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BLAKE S. WILSON RECEIVES AWARD FOR COCHLEAR IMPLANT RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
Allan D. Pierce
ASA Publications Office West Barnstable, MA 02668
At a recent luncheon meeting on Sept- ember 20 in New York, Blake S. Wilson, a long-term member of the Acoustical Society, was a co- recipient of the 2013 Lasker- DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award.
Wilson shared the award with Graeme M. Clark and Ingeborg Hochmair. The award citation was
“For the development of the modern cochlear implant — a device that bestows
hearing to individuals with profound deafness. “
The award description included the statement
The 2013 Lasker-DeBakey Clinical Medical Research
Award honors three scientists who developed the modern cochlear implant, a device that restores hearing to individu- als with profound deafness. Through their vision, persist- ence, and innovation, Graeme M. Clark (Emeritus, University of Melbourne), Ingeborg Hochmair (MED-EL, Innsbruck), and Blake S. Wilson (Duke University) created an apparatus that has transformed the lives of hundreds of thousands of people.
The award is one of several
awards given annually by the Albert
and Mary Lasker Foundation. The
Lasker Awards are among the most
respected science prizes in the
world. Since 1945, the Awards
Program has recognized the contri-
butions of scientists, physicians, and
public servants who have made major advances in the under- standing, diagnosis, treatment, cure, and prevention of human disease. Lasker Awards often presage future recogni- tion by the Nobel committee, so they have become popularly known as “America's Nobels.” Eighty-three Lasker laureates have received the Nobel Prize, including 31 in the last two decades. The Lasker-DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award honors investigators whose contributions have improved the clinical treatment of patients.
The remarks made by Blake Wilson during his accept- ance of the award on September 20 are reproduced below:
“Development of the modern cochlear implant was a worldwide effort involving many scientists, engineers, physician-scientists, and research subjects. The success of this effort is an outstanding example of the power of col- laborations between the public and private sectors and also the informed support by the NIH of applied as well as
basic research. “
“I am proud to stand before you today as a representative
of the worldwide effort, and I am especially proud to stand with Graeme Clark and Ingeborg Hochmair who are two of my heroes and the foremost living pioneers in our field. “
“Although the present cochlear implants are truly won- derful, room still exists for improvements. A variability in outcomes remains, and even the top-performing patients experience difficulties in understanding speech in adverse acoustic environments such as noisy restaurants or work- places. In addition, reception of sounds more complex than speech — such as music — is less than satisfying for most patients. Research is underway to narrow or even eliminate these gaps between prosthetic and fully functional hearing, and to narrow the range of outcomes such that all patients will achieve high levels of performance. Many promising possibilities are being pursued by extraordinarily talented investigators, and I am completely confident that further improvements will be made. “
“An even more important challenge — in my mind — is to make the highly effective technology we have today avail- able to all persons who could benefit from it. Thus far, about
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