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
-
Dr Ryan O’Hare Doig
NEIL SACHSE CENTRE FOR SPINAL CORD RESEARCH (SAHMRI)
SOUTH AUSTRALIA
AUSTRALIA -
Supportive care for people living with or beyond cancer treatment
Dr Hannah Wardill is a Hospital Research Foundation Fellow and lead of the Supportive Oncology Research Group (SORG), in the School of Biomedicine, University of Adelaide and Precision Cancer Medicine Theme, South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI). She is an Executive Board Member of the Multinational Association for Supportive Care in Cancer / International Society for Oral Oncology (MASCC/ISOO) and Chair of both MASCC/ISOO Patient Partnership Committee & the Palliative Care Clinical Studies Collaborative (PaCCSC) Cancer Symptom Trials (Gut Dysfunction Node; supported by Cancer Australia).
-
CASE STUDY Link between levels of extracellular vesicles in the blood and tissue damage caused by diseases
A landmark study led by WEHI and La Trobe University has found a potential new diagnostic marker that could be used to better detect the level of tissue damage in our bodies.
This study revealed, for the first time, a link between levels of EVs in the blood and tissue damage caused by diseases such as leukaemia.
Researchers hope to leverage the critical new insight to develop a blood test to monitor cancer patients with tissue damage, which could, in future, enhance treatment strategies for blood cancers and other diseases.
