I am an ENT surgeon and a trialist. Supported by my NIHR Research Professorship I have built evidENT into a vibrant, multidisciplinary team dedicated to develop the best research and researchers in ENT, Hearing and Balance. evidENT’s research portfolio spans the translational pathway; we test and evaluate new and current treatments in ENT, Hearing and Balance so that patients can benefit from the best treatments in the field. evidENT forms a powerful bridge between UCL Ear Institute’s discovery science (no 1 2015 RAND bibliometric Ranking) and the UCLH Royal National Throat Nose and Ear Hospital’s clinical excellence. Recent successes include an EU Horizon 2020 award (€5.8m and an additional €2.5m from INKEF Capital) to lead a phase 1 and 2 trial of local treatment with a Notch inhibitor aimed at restoring hearing in adults with sensorineural hearing loss, REGAIN. And hosting the MACRO NIHR Programme Grant for Applied Research (£3.2m), a 7 year programme of work to determine best management for patients with chronic sinus disease.

I am Professor of Otorhinolaryngology at the UCL Ear Institute and at the University Medical Center Utrecht in the Netherlands and practice Paediatric ENT at the UCLH Royal National Throat, Nose and Ear Hospital. I am also a Visiting Professor at Oxford University and the Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia.

I am the Theme Director of the NIHR UCLH BRC Deafness and Hearing Problems Theme, Joint Co-ordinating Editor for Cochrane ENT, Lead for the Clinical Research Network ENT Specialty, and Surgical Specialty Lead for ENT for the Royal College of Surgeons of England Clinical Research Initiative. On behalf of our professional organisations, evidENT recently developed the UK National Research Agenda for ENT, Hearing and Balance, a successful partnership of patients, the public, clinicians, researchers, industry, funders and health policy-makers that set the research priorities for ENT, Hearing and Balance for the next decade.

Before my move to the UK in 2011, I led the Paediatric ENT Department at the University Medical Centre Utrecht, the Netherlands, and in close collaboration with my Epidemiology, Primary Care and Paediatrics colleagues, directed a programme of research into ear, nose and throat (ENT) infections in children. Our trials in this field have been influential in the way global health-care systems think about the management of children with these infections and have been translated in national and international evidence-based guidelines and health policies.