is to make better use of patient health data captured in NHS records by collecting data in a standardised and integrated manner across UK sites and setting up a structure for sharing and analysing these data anonymously. Led by Mr Nish Mehta.
  • Lancet Commission on Global Hearing LossEstablished to complement and extend ongoing efforts by the World Health Organisation (World Report). An important goal of the Commission is to introduce innovative and ‘disruptive’ ideas, to challenge the status quo regarding hearing loss identification and treatment worldwide. (Commissioner: Professor Anne GM Schilder; Consultants: Mr Nish Mehta, Dr Rishi Mandavia, Profesor Nick Lesica).
  • Hearing Medicines Discovery Syndicate – Established with RNID and the Medicines Discovery Catapult to bring together UK expertise and infrastructure in hearing research, therapeutic discovery and development to support innovators developing the hearing therapeutics of the future.
  • International Symposium on Inner Ear therapeutics (ISIET) - We are a founding member of this society uniting academia and industry at the forefront of scientific and medical advancement of inner ear therapeutics. The Society’s mission is to provide a global platform for dissemination and knowledge exchange on novel treatment modalitive of inner ear-related diseases.
  • IDEAL Collaboration - Our qualitative work and evidence synthesis identifying the key features of successful surgical registries has been endorsed by the IDEAL Collaboration as part of their framework and research guidance for surgical innovation.
  • Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) – We worked with DHSC to organise a ministerial round table event on research for hearing loss and tinnitus in December 2020. This event brought together clinicians, industry, scientists and patients and was opened by Lord Bethell, the DHSC Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Innovation. Research priorities and actions towards building hearing research capacity and capability were discussed. Short, medium and long-term actions for improving outcomes for people with hearing loss and tinnitus were identified. A working (‘task and finish’) group (including UCLH, Nottingham, Manchester BRCs, NIHR, UKRI, RNID, BTA) was established.