INTERVENTIONS FOR IMPROVING OUTCOMES OF CHILDREN WHO ARE DEAF OR HARD OF HEARING
Professor Teresa Y C Ching
Professorial Fellow, NextSense Institute, Sydney;
Conjoint Professor, Macquarie University, Sydney;
Honorary Professor, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia
RESEARCHER PROFILE
Filmed in Sydney | June 2025
About two to six per thousand children have a hearing loss that prevents them from achieving their full potential in life. They experience many more difficulties in cognitive, language and social development than their hearing peers. We know that early detection through newborn hearing screening is crucial, but less is known about how intervention can best be targeted to meet the needs of individual children and their families.
Professor Teresa Ching has led population-based studies that drive evidence-based practice in intervention for improving outcomes of children who are deaf or hard of hearing. Much of her research findings have been translated into practice and policy. However, many children from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds remain vulnerable, requiring intervention tailored to their needs. Furthermore, many children have undetected, untreated hearing problems when they enter school, thereby reducing their educational attainment and social participation.
Teresa is a Conjoint Professor at NextSense Institute and Macquarie University, and an Honorary Professor at the University of Queensland in Australia. Her current research focuses on devising culturally sensitive practices in early detection and intervention to maximise children’s outcomes. Working with international colleagues, her current research is also directed towards developing global guidelines and recommendations for hearing screening beyond the newborn period, so that all children can benefit from early detection and intervention. The ultimate goal is to attain equity of care and outcomes for all children with hearing difficulties.
Source: Supplied
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Therapies for chronic myeloid leukaemia
Professor Tim Hughes is an international expert in the biology and treatment of leukaemia. He led the establishment of the molecular response criteria that are used world-wide to measure response in chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML) and has led many of the key Global and National trials. His group has successfully developed predictive bioassays and molecular targets that influence the way CML patients are managed world-wide. He has published over 350 papers that have been cited over 65,000 times.
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Dr James Pang
DR JAMES PANG, RESEARCH FELLOW
TURNER INSTITUTE FOR BRAIN AND MENTAL HEALTH, MONASH UNIVERSITY
VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA -
Neonatal respiratory trials in sick & preterm newborn infants
Prof Brett J. Manley leads and collaborates on large national and international randomised clinical trials in neonatology. He previously collaborated on 4 randomised trials of nasal high-flow as non-invasive respiratory support for preterm and term infants, all of which were published in N Engl J Med. Recently he led the PLUSS trial of intratracheal budesonide for extremely preterm infants, that recruited in 21 NICUs across 4 countries, the results of which were published in JAMA. PLUSS was awarded the Australian Clinical Trials Alliance Trial of the Year in 2025. Another passion of his is mentoring and supervising early career researchers to undertake their own clinical trials.
