Lions Ear and Hearing Institute Launch

The Lions Ear and Hearing Institute was officially launched on Thursday 22nd November 2002 by the Hon. Bob Kucera MLA, Minister for Health. The speeches of the Institute's Director, Professor Marcus Atlas, and the Western Australian Minister for Health, Hon. Bob Kucera MLA, give great insight to the importance of establishing the Institute.

Presentation Speech - Professor Marcus Atlas

Recently a little boy was born in Perth. In the first few days of life, neonatal hearing screening detected a probable hearing loss. Sophisticated hearing tests confirmed what we feared - this baby was born completely deaf. The family of this child had no personal experience with deafness and his parents hear normally as is the case in 90% of the parents of deaf children. When I explained to this family that their baby was deaf, they were utterly shocked, then a little angry, finally they cried. They felt helpless and pleaded with me to help their child.

Despite the fact that there are no cures for most nerve deafness at this time, medical technology has transformed the lives of these children. Today you will meet families whose lives have been touched by deafness but in whom Australian technology, in the form of the cochlear implant, has allowed children to not only hear but to blossom and achieve absolutely everything their hearing friends can do.

Just like the young family of a deaf child, the Lions Ear and Hearing Institute family has experienced the full range of emotions as we nurture a new baby. We are now seeing, in a short time, our child growing into a major contributor in the local, Australian and international medical community.

The Lions Ear and Hearing Institute is a centre of excellence dedicated to advanced scientific research, the diagnosis and treatment of ear disease and education. In the last seven months we have established what we call a virtual institute. We are spread across Perth in Balcatta, Joondalup, the CBD and various sites on this Nedlands campus. Computers and Information Technology connect us but the lack of everyday personal contact can limit some of our activities. We aim to establish a single site on this campus that will allow us to work more closely together. Already, The Lions Ear and Hearing Institute has established strong collaborations with research groups elsewhere in Perth, in Melbourne and in Sydney. Our clinical Fellows in ear surgery have travelled from the United Kingdom, Ireland and Indonesia to work in our team of surgeons and nurses.

Our extended family is vital to our effort. The Lions have been pivotal. The Lions Help to Hear Foundation has planned, cajoled and now achieved their dream of a research institute and I appreciate being asked to be their Director.

A core group of individuals have helped drive LEHI following a meeting one weekend last summer. Professor Val Alder, Mrs. Sue Bergersen, Dr. Paul Van Saarloos, Dr. Harvey Coates, Dr. Bruce Black and Mr Mark Gummer helped create the vision and I thank them. I suppose Lions Eye Institute would be described as our sister. It is notable that individuals previously part of Lions Eye Institute have returned to Lions medical research by joining our group. I appreciate the encouragement of Ian Constable and Brian King.

My E.N.T. surgery colleagues in Perth have been a constant source of support as have the audiological community in Perth and Melbourne. The foundation Chair in Otolaryngology, which I hold, is due to a valuable collaboration between the Garnett Passe and Rodney Williams Foundation, the University of western Australia and the Health Department. All of these parties remain a vital part of the Lions Ear and Hearing Institute.

Medical research is valueless unless it is applied in the community. We have set out to target priority-driven research. Our basic and applied projects are targeted to treat people with ear and hearing disorders in the community today.

Cochlear implantation, Tele-medicine, Aboriginal ear disease programs, tissue engineering and innovative surgical outcome database all impact on major problems in ear and hearing disorders in our community. In exchange, the business and professional community has already begun to help us. Accountants - Bentley's MRI, Lawyers - Mallesons Stephen Jaques, Global Scientific, Cochlear Ltd, Smith & Nephew Surgical and Xomed are all major businesses involved in our Institute.

Our planning meetings have identified the real need for medical research institutes to be well managed with strong principles of accounting, law, human resources and information technology. Our council of governors and the executive board reflect our desire to be accountable and well structured. This week we have successfully obtained 2 major competition grants from national grant bodies. Our scientific group, headed by Dr Rob Eikelboom, are already achieving national recognition and I appreciate their dedication. The Lions Hearing centres have long been part of the Lions Help to Hear Foundation's aims to provide hearing services to Western Australians. These audiology centres in Joondalup and Nedlands are dependent on a highly skilled group of audiologists and the Institute will now bring vital management skills to audiology centres.

As you can see, we have had an exciting but busy year. My family, who expected to see a little more of me following our move to Perth, have been a little short changed. I thank Susana and my children for their patience and devotion.

Ladies and gentlemen, my dream is that we can replace the shock and trauma that a family faces when they learn their baby is deaf with the modern technology of molecular biology and cell biology. Advanced medical science will not only offer a cure for their anguish but also their children's deafness.

Presentation Speech - Hon. Bob Kucera, WA Minister for Health

The gift of hearing improves people's lives and lifestyles and adds to their quality of life. But it is also a fact of life that hearing loss affects the vast majority of people in our society in some way. Nearly everyone has a family member, be it grandparent, parent, sibling or child who is affected. That underlines the importance of the Lions Ear and Hearing Institute, which was formed to provide medical expertise in the area of ear and hearing disorders. The Institute is dedicated to advanced scientific research, the diagnosis and treatment of ear disease, and education.

Incorporating the Lions Hearing Centres, cochlear implant unit, and a new research centre, the Institute is indeed a centre for excellence, having already established key clinical and research projects. The Lions Help to Hear Foundation has, for more than 10 years, planned and anticipated a Professor in Otolaryngology and a research institute dedicated to disorders of the ear and hearing. Today that foresight, through hard work and planning, sees those dreams come to fruition with the launch of the Lions Ear and Hearing Institute. Professor Marcus Atlas was appointed Professor in Otolaryngology at the University of WA 18 months ago and now becomes a most distinguished head of the Institute as its inaugural director.

I would like to congratulate all those who contributed to the enormous achievement of forming the strategic research and clinical direction of the Institute. It eventuated through a core team who, with Professor Atlas, came together in November 2000.

That team is most worthy of individual recognition:

Sue Bergerson, the management consultant
Val Alder, Pro Vice Chancellor of Murdoch University
Harvey Coates, a Perth Paediatric Otolaryngologist
Paul Van Saarloos, a Scientist and Inventor
Bruce Black, a Brisbane Ear, Nose and Throat Surgeon
Mark Gummer, a Medical Research and Pharmaceutical Executive

Through the priorities identified by this group, the Lions Ear and Hearing Institute now incorporates the Lions Ear and Hearing clinic, cochlear implant unit, and the new research centre. The Institute has a team of people that includes scientists, clinicians, audiologists, students and management staff engaged in various projects. A major ear, neurotology and skull base surgery unit is attached to the Institute with doctors from the United Kingdom, Indonesia, and Australia visiting Perth to learn surgery. The unit's reputation has also attracted patients from as far afield as South Africa and Zimbabwe.

A busy cochlear implant program is associated with the Institute. Cochlear implants have revolutionised the treatment of profound nerve hearing loss in adults and children. This cochlear implant group has been invited to be a supporting partner in a nationwide co-operative research council for cochlear implant and hearing aid innovation. The Lions Ear And Hearing Institute has a wonderful future. It aims to draw together the diverse professionals involved in cochlear implantation in Western Australia to form an integrated statewide service. That service will have national and international significance.

It is also developing the concept of tissue engineering of the ear. There are many diseases affecting the ear where replacements of tissues are the only viable treatment. The first Institute project relates to the structures of the middle and external ear utilising the patient's original cells. New, identical tissues will allow the replacement and proper functioning of vital parts of the ear. The possibility of regenerating the hair cells and nerves of the inner ear is the next stage of development. These are exciting initiatives that hold great potential for improving the quality of life for many people.

As we look to the future, technology in its many forms will play a strong and vital part of progress and development in the provision of quality health care. The past few years has seen an extensive increase in the use of electronic communications and information technology in the health sector. The emergence of ' e-health' -- as a discipline concerning the use in the health sector of digital data -- has the potential to substantially impact on health in the next few years. The data -- transmitted, stored and retrieved electronically -- is being used for clinical, educational and administrative purposes. The Lions Ear And Hearing Institute has established a telemedicine site in the Pilbara. It is developing new software and instruments to allow images to be relayed to doctors in Perth from remote sites. Patients and doctors can be hundreds of kilometres from each other and talk utilising video pictures and a computer screen. A diagnosis can be made and treatment recommended. This has the potential to increase access to quality health care in distant locations with reduced costs. A key part of the program will be the training of rural and remote area health workers in all aspects of tele-otology. The Institute is actively seeking funding to develop a comprehensive training scheme.

Currently the Institute is funded by the Lions Help To Hear Foundation, University, national and international grants and private sponsorship and donations. Remaining in the modern, indeed futuristic, technology area, biotechnology is of vital importance to Western Australia's future health and economic prosperity. The size, scale and significance of the biotechnology revolution over the coming decade is as important as the emergence of the resource sector in this state over the past 40 years.

Research industry leaders need to come together to support major initiatives, such as the Lions Ear And Hearing Institute, to build a biomedical industry in Western Australia. That will provide the cornerstone for capturing the benefits of biotechnology in this state. The Institute aims to form partnerships between researchers, industry and the government with projects that are priority driven. The research will focus on particular health problems affecting Australians. An example of this is the training module in disorders of the ear and hearing, which is being designed for health care workers for application in remote areas and other countries. This drive for excellence, the realisation of the challenges ahead, and the foresight of those who have worked so hard to bring the Lions Ear And Hearing Institute to fruition, deserve the grateful thanks of us all.

The launch of the Institute today is a very special moment for me. Few people would realise the extent of the work that the Institute is undertaking, from diagnosis and treatment to research and education. There are many aims and challenges ahead, each with a primary goal. That goal is the gift of hearing, so important to the quality of life of West Australians of all ages and for communities across Australia and worldwide.

To all those involved in their many capacities at the Institute, and to the distinguished members of its board, I thank you on behalf of all West Australians and feel honoured to officially open the Lions Ear And Hearing Institute.