Declan Costello,
MA, MBBS, FRCS(ORL-HNS),
Editor, ENT & Audiology News;
Consultant Ear, Nose and Throat Surgeon,
Wexham Park Hospital,
Slough, Berkshire, UK.
The start of a new year is always an opportunity to look forward with a renewed sense of hope and optimism. It is also a chance to look back at the previous 12 months and, looking back to early 2021, we were just at the dawn of the COVID vaccination programme – this had developed at an unprecedented pace, and gave us all huge cause for excitement and hope. Indeed, vaccinations have saved millions of lives so far in the countries with high levels of uptake. However, the appearance of different variants of the virus has led to continuing restrictions and uncertainty.
In the spirit of optimism and hope, and looking ahead to 2022, we are particularly excited for Jan/Feb 2022 ENT & Audiology News to be highlighting the forthcoming IFOS ENT World Congress, which is being held in Vancouver in June. As with many meetings, there have been several ‘false dawns’ for IFOS, but the determination of the organisers means that plans are well on track for the meeting to go ahead, as I heard when I spoke to the President of IFOS, Dr Brian Westerberg. The IFOS organisers are particularly committed to environmental concerns, and with diversity and inclusion.
In our ENT Features, we have invited John Phillips to present a selection of articles focusing on landmark papers in otolaryngology. John has previously edited a book on this topic in which he asked eminent experts to dissect famous papers in ENT and audiology. He introduces these articles here, and you will see that the papers under discussion are pivotal and (in some cases) controversial.
In our Audiology Features, the subject of computational audiology is discussed; as the world grapples with how to handle colossal amounts of digital information, there are huge potential benefits to patients – but also some risks. Find out more here.
Our audiology Global Ambassadors continue to be our eyes and ears in different parts of the world: we are delighted to welcome Prof Lilian Felipe to the group – she will be our roving reporter from South America. You can find the full list of Global Ambassadors here.
And finally, as ever, please do join the conversation on Twitter – you can follow us at @ENT_AudsNews.
