New working group for Research on Hearing Loss and Tinnitus

The UCLH BRC is part of a new working group established by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) to improve research on hearing loss and tinnitus.

The establishment of the working group follows a successful round table event in December 2020 which focussed on issues relating to research on adult hearing loss and tinnitus.

The group will identify research priorities and develop an action plan so key players in the sector can work collaboratively to further improve how research can lead to better outcomes for people living with hearing loss and tinnitus.

Key stakeholders invited to join the group include the NIHR and its BRCs with dedicated hearing themes (UCLH, Manchester and Nottingham), Medical Research Council (MRC), Royal National Institute for Deaf people (RNID) and the British Tinnitus Association (BTA).

Professor Anne Schilder, Director of the Deafness and Hearing Problems theme, and Dr Nicola Ridgway, Translational Research Manager within the UCLH BRC will participate in the working group, alongside Dr Padraig Kitterick (Nottingham BRC Hearing theme lead) and Prof Kevin Munro (Manchester Hearing theme lead) to guide research priorities.

To coincide with National Deaf Awareness Week, the working group are disseminating an executive summary of the December 2020 round table event, along with meeting papers which outline the ongoing work. With over 12 million people in the UK affected by hearing loss (that’s one in five people), the working group understands the importance of improving research capability and capacity in this field.

The group will co-produce plans and actions for the short, medium and long term, and agree how to work together to implement and communicate next steps. The group has just been established and produced the executive summary of the roundtable event as its first task. Work will be carried out over the remainder of this year (May 2021 onwards), and further papers/plans will be published when available.

Roundtable papers

Executive summary

Agenda

Discussion background

Slides

Information on research funders and commissioners.

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