ManCAD

The Manchester Centre for Audiology and Deafness (ManCAD) is a world leader in teaching and research that improves education and healthcare for deaf adults and children and those with hearing loss (https://sites.manchester.ac.uk/mancad/). Our service users, clinical networks, industry, and charity collaborations shape our priorities. We host the Hearing Health theme of the NIHR Manchester Biomedical Research Centre, which aims to improve prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and management of hearing loss and associated conditions, permanently shifting the emphasis from hearing loss to hearing health.

Since 2014, Programme Grants from the Medical Research Council have funded our diverse research into the impacts of noise on hearing. Our participants include teenagers, concert-goers, people with tinnitus, and noise-exposed workers. We test for hearing damage that would not show up on standard hearing tests, using brainstem recordings, high-frequency measures, and brain imaging. We work to understand the dangers posed by recreational noise exposure, which parts of the ear and nervous system are affected, and who is most vulnerable. A cornerstone of the programme is the four-year Hearing In Teens study, following participants’ noise exposure and hearing over time.

We believe firmly that “prevention is better than cure”, and prevention of hearing loss and tinnitus are among our research priorities. We aim to improve hearing conservation in occupational and recreational settings, using behaviour-change models to understand why people don’t always protect their hearing, and ultimately support evidence-based interventions. Collectively, ManCAD noise research seeks to improve understanding, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of noise-induced hearing damage.

https://sites.manchester.ac.uk/mancad/

The UK Make Listening Safe campaign, connecting scientists with external organisations and the public, is central in our shared mission to prevent noise-induced hearing damage.

ManCAD