First ASIA Fellows Program in Aging, Hearing, & Public Health

 

 

Prof. Dr. Frank Lin, Professor of Otolaryngology, Medicine, Mental Health & Epidemiology and Director of Cochlear Center for Hearing and Public Health, John Hopkins University, together with faculty members and researchers from the center, led the first Hybrid training and academic conference in Asia in collaboration with the Department of Otolaryngology and the School of Global Health, Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University. To campaign for what can be done now to address hearing loss in older adults at scale through transformative public health strategies and to train healthcare professional from around the world to approach hearing loss in older adults from this public health mindset. Prof. Dr. Frank Lin also said that "Our ability to hear and engage with others and the environment around us is critically important for healthy aging and Hearing loss in mid and late life is identified as the single largest potentially modifiable risk factor for dementia as global dementia prevalence is increasing rapidly because of the aging of the world’s population.

 

Clinically, we can often see a link between hearing loss and increased loneliness & social isolation in older adults and that loneliness and social isolation have important health consequences, including risk for dementia, depression stroke and mortality. All of these conditions greatly reduce the quality of life for many elderly people around the world."

 

 

 

 

Dr. Nattawan Utoomprurkporn, MD, Department of Otolaryngology, Chulalongkorn Hospital, Thai Red Cross Society, and former fellow at the John Hopkins Cochlear center for hearing and public health, and the program director of this ASIA Fellows Program in Aging, Hearing, & Public Health seminars, said: "This event is an international research collaboration aimed at improving the quality of lives of the elderly around the world. This hybrid program marks the fantastic partnership with the faculty team from John Hopkins and is to provide an overview of concepts and methodologies in hearing, gerontology, and public health to assist clinicians and researchers in addressing hearing loss in adults from a population health perspective. The program has been well received and there are medical specialists and scholars from various fields ranging from ENT, audiology, epidemiology from 10 countries across Asia participating in the conference and share relevant work experience. This pre-congress is also part of the international academic conference held to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Faculty of Medicine."

 

Dr. Nattawan Utoomprurkporn also added that "This training is in line with the vision of the Department of Otolaryngology, the Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University, and the Hearing Speech and Balance center, King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital, to become one of the top training centers at the international level, in both academic and research areas. In addition, we also host visiting doctors from neighboring countries in our training programs. In this context, research and innovation development will progress much faster with cooperation and commitment."

 

 

 

 

Prof. Dr. Sutthipong Watcharasindu, former Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University, and Senior Executive Committee of the School of Global Health said at the opening of the event that "Global Health Security has been the concern that needs shared responsibility of all actors and sectors. A multi-sectoral approach is therefore the key to strengthen both the global capacity and nations’ capacity in dealing with emerging and ongoing health threats. This is evident by the cross-border impact of the corona virus infectious disease (COVID-19) outbreak and the fast-moving joint effort in research and development toward the prevention, detection, response, and treatment. Clearly, this joint effort with John Hopkins University has received great support from all parties including Chulalongkorn University, especially from the Chulalongkorn University’s Second Century Fund or C2F which supports this meaningful event. The Faculty of Medicine is also proud to play a vital role in fulfilling Chulalongkorn University’s vision in creating and sharing impactful research and innovations that will build and support a sustainable society and to meet the sustainable development goals, especially the SDG 3, which aims to ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages."

 

 

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