Melanie Ferguson
PhD
Head of Brain & Hearing
EAR SCIENCE INSTITUTE AUSTRALIA
I get up in the morning knowing that what I do that day will contribute to improving the lives of adults with hearing loss.
My area of expertise is translational hearing research in adult hearing loss that aims to influence clinical practice and promote healthy hearing. Areas of interest are connected hearing health, listening and cognition including dementia and mental health, outcome measures, and service delivery models, underpinned by health behaviour and patient-centred approaches.
I wanted to be a clinical scientist in audiology because I think it is important that clinical practice is based on scientific principles and a robust evidence-base, and by doing my own research I can influence this in some way.
The highlight of my career was publishing a Cochrane review on hearing aids that formed the clinical evidence for the influential UK NICE (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence) guidelines. The recommendation future-proofed the provision of hearing aids for adults with mild to moderate hearing loss in the UK NHS, which remain free at the point of delivery for adults of all ages.
