THE GRAHAM FRASER MEMORIAL LECTURES
An annual Memorial Lecture was established in 1994 by the Graham Fraser Foundation in commemoration of the work of Graham Fraser and incorporated from 1996 into the programme of the Section of Otology of the Royal Society of Medicine, England.
The Lectureship is open to any person who, in the opinion of the Selection Committee, is qualified to contribute to the advancement of the science and practice of otology, particularly with respect to the understanding, management and alleviation of profound deafness.
In 2014 the 20th Graham Fraser Memorial Lecture was the last to be held at the Royal Society of Medicine in London. Since 2015 the lectures have been hosted by the British Cochlear Implant Group within their annual conference to facilitate attendance by cochlear implant professionals nationwide. Please visit their website www.bcig.org.uk for further details. Since 2018 the Graham Fraser Foundation’s sponsorship of the BCIG Annual Conference has provided funding for the Memorial Lecture.
Professor Catherine Birman with Helen Cullington (BCIG Chair) and Patricia Fraser
at the 2022 Memorial Lecture, BCIG Annual Conference, Cardiff
Professor Blake Wilson with Philip Robinson, Patricia Fraser and Professor Shakeel Saeed
at the 2015 Memorial Lecture, BCIG Annual Conference, Bristol
LECTURESHIPS
1. Professor Richard T Ramsden FRCS 6 October 1994
Professor of Otolaryngology, University of Manchester
“Strains that might create a soul”
Published in Journal of Laryngology and Otology, October 1997, Vol.III, pp.907-912
2. Professor W P R Gibson AM MD FRACS FRCS1 February 1996
Professor of Otolaryngology, University of Sydney, Australia
“The ethics and long-term results of cochlear implants
in congenitally deaf children”
3. Professor Stuart Rosen PhD6 February 1997
Professor of Speech and Hearing Science
University College, London
“Hearing and speech and cochlear implants:
the benefits of combining clinical and basic research”
4. Mr Jonathan Hazell FRCS5 February 1998
Head, RNID Medical Research Unit, Institute of Laryngology
and Otology with the Ferens, London
“JGF: Life and Times”
Published on this website (.pdf) – click here to view
5. Professor Bruce J Gantz MD FACS4 February 1999
Professor of Otolaryngology, University of Iowa, USA
“Speech processing for the mild to moderately hearing impaired”
6. Professor A Quentin Summerfield MA PhD3 February 2000
Deputy Director, MRC Institute of Hearing Research,
University Park, Nottingham
“2000 reasons for purchasing cochlear implantation in the new millennium?”
7. Professor Graeme M Clark AO FAA FTSE1 February 2001
Laureate Professor of Otolaryngology
University of Melbourne, Australia
“Cochlear Implants: Climbing New Mountains”
Published in Cochlear Implants International, 2 (2), 75-97, 2001
8. Mr John M Graham FRCS31 January 2002
Director, Cochlear Implant Programme
Royal National Throat, Nose and Ear Hospital, London
“From frogs’ legs to pieds-noirs and beyond:
some aspects of cochlear implantation”
Published on this website (.pdf) – click here to view
9. Professor Erwin S Hochmair Dipl.Ing. Dr.techn.6 February 2003
Department of Applied Physics
University of Innsbruck, Austria
“Expectations, setbacks and achievements
– from serendipity to safe, effective cochlear implant design choices”
Published on this website (.pdf) – click here to view
10. Professor Thomas J Balkany MD FACS FAAP5 February 2004
Hotchkiss Professor and Chairman
Department of Otolaryngology
University of Miami School of Medicine, Florida, USA
“Cochlear implant electrode trauma and analysis of dynamic insertion forces”
11. Dr Lorraine Gailey BSSc PhD DipCCS Reg MRCSLT3 February 2005
Chief Executive, The LINK Centre for Deafened People
“Who wears the trousers in your patient’s family?”
The role of psychosocial assessment and intervention in
optimising the outcome of cochlear implantation in adults.
12. Dr Emily Tobey PhD2 February 2006
Callier Advanced Hearing Research Centre
Dallas, Texas, USA
“Technological advances and societal changes:
are a parent’s decisions regarding cochlear implantation getting any easier?”
A review of controversies in cochlear implantation in children, an update on research
related to performance outcomes, and speculation on the future.
13. Professor Thomas Lenarz MD PhD1 February 2007
Department of Otolaryngology
Medical University of Hanover, Germany
“Cochlear preservation surgery – on the way towards the regenerated inner ear”
Pathways towards restoration of the normal inner ear
using the cochlear implant electrode as a multipurpose tool.
14. Mr David Proops BDS FRCS31 January 2008
Department of Otolaryngology, University Hospital Birmingham
and The Children’s Hospital Birmingham
“Cochlear implantation – the keystone in implantation otology”
The Birmingham experience of cochlear implantation, surgical advances and other
developments in implantation otology, and delivery of services in the UK.
15. Sue Archbold MPhil5 February 2009
The Ear Foundation, Nottingham
“Cochlear implantation: transforming educational opportunities for deaf children”
Paediatric implantation is now routine provision for deaf children:
what influence has it had on their education?
16. Professor Matthew C Holley BSc DPhil4 February 2010
Professor of Sensory Physiology
Department of Biomedical Science, University of Sheffield
“New hope for the deaf? – flies, fish, chicks and mice”
The lecture will examine the prospects of a cure for hearing loss,
showing the contribution from some surprising animal models.
17. Professor Shakeel R Saeed MD FRCS (ORL)3 February 2011
Professor of Otology and Neuro-otology
University College London Ear Institute
“Cochlear implantation – challenges in the 21st century”
The presentation will cover some of the challenges that we currently face including
outcomes and technical challenges, functional aesthetics, surgical standards and access and health care resources.
Published on this website (.pdf) – click here to view
18. Professor Robert A Schindler MD2 February 2012
Professor and Chairman, Emeritus
Department of Otolaryngology
University of California San Francisco, USA
“Cochlear implants: the scientific revolution that created them
and the difficulties they face in the future”
Cochlear implants were a scientific revolution that changed our concept of deafness.
Will future CI manufacturers continue to innovate and strive to build an “ideal” implant?
Professor Robert Schindler (centre) with the Trustees at the 2012 Memorial Lecture
19. Professor Paul Van de Heyning MD PhD31 January 2013
University Department of Otorhinolaryngology and
Head and Neck Surgery, Antwerp University Hospital
University of Antwerp, Belgium
“Cochlear implantation for single-sided deafness and incapacitating tinnitus:
8 years experience with this new indication that changes lives”
Patient selection and outcomes in terms of speech recognition, speech and quality questionnaires and tinnitus management will be discussed. The underlying physiopathology of inappropriate plasticity in brain networks will be debated.
Professor Paul Van de Heyning, Patricia Fraser, Philip Robinson
and Chris Raine (BCIG Chair) at the 2013 Memorial Lecture
20. Mr Philip J Robinson FRCS6 February 2014
Consultant Adult and Paediatric Otolaryngologist
University of Bristol Hospitals NHS Trust, Bristol
Director of West of England Hearing Implant Programme
“From infancy to maturity? Successes and challenges
in paediatric cochlear implantation”
Cochlear implantation in children must rank as one of the greatest technological achievements in medicine. Implantation at ever younger ages has led to further improvements in outcome but significant challenges remain, particularly in children with complex additional needs. This talk will address the successes and challenges in paediatric cochlear implantation.
Published on this website (.pdf) – click here to view
Patricia Fraser, Professor Shakeel Saeed (President of RSM Otology Section)
and Philip Robinson at the 2014 Memorial Lecture
21. Professor Blake S Wilson DSc DEng 19 March 2015
Co-Director, Duke Hearing Center
Duke University Medical Center
Durham, North Caroline, USA
“Possible ways forward with cochlear implants and
building on the grand legacy of Graham Fraser”
22. Professor Gerard O’Donoghue FRCS 28 April 2016
Consultant Neurotologist, Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust
Honorary Professor of Otology and Neurotology, University of Nottingham
“Auditory implants in the UK – the end of the beginning?”
Published on this website (.pdf) – click here to view
ENT News article on which a major part of this lecture was based (.pdf) – click here to view
The ENT News article was originally published in ENT and Audiology News, Vol 25 No 2, May/June 2016; pp82-4. Reproduced with kind permission of Pinpoint Scotland Ltd.
23. Professor Liat Kishon-Rabin PhD20 March 2017
Professor of Communication Disorders Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel-Aviv University, Israel
Head, Stanley Steyer School of Health Professions
Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel-Aviv University, Israel
“The challenge of listening in noise with cochlear implants”
24. Professor Christopher Raine MBE ChM FRCS18 May 2018
Consultant ENT Surgeon
The Yorkshire Auditory Implant Service, Bradford
“Listening for life”
25. Professor Andrea D Warner-Czyz PhD4 April 2019
School of Behavioural and Brain Sciences
The University of Texas at Dallas, USA
“ Development of social relationships in children with cochlear implants”
26. Professor Christine Yoshinaga-Itano PhD10 March 2020
Research Professor, Institute of Cognitive Science
University of Colorado Boulder, USA
“Longitudinal English literacy outcomes of children (from 8 to 16 years) who are deaf or hard of hearing with the greatest
risk factors – poverty, non-English speaking homes and additional disabilities – after UNHS/EHDI was established”
27. Professor Iain Bruce MD FRCS (ORL-HNS)11 May 2021
Consultant Paediatric Otolaryngologist, Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital
Honorary Clinical Professor of Paediatric Otolaryngology, University of Manchester
“Who really wants a crystal ball?
Prognostication in CI and progressive hearing loss”
28. Professor Catherine Birman OAM MBBS PhD FRACS26 April 2022
Consultant ENT Surgeon and Clinical Professor
Medical Director of NextSense Cochlear Implant Program (formerly SCIC)
University of Sydney, Australia
“Optimising outcomes in cochlear implants”
29. Professor Julie G Arenberg MS PhD13 April 2023
Director of Audiology Research and Education at Massachusetts Eye and Ear
Associate Professor, Department of Otolaryngology, Harvard Medical School
“The influence of the electrode-neurone interface on cochlear implant outcomes”