Gerard O’Donoghue qualified in medicine in University College, Cork in Ireland and undertook his otolaryngology training in London and Oxford, availing of Fellowships at University Hospital in Boston and at the University of California in San Francisco. He is Professor of Otology and Neurotology and Consultant Neuro-Otologist at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust. In 1989, he established the Nottingham Cochlear Implant Programme along with an educational charity, The Ear Foundation. He has been President of the Section of Otology, The Royal Society of Medicine, London and has held a Hunterian Professorship at the Royal College of Surgeons of England. He co-founded the British Skull Base Society and is founder member of the European Academy of Otology and Neurotology. He has delivered the Toynbee Memorial Lecture and was awarded the Sir William Wilde Medal of the Irish ENT Society (2011), The Brinkman Medal of the University of Nimegen (2009), The Jobson Horne Award of the British Medical Association (2017) and delivered the William House Memorial Lecture of the American Neurotologic Society (2016). He co-founded the Nottingham Hearing Biomedical Research Centre of the National Institute of Health Research with research interests including clinical trials and regenerative inner ear therapeutics. He is a Commissioner for the current Lancet Commission on Hearing Loss and Master of the British Academic Conference in Otolaryngology in 2021.

Professor Wu Hao (CN)

Chief Physician, Doctoral Tutor, Chairman of Chinese Society Of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, President of 9th People’s Hospital Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Chief Director of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, Director of Shanghai Jiaotong University Ear Institute.

Prof Wu Hao’s other appointments include the leader of the hearing screening project of the Ministry of Health, chairman of 7th international conference on Acoustic Neuroma, chairman of 4th East Asian Symposium on Otology, member of Collegium Oto-Rhino-Laryngologicum Amicitiae Sacrum (CORLAS), member of Politzer society. Dr. Wu is deputy editor of Chinese Journal of Otorhinolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery and Chinese Journal of Otology. He has been awarded 9 grants including the China National 973 Project, National Foundation of Natural Science Funding, etc. Dr. Wu has published more than 111 papers indexed in SCI. Dr. Wu is dedicated to clinical and research work of lateral skull-base diseases, especially acoustic neuroma, jugular paragangliomas, and other cerebellopontine angle lesions. He is also focused on management of deafness. He has established the newborn hearing screening network in Shanghai and hearing impaired children database in many provinces.

Professor Seung Ha Oh (KR)

Department of Otolaryngology, Seoul National University, Seoul & Professor of Post-Graduate Program of the Department of Brain-Neuro Science Seoul National University College of Medicine.

Prof Oh also has performed over 800 cochlear implant surgeries and held several esteemed positions at SNU including most recently Chairman of the Department of Otolaryngology (2014-18), Head of Research & Experiment for the Biomedical Research Unit (2013-20).  Prof Oh also has served as the General Secretary of the East Asian Symposium of Otology (EASO)

since 2013, a board member for the Asia‒Pacific Symposium on Cochlear Implantation (APSCI) since 2011, the Politzer Society (2009-19) and president of the Korean Otologic Society from 2014-16.  Prof Oh has over 190 publications, and interest areas including the effect of brain plasticity upon cochlear implantation, genetic hearing loss and impact of cochlear implantation in the elderly. Prof Oh was awarded a PhD in 1997 and MSc in Medicine in 1993 from Seoul National University, Korea.

Professor Pu Dai (CN)

Chair of the Scientific Committee, College of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, Chinese PLA General Hospital, Chinese PLA Medical School.

Prof Pu Dai specializes in otology, skull base surgery, and cochlear implantation surgery. His research has focused on minimal access and difficult cochlear implantation surgery, hearing preservation, and the genetics of hearing impairment. Professor Dai initiated his pioneering three-dimensional (3D) morphological research on the temporal bone in 1990, and he authored the first Stereo Anatomical and Surgical Atlas of the Temporal Bone in China (2006) and a 3D atlas of global micro ear surgery (2017). Professor Dai has published more than 70 peer-reviewed journal articles worldwide and 160 journal articles in Chinese. He is the chief editor of four books in the field of otological surgery, anatomy, and inherited hearing loss. He is also the Principal Investigator for more than 10 grants, including those sponsored by the National Key Research and Development Project of China and the National Natural Science Foundation of China. His honors include two Second Grade Prizes in the National Science and Technology Progress Awards (for controlling birth defects causing severe-to-profound hearing impairment), one Seeking Truth Award, and a nomination as a National Distinguished Young and Middle-aged Specialist. He was the Chair of the Organizing Committee and the Conference Secretary for the Asia‒Pacific Symposium on Cochlear Implantation and Related Science (APSCI) (2015) and is an APSCI committee member.

Associate Professor Jenny Loo (SG)

Senior Principal Audiologist, Assistant Director & Lecturer, National University Hospital, Singapore.

Dr Jenny H.Y. Loo is a highly-regarded audiologist in Singapore who plays an instrumental role in clinical, research and education. Dr. Loo earned her MSc Audiology degree from the University of Southampton (UK) in 2004; subsequently she pursued her PhD at the University College of London (UK) in 2008 as one of the research scientist fellowship winners from the National Medical Research Council (NMRC) Singapore. Her research areas included cochlear implants, hearing loss and dementia, and central auditory processing disorder (CAPD).  She has been invited as guest speaker to many local and international conferences to present the topics related to cochlear implant and  CAPD where her expertise lies. Clinically, she is a senior principal audiologist subspecialised in paediatric audiology at the National University Hospital, where she plays a key role in supporting and developing the Centre for Hearing Intervention and Language Development (CHILD) in the Department of Otolaryngology- Head & Neck Surgery. She leads the largest audiologist team in Singapore, and has brought about various initiatives that improved patient care and treatment. One of the examples is, bringing audiology services closer to patients’ homes through the setting up of Mobile Hearing Clinic and Community Audiology clinic in the last 3 years ago. At the same time, Dr Loo is also passionate about sharing her knowledge and participates actively in teaching, as she holds a joint appointment at the National University of Singapore (NUS) School of Medicine as an Associate Professor. She played an instrumental role in setting up the first Master of Science (Audiology) programme in Singapore in 2013, whereby she was heavily involved in the planning of curriculum and setting up of the state-of-the-art clinical and research infrastructure within the campus. At the national level, Dr. Loo is appointed as the chairperson for the Allied Health Professional Audiology panel at the Ministry of Health, overseeing the development of audiologist professional, promoting hearing health and public awareness in Singapore.

Dr Kuang Chao (Joshua) Chen (TW)

Chief Department of Cochlear Implantation, Chen Hsin General Hospital, Taiwan

Dr Chen heads the Cochlear Implant Center for the Far Eastern Memorial Center in New Taipei, Taiwan, and is Deputy Director of the China Medical University Hospital in Taiwan.  Dr Chen has also previously help positioned as Chief of Department of Otolaryngology at Cheng Hsien General Hospital.  He has also chaired several forums including CI2018 Belgium, East Asian Symposium of Otology (EASO) in 2018, and director for the 2018 Asia-Pacific Otology-Neurology (APON) conference.  Dr Chen’s main research and clinical focus in cochlear implantation includes music perception in cochlear implant recipients, electrophysiology, residual hearing preservation, as well as general otorhinolaryngology.  Dr Chen graduated from National Yang-Ming University in 1986 and and spent his fellowship at the Department of Otolaryngology, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan.

Dr Kalyani Mandke (IN)

Audiologist & Director, Mandke Hearing Services, India

Diagnostic Audiology for new born to geriatric clients, digital hearing aid fittings, cochlear implant guidance, rehabilitation, disability rights issue

In 1985 Dr. Kalyani Mandke started private practice of audiology in India. She was the first one to start such an exclusive centre in the country. She developed a service sector model along with Dr. N. S. Mandke, which proved to be a landmark for various aspirants in the field of audiology. Dr. Kalyani Mandke completed her PhD from University of Pune in the year 1991. In 2007 she completed her second doctorate degree (Au.D.) from Pennsylvania College of Optometry (USA) via distance learning.  Dr Mandke is very well known for her flawless diagnostic skills from newborn to geriatric clients, cochlear implants guidance and rehabilitation.