The case of ENT, hearing and balance

Abstract

The Research Agenda for ENT, Hearing and Balance Care: patients and professionals have decided on what needs to be researched.

Everyone suffers from ear, nose and throat (ENT) conditions at some stage in their life; all young children have coughs and colds and may suffer from ear infections; when we get older we all lose some of our hearing and balance.

To ensure that patients benefit from the very best treatments in the field, it is important that research is conducted to improve our understanding of ENT conditions and how best to treat them. Doctors and researchers in ENT, Hearing and Balance have therefore worked closely with patients and families to develop an agenda that will guide research in the field for the next 10 years.

Research priorities include improving the patient’s journey when suffering from ENT problems, such as allergies, and problems of the sinuses and voice. Patients felt it is important that there is research into self-management, in particular for those suffering from dizziness. There is a need to improve the benefit of hearing aids and develop and test new treatments for hearing loss as well as for loss of other senses such as balance and smell.

Patients and professionals agreed that future research in ENT, Hearing and Balance care needs to be patient centered. They have agreed to work together to ensure that future research addresses the issues that matter both to patients and those who care for them.

For more information please see the following document: Research Agenda for ENT, Hearing and Balance 2015

Speaker profile

Anne Schilder is an ENT surgeon and a trialist. She leads evidENT, a multidisciplinary clinical research team that bridges the University College London Ear Institute’s discovery science and the Royal National Throat Nose and Ear Hospital’s clinical excellence. Her work spans the translational research pathway. Recent successes include an EU Horizon 2020 award for a phase 1/2 trial of local treatment with a Notch inhibitor aimed at restoring hearing in adults with sensorineural hearing loss. And an NIHR award for a 7-year programme of work to determine best management for patients with chronic sinus disease.

Anne is a Professor of Otorhinolaryngology at the UCL Ear Institute and at the University Medical Center Utrecht in the Netherlands and practices Paediatric ENT at the UCLH Royal National Throat, Nose and Ear Hospital. She is the Joint Co-ordinating Editor for Cochrane ENT and National Lead for the NIHR Clinical Research Network ENT Specialty.

Seminar details

Date: Monday 8th August 2016

Time: 12pm - 1pm

Venue: Room 614, AIHI, Level 6, 75 Talavera Road, Macquarie University

Chair: Professor Jeffrey Braithwaite

To register for this seminar please click here