Australia's first Indigenous ENT surgeon Professor Kelvin Kong AM said hearing loss from otitis media is a developmental emergency. Image: The University of Newcastle. A $3 million NHMRC grant will establish the NHMRC Centre of Research Excellence for Healthy Muku for Kids – a national collaboration of researchers from more than 12 institutions – to tackle otitis media and hearing loss....
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No actionable change to current clinical practice; this is a funding announcement for future research, not a clinical finding.
Dedicated national funding for Indigenous children's ear health signals a significant long-term commitment to closing one of audiology's most persistent equity gaps in Australia.
- 01A $3 million NHMRC grant will fund Australia's first Centre of Research Excellence focused on ear health in Indigenous children.
- 02The centre targets otitis media (middle ear infection)-related hearing loss, which disproportionately affects Indigenous children.
- 03Professor Kelvin Kong AM, a leading ENT surgeon, will head the new centre.
- 04"Muku" is an Indigenous word for ears, reflecting the culturally grounded focus of the initiative.
- 05This is a research infrastructure announcement; clinical outputs are expected over the grant period, not immediately.
This will be Australia's first Centre of Research Excellence dedicated to ear health in Indigenous children.
press releaseunclearOtitis media-related hearing loss disproportionately affects Indigenous children in Australia.
guidelinesupported