Colette McKay

At 14, encouraged by her physics teacher, McKay wanted to become a nuclear physicist.^[1] She went on to complete a Bachelor of Science with Honours at the University of Melbourne followed by a PhD in Physics and Mathematics in 1979. She then undertook clinical training in audiology, completing a Graduate Diploma in Audiology in 1980.^[2]

McKay undertook research in the Department of Otolaryngology at the University of Melbourne from 1989 to 2004. Her research at this time focussed on psychophysics, speech perception and signal processing in cochlear implants.^[3] She then took up the position of chair in Auditory Science at Aston University in Birmingham, England where she implemented an undergraduate degree in audiology.^[3] In 2007 she was appointed chair in Applied Hearing Research at the University of Manchester, where she led the Audiology and Deafness Research Group.^[4]

In 2013, McKay took up her current role as leader in translational hearing research at the bionics institute.^[5] McKay's research team have developed a clinical tool called the EarGenie, which uses near-infrared light to measure how the brains of babies respond to sound.^[6] The test will help clinicians determine the best interventions for babies born deaf or hard of hearing.^[7]

McKay's work has resulted in six families of patents.^[8]

Elected Fellow of the Acoustical Society of America in 2002^[3]

Thomas Simm Littler prize from the British Society of Audiology in 2009^[3]

Awarded the 3-year veski innovation fellowship in 2013^[5]

Elected Fellow of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences 2021^[8]