Hearing loss is a leading contributor to the global burden of disease and affects more than 360 million people. For most, early detection is inaccessible, which precludes timely treatment. Resulting sequelae include educational failure, unemployment, poverty, social isolation, depression and a threefold increased risk of dementia. Recent technological advances and the ubiquity of connectivity are opening new frontiers for innovative solutions that can decentralise access to hearing health. Prof Swanepoel's pioneering work in mobile health – using smartphone and cloudbased technologies – are translating into applied solutions with significant social impact across communities in South Africa and abroad. Prof Swanepoel is the lead inventor of the award winning and patented hearScreen™ smartphone hearing test and SA's national smartphone hearing test (hearZA™).
Prof De Wet Swanepoel
March 17, 2017
Professor De Wet Swanepoel, PhD, is a professor of audiology in the Department of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology in the Faculty of Humanities at the University of Pretoria (UP). He is a leading international researcher in teleaudiology, hearing health innovation and new service delivery models.
Prof Swanepoel is Research Director of the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) Collaborating Centre for Prevention of Deafness and Hearing Loss at UP. He is also a senior research fellow at the Ear Science Institute Australia, and has served as a visiting professor at universities in the US, Sweden and Australia.
His research capitalises on digital health to explore, develop and evaluate innovative technologies and service delivery models for ear and hearing care. He has published more than 220 peer-reviewed articles, books and book chapters, and is funded by the US National Institutes of Health, the Academy of Medical Sciences in the UK, the National Research Foundation, SA, and other industry partners. He has received numerous international awards for his work, from international science councils, audiology associations and industry.
Prof Swanepoel is a sought-after keynote speaker at international events for global organisations such as the WHO, and for American and British academies of audiology. He regularly features on national and international TV and radio channels, including CNN, Sky News, CNBC and the BBC. Prof Swanepoel is also Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Audiology and a former president of the International Society of Audiology. He holds several patents and is founder of hearX group, a digital health company.
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This edition is curated around the concept of One Health, in which the University of Pretoria plays a leading role globally, and is based on our research expertise in the various disciplines across healthcare for people, the environment and animals.
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