Clinical Professor ​Catherine Birman

OAM MBBS PhD FRACS
Medical Director NextSense Cochlear Implant Program (Formerly SCIC), Sydney, Australia

Clinical Professor Catherine Birman OAM has approaching 30 years’ experience in treating hearing loss and has performed over 2100 cochlear implant surgeries.  She has published and presented extensively on patient outcomes, participating in trials and grants on novel cochlear implants and hearing devices.  Her research has also included two first in human gene therapy trials: using electroporation delivery, regrowing spiral ganglion neurities; and viral vector delivery of OTOF gene therapy.
 
She received the NSW Premier’s Woman of the Year Award (2017), Australian Society of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery medal (2018), and Order of Australia Medal (2022). 
 
Cln Prof Birman is an ENT surgeon working at several hospitals including the Children’s Hospital at Westmead, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital and Macquarie University Hospital, Sydney, Australia.  She is Head of Department for Otolaryngology at Sydney University; an examiner for the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons in Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery; a board member for CIICA, an international cochlear implant advocacy network; an incoming board member of the Asia Pacific Symposium on Cochlear Implants and Related Sciences.  She has previously served as a board member of NextSense; and as a past NSW Chair for the Australian Society of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery.
 
She is passionate about optimizing patient outcomes and access to hearing.