Kevin is Ewing Professor of Audiology. Until taking up the post of NIHR Research for Patient Benefit Programme Director, in 2023, he was Director of the Manchester Centre for Audiology and Deafness (ManCAD), Deputy Director of the NIHR Manchester Biomedical Research Centre and theme lead for Hearing Health. He is an honorary Consultant Clinical Scientist at Manchester NHS Foundation Trust.

Kevin is the only audiologist to be awarded NIHR Senior Investigator status, is Principal Fellow of the British Society of Audiology, Expert Advisor for the NICE Centre for Guidelines, and a member of the Scientific Advisory Group for the Australian National Acoustic Laboratories. He was formerly the Chair of the North West Regional Advisory Committee for NIHR Research for Patient Benefit.

He has held many positions within the profession, including Chair of the British Society of Audiology and Chair of the Council of the International Journal of Audiology.  He is an honorary life member of the British Society of Audiology, ‘in recognition of outstanding contribution to audiology education, research and leadership’. Kevin is a member of the Phonak AG (Switzerland) International Paediatric Advisory Board. He has acted as an independent consultant to most of the leading international hearing instrument companies. 

He is passionate about increasing the profile and impact of audiology. We live in a communication era yet hearing loss is a significant barrier to easy communication. Hearing loss impacts on all aspects of family life, employment, and prevents enjoyment of leisure activities. It is associated with reduced quality of life, depression and anxiety, poor social interactions and increased risk of dementia. Moreover, the harms to society are worsening: 1 in 4 UK adults live with hearing loss (defined as an average pure tone hearing threshold level of at least 35 dB in each ear). 

According to the World Health Organisation, hearing loss ranks third for years lived with a disability. However, the capacity and capability for hearing research in the UK is relatively low and it attracts less than 1% of UK health care expenditure and less than 1% of UK health research spend. The ‘Hearing Matters’ report by Action on Hearing Loss states that the research spend for every person affected by sight loss is £11.35 yet this is only £1.11 for hearing loss. Our national population survey revealed that the public perception of hearing loss prevalence and risk are largely inaccurate. In terms of charity funding, only one hearing loss charity (National Deaf Children’s Society) is represented in the top 100. It is clear that there is some way to go to persuade the public to back policies that will equalize the distribution of funds to hearing health care and research.

Kevin was brought up near Edinburgh where he studied Medical Sciences before going on to gain his MSc in Audiology (distinction) at the University of Southampton (in 1986), PG Dip Management Studies at Brunel University (in 1997), and PhD in Audiology at the University of Southampton (in 2002).

He is a state registered clinical scientist with experience in all areas of adult and paediatric assessment and rehabilitation. Before entering academia, he was an audiology healthcare professional and worked at a variety of locations across the UK including Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Southampton. He has spent extended periods of time at the University of Western Ontario, Canada, and the University of Auckland, New Zealand.

ManCAD has around 50 staff and is a UK leader in: (i) education and training of hearing health and education professionals, (ii) world-changing hearing research that leads to lasting improvements for all, and (ii) service development. The ManCAD research portfolio covers the lifecourse and spans basic discovery through to clinical applications in prevention, assessment and diagnosis, and treatment and management. ManCAD was awarded Team of the Year, 2019, by the British Academy of Audiology.

Current teaching commitments are mainly related to supervision of research projects by postgraduate teaching and postgraduate research students. For many years, he was responsible for the following teaching activities on UG and PG programmes in Audiology:

• Advanced hearing instruments and contemporary trends in aural rehabilitation: BSc3 (HCDI 3221)

• Dissertation: MSc (PSYC 61616)

• Research project introduction: MSc (PSYC 64002)

• Research project: MSc (PSYC 64003)

Contribute to other teaching units including: (i) Auditory Assessment and Management (MSc, PSYC 60095 and PSYC 60651) and (ii) Clinical and Behavioural Neuroscience (MSc, PSYC 60142)

Professor Michael Akeroyd, NIHR Nottingham Biomedical Research Cente.

Professor Piers Dawes, University of Queensland.

Professor Harvey Dillon, former Director of NAL, Sydney, Australia.

Professor David Moore, Cincinatti Childrens Hospital Medical Centre

Professor Suzanne Purdy, University of Auckland

Professor Richard Seewald, University of Western Ontario

British Society of Audiology

British Academy of Audiology

American Academy of Audiology 

American Auditory Society 

Higher Education Academy

PhD in Audiology

MSc in Audiology

PG Diploma Management Studies

BSc Medical Sciences