Our Impact 2020/21

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WHAT WE’VE ACHIEVED INVESTING IN RESEARCH “I am so hopeful that we can find a cure for tinnitus. It would completely transform my life.” We made a renewed commitment during the year to establishing a tinnitus biobank – a database of health information – and planning for this has begun, including reviewing potential partnership opportunities and engaging with consultants to ensure that we are building the biobank from the best possible foundations. This year, we invested £280,000 in research projects: • King’s College London’s study aims to identify tinnitus biomarkers – or special molecules – in the blood that could help to predict who will develop tinnitus. • Using artificial intelligence, Macquarie University in Australia aim to objectively determine whether or not a person has tinnitus through examining recordings of their brain waves. 08
• Dr William Sedley at Newcastle University’s project will look at understanding how brain activity changes during the development of tinnitus (joint-funded by RNID). We supported an important study, led by Dr Eldré Beukes from Anglia Ruskin University, which explored the experiences of people with tinnitus worldwide during the Covid-19 pandemic. Published in November 2020, it found that nearly half (46%) of those living with tinnitus in the UK reported that their condition had been made worse due to the impact of lockdown and lifestyle changes. In March 2021, we also published the results of our study – funded by Help Musicians – into the impact of tinnitus on professional musicians in the UK. CAMPAIGNING FOR CHANGE In February 2020, we published our Tinnitus Manifesto, which calls for three steps the Government must take to give people with tinnitus hope for a cure, and an accompanying petition was signed by 126,201 people. This work generated the first ever debate on tinnitus in the House of Lords and a commitment from the Health Secretary to look at funding for tinnitus research. Then, just one month later, the true effect of Covid-19 became clear and the UK went into its first lockdown. This changed our immediate priorities for a short period, but campaigning for increased funding in tinnitus research was never far from our minds. As soon as we could, we worked with Sir John Hayes MP – who has tinnitus himself – to keep this issue on the political agenda by engaging with Lord Bethell, the Under-Secretary of State at the Department of Health and Social Care. As a result of this work, in December 2020, the Department of Health and Social Care convened their own roundtable event to discuss issues relating to research on adult hearing loss and tinnitus. The event resulted in the creation of a working group tasked with addressing research capacity and funding for tinnitus and hearing loss. 09
Page 1 and 2: 2020/21 OUR IMPACT ANNUAL REVIEW OF
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Page 5 and 6: The year that everything changed We
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Page 11 and 12: OUR SOCIAL VALUE As well as monitor
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Page 19 and 20: Extend our reach We know that our s

Our Impact 2020/21

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