The Deafness Research UK Pauline Ashley Prize 2010 has been awarded to Nick Leach, a PhD student at the University of Oxford, for his highly commended and ongoing research into how the hearing brain adapts to different sounds.

The prize was established in memory of the charity’s founder, Lady Pauline Ashley, and aims to encourage the most promising young scientists to start or continue research into hearing and deafness. Awarded annually to an exceptional young scientist near the beginning of their career in hearing research, the prize enables them to gain valuable research experience in a leading research centre overseas, so that knowledge gained will be brought back to the UK to the benefit of the British deafness research community.

Nick will travel to Shihab Shamma’s lab at the University of Maryland in the USA to conduct his research. He will be investigating whether a neurotransmitter called acetylcholine affects the brain’s ability to learn and re-learn behaviour. He will be working with ferrets trained to do behavioural tasks and seeing whether the lack of cholinergic cells hinder their ability to re-learn the task. Nick commented: “I am extremely grateful to Deafness Research UK for giving me the opportunity to visit the lab at the University of Maryland and discover if this neurotransmitter is an important factor, and in doing so hope to provide research that will effectively contribute to the way brain adaptation, within an audiological environment, is understood in the UK.”

The judging panel of Nick’s competition entry, said: “This candidate is outstanding with an excellent academic track record. The project is clearly described and covers the very important area of investigating the role of cholinergic neuromodulation in relation to the adaptation of the brain. The host laboratory is excellent and the collaboration should propagate long-lasting links. The personal strengths of the applicant and the quality of the host laboratory make this application a winner,”

Ade Deane-Pratt, research communications manager for Deafness Research UK, said: “Nick has proven his abilities as a researcher. We are absolutely delighted that he has chosen to pursue what is such an important area of deafness research. Nick’s work is thoroughly deserving of the Pauline Ashley Prize and we wish him every success with this and future research projects.”

Nick's work at the University of Maryland will further develop his research, already begun at Oxford, using ferrets from Shihab Shamma's lab previously trained in a variety of sound detection and discrimination tasks to determine whether compromised cholinergic function impairs their behavioural performance under conditions of increased attentional load or affect the task-dependent, receptive field plasticity of cortical neurons. Nick will assist with the collection and analysis of these data and assess the extent of cholinergic cell loss back in Oxford.

ENDS

Photograph and caption
Ade Deane-Pratt, Research Communications Manager for Deafness Research UK (Right), presents the Pauline Ashley Prize 2010 to Nick Leach (Left), a PhD student from Oxford.

Pauline Ashley background

Lady Ashley of Stoke, Deafness Research UK founder and campaigner, born August 2 1932; died July 28 2003.

Pauline Ashley was a remarkable person and an inspiration to all who knew her. Without her, Deafness Research UK (formerly Defeating Deafness), which has done so much to find better treatments and cures for deafness, simply would not exist. In 1985 Pauline founded, and then for 10 years chaired, Defeating Deafness (then the Hearing Research Trust). Pauline was totally committed to improving the quality of life for hearing impaired people through research and she was convinced that the key to this lay in the talent and promise of our young scientists.

Pauline learned through Jack’s sudden deafness what it is like not just to be deaf, but to have loud and incurable noises in one’s head night and day. Her role in encouraging him to stay in Parliament ensured that both deaf and tinnitus-stricken people have a passionate spokesman. It was typical of Pauline that in the mid 1980s, when she realised how little was being done to find medical answers for deaf people, she set out, with quiet determination, to reverse this neglect. The scale of the task would have deterred most people but Pauline successfully brought together scientists and clinicians to identify the most promising lines of research and then worked tirelessly to raise awareness and much needed funding.

Millions of people who never knew her name owe her a great debt of gratitude and she is much missed. Pauline was well-known in Parliament as Jack’s ‘rock’. Her endless support and tireless work on his behalf, and on her own causes, were formidable. With Pauline’s encouragement and support, Jack mastered lipreading, then later received a cochlear implant, remaining in Parliament to become the leading backbench campaigner of his day.

Pauline is survived by her husband, Defeating Deafness President, Lord (Jack) Ashley and three daughters.

About Deafness Research UK

• Deafness Research UK is the country’s only charity dedicated to finding new cures, treatments and technologies for deaf, hard of hearing and other hearing impaired people.
• The charity supports high quality medical research into the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of all forms of hearing impairment including tinnitus.
• The Deafness Research UK Information Service provides free information and advice based on the latest scientific evidence and informed by leading experts. The Information Service can be contacted on Freephone 0808 808 2222
• For more information on research into deafness, tinnitus and other hearing conditions, log on to the website at www.deafnessresearch.org.uk where you can access a wide range of information. Alternatively you can e-mail Deafness Research UK at info@deafnessresearch.org.uk
• One in seven people in the UK – almost nine million people - suffer hearing loss.

·         Deafness Research UK was founded in 1985 by Lord (Jack) and Lady Ashley of Stoke.

·         In January 2008, Action for Tinnitus Research (ATR) was linked with Deafness Research UK under a uniting direction order under section 96(6) of the Charities Act 1993.

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Ref: DRUK0158 – Pauline Ashley Prize 2010
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