BAA Annual Awards

This award will recognise an Audiology clinician who has gone above and beyond to improve the experience for a patient. The award is focused on patient care, and we particularly welcome testimonials and case studies from patients or colleagues, highlighting the reasons they should be nominated.

This award is presented in honour of Peggy Chalmers.  She contributed immeasurably to Audiology, improving professional standards and training and supporting hundreds of students from the UK and overseas. Her hard work and enthusiasm has inspired many professionals in Audiology and with this award, we hope each winner will continue to inspire with their excellent work.

The 2024 BAA Clinician of the Year is Julie Wilkins

Julie was nominated for always going above and beyond to improve the experience for a patient, and also the working environment for the whole audiology team. Patient care always comes first. Julie is retiring this year, and her contribution has been immeasurable to the Audiology team, both as an excellent clinician but also as an excellent manager. She shows empathy and kindness to staff and will go above and beyond for them on a daily basis.

The prize is awarded to a team that has worked together to improve the quality of service in their area, in particular showing innovative and original ideas.   Teams that work within an audiology department, in education, in research, or in an organisational capacity, are all eligible.

The BAA Team of the Year Award was created in 2004 to celebrate the coming together of the different professions within Audiology.

The Team of the Year in 2024 is Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board Adult Audiology Team

This team has been nominated for working together, and across the wider audiology team, to significantly improve access for patients and reduce waiting times. The recovery of the service, through innovation, determination and collaboration, and without additional resources, is phenomenal. They have been nominated for the direct impact the work has had on patients through the significant reduction in waiting times and reestablishment of the much loved open access service, and the positive impact on the morale of the whole team.

This award will recognise a clinician who has gone above and beyond to provide a supportive learning environment for students on placement, providing leadership, guidance and inspiration. The award is focused on the mentoring of students, and we welcome testimonials and case studies from students, colleagues and university placement teams highlighting the reason a particular person should be nominated.

The award is presented in honour of Paul Doody, an extraordinary Audiologist, totally committed to training. He made a huge difference to the lives of numerous Audiologists.

The 2024 BAA Supervisor of the Year is Neil Summerfield

Neil was nominated for being the best supervisor, as their breadth and depth of knowledge are second to none. He is kind, patient, and able to educate people without making them feel inadequate. They are proactive in training other staff and have undertaken courses that allow them to see the potential in others. They are forward thinking and always have ideas to improve the way the team works.

The award is given for the best contribution to a BAA publication.  The recipient is chosen from all articles printed in the previous year’s publications, and is chosen by the BAA publicity and communications team.

This award is presented in honour of Jos Millar, who showed a long-standing dedication to Audiology.  He started his career in audiology at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast, and later in his career, he embarked on a challenge to set up a paediatric service in his hometown of Ballymena.

The winners of the BAA Publication Award for 2024 are Abeda Haque & Kirsten Mills

This award is given to the person who has exceptional feedback during the examination process of the Higher Training Scheme. The HTS committee selects the winner based on examination feedback.

This award is presented in honour of Richard May, who loved Audiology.  He was a student in the first intake of the MSc Audiology course in ISVR in 1972, and was the first Audiological Scientist in the country, at the Sussex Throat and Ear Hospital in Brighton.  He died suddenly in 1982, aged 32, and was described by his family as a wonderful, kind and clever man.

Kathryn Key is presented with the 2024 Higher Training Scheme Award

This award is presented for outstanding research by a student or early professional. The award winner will be selected from all free papers presenting at the BAA conference, delivered by a student or early professional.  A student is classed as anyone training and not yet qualified in Audiology, e.g. PTP, STP students, those doing apprenticeships, and an Early Professional is classed as those up to 5 years post-qualified.

This award is presented in honour of David Baguley, who loved to share knowledge. He was a prolific publisher of his research, and he spoke at conferences for professionals and the public to share that knowledge for the benefit of those with Hearing Loss and Tinnitus.

One of David’s passions was to encourage and support trainees and young professionals. He gave freely of his time to support others in their research, and this award, aimed at early professionals, is a fitting tribute to a man who will live on through the impact his writing and research has on the audiology community.

Dr Maria Goodwin is the 2024 BAA Early Clinical Researcher Award

Catherine Magee

Catherine was nominated for working tirelessly for both the newborn hearing screening programme and the Northern Care Alliance over the last 18 months. In their NHS England role, they have been instrumental in helping with the data project within smart4hearing, overhauling the guidance documents for clinicians and producing a webinar. She worked on the original NHS England review, and has been working with one of the services on their ABR training, embedding their clinical knowledge and protocols into that service. She is a credit to the profession.”

NHS Forth Valley Audiology Team

This team was nominated for going above and beyond to ensure they took early steps to review their own practice, services and protocols, following the Lothian report and subsequent National Independent Review of Audiology. They have supported other health boards with long waits, created steering groups across audiology disciplines, created a communications team, introduced dedicated CPD time for staff, and increased the amount of external training available for staff.

Karen Nicklin

Karen was nominated for being a selfless individual, always being there to provide a listening ear, helping with any obstacles and offering up solutions. She is passionate and dedicated to audiology. She is committed to enhancing individuals’ careers within audiology and is committed to ensuring the team reach and exceed their professional goals. She really is the best and exemplifies all the attributes a supervisor should possess.

Dr. Michelle Foster

Michelle was nominated for being instrumental in the support for a Trust who was been identified as an outlier in the review of the NHSP data. Michelle has kept the needs of children and families at the forefront to ensure the service is safe and that the improvements planned for the future are evidence-based. She has supported the trust to commence training, education, national developments, pathway redesign and bookings.  She also led improvements in paediatric audiology in the whole region. Her openness throughout this year to reflect upon their own service and continue to improve that from the continual lessons learned throughout the incident review shows true leadership.

Rachel Crum

Rachel was nominated for consistently demonstrating an exceptional commitment to audiology, and has exhibited qualities that make them stand out. They have not only excelled in academic achievement, but have proven to be an excellent, professional, and empathic clinician. They embody the qualities of an exceptional student audiologist, and will soon embody the qualities of an exceptional practising audiologist.

Matthew Shires

This award is given to the person who has exceptional feedback during the examination process of the Higher Training Scheme. The HTS committee selects the winner based on examination feedback.

Dr Jenna Littlejohn

The recipient is chosen from all articles printed in the previous year’s publications, and is chosen by the BAA publicity and communications lead and conference lead. Jenna won for her article on ‘The importance of understanding hearing and sight problems and their link to dementia’ 

Thomas Underdown

Congratulations to the 2022 Audiologist of the Year – Dr Bhavisha Parmar

Dr Bhavisha Parmar was nominated by several people for her professional manner and knowledge, going above and beyond for patients, exhibiting a high level of devotion, honesty, and dependability in a voluntary role over many years, and inspiring the next generation of Audiologists.

Congratulations York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust!

The Team of the Year award is always a hotly contested prize, with many, many nominees worthy of winning each year. The 2022 Team of the Year was eventually chosen as York and Scarborough Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, led by Kate Iley.

This team was nominated for their relentless spirit and selflessness, for being a team full of amazing characters and leaders, and a group of friendly faces, and for being a welcoming student-friendly team that ignites passion for learning.

Congratulations Beth Nixon!

To be chosen as Student of the Year, winners should have made significant contributions to their group, mentored other students, be deaf themselves and overcome barriers to communication to work in the profession, studied against the odds or developed innovative practice or project work. Equally, the student may have achieved a high academic standard that we wish to celebrate and recognise.

Beth Nixon, the 2022 winner, was nominated for showing great maturity, passion and commitment during her clinical placements, for her knowledge and skill base exceeding their level of experience, being a shining example of what every student should be and being a complete breath of fresh air.

The Jos Millar Shield is a long-standing award given each year for the best contribution to a BAA publication.  The recipient is chosen from all articles printed in the previous year’s magazine and newsletter and is chosen by the publicity and communications team.

Jos Millar Shield was presented to Anne Thomas and Andrew Whitehouse. Anne and Andrew’s article – Meeting the needs of ADHD and autistic people in the audiology clinic – was a popular magazine article and was a follow up to a presentation they gave at the 2021 BAA conference. This is available to view again on the BAA website.

This award recognises an Audiologist who stands out from the crowd in supervising and supporting a student while on placement. BAA look for an individual who has gone above and beyond to provide a supportive learning environment on placement for students, providing leadership and guidance as well as inspiration. The award is focused on the mentoring of students.

The 2022 winner is Ruzvana Zavier. Ruzvana was nominated for being one of the most patient, understanding, and supportive trainers.  She exhibits true enthusiasm and passion for her work, and offers help and support without judgement. She put significant effort in behind the scenes and is the classic ‘unsung hero’.

Congratulations Ruzvana!

Congratulations to the 2022 winner, Paul Stokes.

This award is aimed at those in any area of paediatrics who, it is felt, have influenced the audiological world. We welcome nominations from colleagues, patients, and families, highlighting why this person stands out from the crowd. We just stipulate that the nominated audiologist has worked in their current position for at least 6 months.

Our 2022 winner, Paul Stokes, was nominated for going above and beyond for a child. Paul is always at the end of the phone if needed and is so good at getting children to open up and be responsive, which has enabled them to build positive relationships.

For the first time at the 2022 conference, the David Baguley Clinical Research Award was presented for outstanding research by an early professional

David Baguley loved to share knowledge. He was a prolific publisher of his research and he spoke at conferences for professionals, as well as the public, to share that knowledge for the benefit of those with Hearing Loss and tinnitus.

One of David’s passions was in encouraging and supporting trainees and young professionals. He gave freely of his time to support others in their research and this award, aimed at early professionals, is a fitting tribute to a man who will live on through the impact his writing and research has on the audiology community.

The inaugural winner was Jack Allum from Swansea. Jack’s abstract was chosen to be presented as a free paper at conference. The recording of his presentation is available to delegates and will be made available to members shortly.

The Audiologist of the year nominations were truly inspiring, but the strength of feeling that went into the nominations we received for our winner meant there could only be one outcome.

Our 2021 BAA Audiologist of the Year is Geoffrey Whitby.

We had an impressive shortlist of nominated Teams and the strength of feeling in these nominations of how people feel their teams have risen to the challenge shone through. However, the winning team received several nominations that made them truly stand out:

Our 2021 winners are Primary Care Audiology Team, Primary Care Audiology Practitioners, Swansea Bay University Healthboard

The Lisa Bayliss award goes to the student or trainee who performs best during their clinical placement. The winner receives a trophy and a cash prize

Our winner is Zain Qaisar

The nominations for this award clearly show what a significant impact a Supervisor can have.

Our winner is Rachel Saunders

Our winner is Verity Hill

This award is sponsored by Phonak.

The award goes to the student nominated by their Higher Education Institute for outstanding academic work

This year’s winner is Loujane Eljabri

This award is sponsored by Oticon.

The Jos Millar Shield is awarded to the author of the most impactful article written for the BAA magazine over the last year. Whilst the content of our magazine goes from strength to strength there could only be one winner this year.

We are pleased to announce that this year the shield goes to Lynzee McShea

The Audiologist of the year nominations were truly inspiring, but the strength of feeling that went into the nominations we received for our winner meant there could only be one outcome.

Our 2020 BAA Audiologist of the Year is Jason Smalley

In the face of confusing guidance around the Newborn Hearing screening Programme as outpatient departments shut across England, Jason stood up and took on the challenge to lead the advisory group who offered support and advice throughout. He became the liaison between the professions and PHE. As a result of the work two national guidance documents were produced. His work with PHE continues and has also led to the national review of Paediatric Audiology. His manager would like to point out that during all this time he made sure Jason’s day job was very busy too, and his whole department is proud of his commitment.

We had an impressive shortlist of nominated Teams and the strength of feeling in these nominations of how people feel their teams have risen to the challenge shone through. However, the winning team received several nominations that made them truly stand out:

Our winners are Audiology Services, University Hospitals Birmingham

At the beginning of the year the Queen Elizabeth, Heartlands, Good Hope and Solihull hospitals merged and the plan for 2020 was to manage the integration of services to become one single team. The pandemic saw Audiology staff redeployed to various areas such as critical care, PPE donning & doffing, staff wellbeing support. Critical Audiology services were also maintained and developed. Its felt that the team has come out of the other side stronger and more united. The leads are so very proud of everyone’s contribution and achievements.

The Lisa Bayliss award goes to the student or trainee who performs best during their clinical placement. The winner receives a trophy and a cash prize

Our winner is Antonia Dolan

Antonia has completed her Certificate of Clinical Competence at Leighton Hospital Audiology department in Crewe. The department say she has been exceptional from day one showing a real passion for Audiology and her patients. During the pandemic whist her placement was suspended Antonia volunteered to be redeployed and became a ward runner and also coming back to support the department.

The nominations for this award clearly show what a significant impact a Supervisor can have.

Our winner is Bethan Finnegan, Clinical Scientist at Cardiff and Vale University Health Board.

Bethan’s students feel she has been amazing in making them feel safe, happy and content within the department. She creates an incredibly supportive environment where they could develop and solidify their practice.

Our winner is Jackie Harding, Principal Clinical Scientist, Cardiff and Vale University Health Board

Jackie has been the lead Paediatric Clinical Scientist at Cardiff for the past 17 years, amongst her achievements she has had a huge role in the development of both the newborn screening in Wales and the Wales Paediatric Quality Standards. Jackie has recently made the decision to move to a role in Public Health Wales, her team feels this is a fitting send off as she has been an inspiration to all paediatric audiologists in Wales.

This award is sponsored by Phonak.

The award goes to the student nominated by their Higher Education Institute for outstanding academic work

This year’s winner is Elizabeth Parker

Elizabeth has just completed her MSc in Educational Audiology, where she has not only played a significant role as a leader in her cohort but achieved outstanding academic success. This achievement was crowned by an exceptional dissertation on a retrospective analysis of cochlear implant electrode deactivation in paediatric patients.

This award is sponsored by Oticon.

The Jos Millar Shield is awarded to the author of the most impactful article written for the BAA magazine over the last year. Whilst the content of our magazine goes from strength to strength there could only be one winner this year.

We are pleased to announce that this year the shield goes to Zena Butt for her article about her secondment to the London’s Nightingale Hospital.

The winning team in 2019 was Manchester Centre for Audiology and Deafness (ManCAD)

With 17 teams from across the UK nominated in the Team of the Year category, the decision was always going to be a tough one. However, more than 20 nominations for one particular team and the fact that team were celebrating their 100^th year ensured that the Manchester Centre for Audiology and Deafness (ManCAD) stood head and shoulders above their fellow nominees this year. Former students and professors along with current staff and the Vice Dean of the Faculty of Biology, Medicines & Health and Head of the School of Health Sciences, under which ManCAD sits all sung the praises of the BAA 2019 Team of the Year.

One nominator commented, “ManCAD is unique and special. We are unique in the UK because of our range of activities: education and training; hearing research; service development and provision of services. We are special because we are world leaders in each of our activities. Imagine what UK audiology would be like without 100 years of ManCAD!”

Another nominator said, “This year ManCAD is celebrating its 100th anniversary, and I feel it currently is the strongest research team the centre has ever had. The research carried out is translational, and underpins clinical delivery, for example the work on dead regions and the current ‘Ladies in the Van’ project. Led by Prof Kevin Munro, who is the only full-time Professor of Audiology in the UK, and the only Audiologist who is an NIHR Senior Investigator, the team not only carry out research but provide excellent education and training, including one of the Department of Health preferred providers of the STP programme and only providers of the HSST. The centre has been involved in service delivery, two major projects were newborn hearing screening and the modernisation of children’s hearing aid services. Staff have also made significant contributions to BAA over the years. I feel it would be very fitting to recognise the contribution of this team during the 100th year anniversary.”

Congratulations to Sam Blakemore, our 2019 Audiologist of the Year.

Sam, an NHS Audiologist in Brighton, was nominated by the mother of a patient who has been in her care for 14 years, from his first fitting at the age of 4 to his final paediatric hearing test at his transition to adult services appointment. The patient’s mum said, “With pleasure, she informed us that his hearing remains stable despite his loud practising! (Always great news to hear as a mother). Nonetheless, she expertly advised my son (who is soon to commence a degree in drumming) to get some ear protection for professional musicians.”

The mum continues, “Each and every time Sam has treated my son with the utmost respect, kindness and patience, which I believe, combined with her high sense of professionalism and obvious technical skill (leaving us mesmerized each time we go for an appointment as she tweaks buttons & adjusts settings!) make her an outstanding paediatric audiologist and I feel she thoroughly deserves the accolade of this award for her obvious commitment and dedication to assisting the lives of those who are hearing impaired.”

2019 Paediatric Audiologist of the Year (sponsored by Phonak) was awarded to Anisha Visram.

Anisha Visram, one of the famous ‘Ladies in the Van’, beat 12 other nominees to the Paediatric Audiologist of the Year prize. One of her nominators said, “Anisa is a dedicated researcher and remarkable young paediatric audiologist who has played a critical role in the success of the University of Manchester mobile hearing van study in which many infants with hearing loss are having their cortical auditory evoked potentials measured. She has driven the van around the UK testing infants, challenging work that has required considerable time away from home. She has also spent a lot of time taking the hearing van to conferences, educating the public and engaging with patients. Her dedication to this work has resulted in a remarkable data set that will enable better outcomes for children with hearing loss using amplification through advanced objective analysis of aided cortical responses.”

Jessica Malloy accepted the prize for Supervisor of the Year 2019.

Along with a nomination of Jessica from her student was a nomination from her line manager. They said, “Jess has taken to the role of student-supervisor brilliantly. She has not only trained her student clinically but has coached him through difficult decisions regarding his career and training. She has been able to have those challenging conversations, whilst maintaining his confidence resulting in him passing his placement year. I feel she has gone above and beyond as a supervisor this past year and deserved to be recognised.”

2019 Lisa Bayliss winner is Awajimijana Otana

This year’s winner arrived at the University of Manchester in September 2017, having undertaken his BSc in Information Technology in Nigeria. Not only did he have to adapt to a new country and culture but had to navigate a new education system and different approaches to teaching and learning.

Awajimijana Otana’s nominator said, “On arriving, his academic writing ability was limited; having never heard of critical thinking or reflective practice, Awajimijana had a steep learning curve ahead of him. However, what makes Awajimijana an exceptional student, is the passion he applied to his intellectual pursuits and his genuine love of learning. Awajimijana took every opportunity to learn, he became the class rep, contributed to class discussion but also spent hours visiting academic staff to talk and learn more about audiology. His intellectual vitality was infectious, which impacted not only on his own learning experience but that of other staff and students.” The nomination ends with the comment, “Awajimijana has been an outstanding and inspirational student who deserves recognition for his achievements. Not only has he excelled in his academic pursuits but also in his clinical practice.  He has taken every opportunity offered to him, during this journey both in and beyond the classroom. He has demonstrated the importance of striking the balance between the science of audiology and the human experience of hearing loss, proving himself a dedicated and caring clinician.”

Student of the Year (sponsored by Oticon) presented to Mehwish Khokhar

Mehwish Khokhar excelled academically and on placement and gained employment with her placement provider prior to graduation.  At graduation, Mehwish received the award for the highest dissertation mark and the Rufus Grayson award from Guymark for the overall highest marks in the programme. Her supervisor said “Mehwish Khokhar began as a student at De Montfort University in October 2016.  Within her first term, she had initiated The Audiology Society and created a social and peer support network. Her purpose was to pull the group together to support each other emotionally and to provide opportunities for group study and revision for exams.  As well, the group did fundraising for the British Tinnitus Association.  Mehwish also attended the Special Olympics in Belgium this year, along with some of her peers and lecturers, in order to help with the Health Athletes Hearing Screening programme.”

Jos Millar Shield presented to Caroline Rae

Caroline Rae was chosen as this year’s winner due to her two articles that featured in the BAA magazine in the last year. In our Autumn issue, Caroline wrote about Audiology Directed MRI to Exclude Vestibular Schwannoma and the Winter issue featured her article: A Quality Improvement Project: Redesigning the Patient Pathway for Vestibular Services – An Audiology Led Direct Access Clinic for Labyrinthitis and Vestibular Neuritis. The Pubs & Comms team felt both articles contributed significantly to the magazine and our audiology education.

The winning team in 2018 were the Children & Young People’s Audiology Centre at St Thomas’ Hospital.

Audiologist of the Year for 2018 was Cara Brown.

Paul Oddie was the Paediatric Audiologist of the Year, an award sponsored by Phonak.

The Supervisor of the Year award is given in honour of Paul Doody and the 2018 recipient was Kathryn Lewis.

Kirsten Ellis was the 2018 winner of the Lisa Bayliss Award as the student who performed the best during their BSc (PTP) placement.

The 2018 Jos Millar Shield was presented to Professor John Culling

The Oticon Student of the Year for 2018 was Elisha Jawaid.