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Douglas Hartley

Professor of Otology & Consultant ENT Surgeon, Faculty of Medicine & Health Sciences

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Biography

I qualified with distinction from Newcastle Medical School in 1995 and was awarded a DPhil from Oxford University in the field of hearing research in 2001. I worked as a Clinical Lecturer in ENT Surgery at Oxford University, and was fortunate to be the first recipient of a Wellcome Trust Clinician Scientist Fellowship in Otolaryngology: the second recipient across any surgical specialty. I spent time as a Surgical Fellow at the Sydney Cochlear Implant Centre, after becoming a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons (FRCS ORL-HNS), and completing my higher surgical training in ENT at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford.

Currently, I am a Professor of Otology at Nottingham University and a Consultant ENT Surgeon at Nottingham University Hospital's (NUH) NHS Trust - Queen's Medical Centre. I lead the Objective measures area of the NIHR Nottingham Biomedical Research Centre (BRC) Hearing theme. Our innovative research using functional near-infrared spectroscopy aims to develop a prognostic tool for cochlear implantation to help guide allocation of limited healthcare resources for rehabilitation. Together with my clinical work as a consultant Otologist at the NUH NHS Trust, this enhances the Nottingham Auditory Implant Programme's profile, drawing national referrals. I have secured >£2 million in personal grant funding and have contributed to a number of major collaborative awards, including the Sir Peter Mansfield Imagaging centre's £7.7 million, Nottingham BRC's £23.642 million and Nottingham BRU's £6.2 million awards. I have a track record for high impact publications in hearing research that include a PNAS paper and 2 publications in the Journal of Neuroscience and have been invited to speak at >30 international meetings. In national recognition of sustained achievement in research I was awarded the Royal Society of Medicine's Otology prize (2010-14). I have supervised 8 postdoctoral, 6 PhD, 3 BMedSci students and a Clinical Fellow, I have taught on MSc courses in Oxford and London and my average feedback (SET score) for undergraduate teaching was 4.6 (out of 5) in 2017. I serve on grant review panels for Action on Hearing Loss and the NIHR.

Expertise Summary

Ear, nose and throat conditions in adults and children, particularly hearing and balance disorders, chronic ear disease and cholesteatoma. Specialist in ear surgery, including mastoidectomy, bone-anchored hearing aids and cochlear implantation.

Teaching Summary

I have a strong track record for teaching undergraduates, postgraduates, and GPs locally, as is evidenced by my average SET score for undergraduate teaching (4.6 out of 5). I have also been invited… read more

Research Summary

I lead the Objective measures area of the NIHR Nottingham BRC Hearing theme and I am a cochlear implant surgeon with the Nottingham Auditory implant programme. My research aims to develop a… read more

Recent Publications

I have a strong track record for teaching undergraduates, postgraduates, and GPs locally, as is evidenced by my average SET score for undergraduate teaching (4.6 out of 5). I have also been invited to teach on MSc courses in Oxford and UCL. I have contributed significantly to the supervision of hearing researchers in Nottingham and Oxford (postdoctoral researchers: n=8; PhD students: n=6; BMedSci students: n=3 and Clinical Academic fellow: n=1). I have also examined a number of theses in Nottingham and I have been invited to examine PhDs in Australia and the Netherlands.

Current Research

  • I lead the Objective measures area of the NIHR Nottingham BRC Hearing theme and I am a cochlear implant surgeon with the Nottingham Auditory implant programme.
  • My research aims to develop a clinical prognostic indicator of cochlear implant (CI) outcome using functional near-infrared spectroscopy.
  • Since we currently lack a reliable prognostic measure of outcome, similar rehabilitation strategies are generically provided to all CI users.
  • The cost of outpatient visits, including rehabilitation, is £11k per CI user over the first four postop years, with £0.6k p.a. thereafter.
  • Our research goal is to allow clinicians to tailor rehabilitation strategies to the needs of an individual, to pre-operatively inform individuals on the likely outcome from their treatment, and to objectively monitor longitudinal progress in outcomes following surgery.
  • Subsequently, existing rehabilitation costs could be reduced for individuals who are predicted to perform well and/or these resources could be reallocated to those who would benefit from greater intervention.
  • My translational research programme at the NIHR Nottingham BRC is conducted in collaboration with i) fundamental science at Nottingham's Medical Research Council Institute of Hearing Research and the Sir Peter Mansfield Imaging Centre, and ii) my clinical work at the Nottingham Auditory Implant Programme.

School of Medicine

University of Nottingham
Medical School
Nottingham, NG7 2UH

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