According to the UN, less than 30% of the world's scientific researchers are women. This is why Action on Hearing Loss is proud that 77% of the PhD students we’re funding this year are women. We are delighted to support them in their career, and encourage more diversity in the next generation of researchers. We wanted to bring our female philanthropists and researchers together to thank them for their collective impact on the field of hearing research.
Guests were greeted in the beautiful marble hall of London’s Royal Institution, met with a glass of wine and had the opportunity to mingle with some of the amazing women whose research we fund. Following this, four fantastic speakers presented to our audience.
Firstly, Dr Sohaila Rastan, former Executive Director of Biomedical Research and ongoing ambassador to Action on Hearing Loss introduced the charity and why we fund biomedical research. She then introduced world class geneticist Professor Karen Steel, an Action on Hearing Loss-funded researcher at King's College, London.
Sohaila then introduced Faizah Mustaq, a PhD student at the Nottingham Biomedical Research Centre, who spoke about her research to find better ways to test how well Cochlear Implants are working in young children using infrared brain imaging.
“It certainly was an evening of empowerment and inspiration, and the knowledge gained from the research being carried out by Karen Steel and Faizah Mustaq is mind-blowing… It has enormous potential to alleviate the distressing consequences of hearing loss.” Margaret, supporter.
Lastly, loyal supporter Julia Alexander spoke about her connection to the cause and why she supports our biomedical research. It was incredibly moving and we are so grateful to Julia for agreeing to share her story.
“The evening seemed like a tremendous success and it was wonderful to meet such talented and influential people. My colleague and I felt tremendously inspired by the panel of speakers.” Rasna Mistry, audiologist.
The audience were then given the chance to ask their burning questions to our panel, and a lively and varied debate in hearing loss research, women in science and the wider work of the charity ensued! We really enjoyed the chance to thank the researchers we fund, and celebrate their incredible work for those with hearing loss, deafness and tinnitus.
Find out more
You can find out more about the research we’re funding in our biomedical research section.
If you’re interested in finding out more about our research, sign up to receive our Soundbite e-newsletter. It’s a monthly email, filled with the latest news about hearing and tinnitus research, and hearing technology.