The competition judges are:
- Malcolm Bruce MP, Chair of the all party group on deafness
- Ms Vivienne Michael, Chief Executive of Deafness Research UK
- Professor Gary Morgan, Co-Director of DCAL
- Dr Lisa Nolan, is funded by the Haigh Fellowship in Age-Related Deafness at the University College London Ear Institute
Biographies
Malcolm Bruce MP
Malcolm was elected MP for Gordon in June 1983.
He is President of the Grampian Branch and a National Vice President of the National Deaf Children's Society, and a Vice President of the Combined Heat & Power Association. Malcolm is also a former President and current Vice-President of GLOBE International (Global Legislators Organisation for a Balanced Environment).
He is currently Chair of the International Development Select Committee, and Chair of the all party group on deafness. He was made a Privy Councillor in 2006 by invitation of Her Majesty the Queen.
Vivienne Michael
Vivienne has been Chief Executive of Deafness Research UK since 1989.
Vivienne is a scientist and researcher by training and spent ten years in media relations and as a journalist, writing on health and family matters for many national newspapers and magazines. She is a Trustee of the United Kingdom Council on Deafness (UKCOD), a member of the Advisory Board of UCL’s Deafness, Cognition and Language Research Centre and serves on the Executive of the Association of Medical Research Charities (AMRC) and the Council of the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve Officers' Association.
Professor Gary Morgan
Professor Gary Morgan is a developmental psychologist and Reader in the Department of Language and Communication Science at City University London.
His specialism is in language and cognitive development. He is mainly interested in BSL development (phonology, grammar and discourse) but also works on adult signer's use of space in BSL grammar, the development of Theory of Mind and sign language impairments.
Recently he has supervised BSc, MSc and PhD students in areas such as codeswitching in English and Turkish speaking children, specific language impairment, early sign language development and parent-child interaction in deaf and hearing families.
Dr Lisa Nolan
Dr Lisa Nolan is funded by the Haigh Fellowship in Age-Related Deafness at the UCL Ear Institute.
Dr Nolan knew from an early age that she wanted to pursue a scientific career after being inspired by her biology teacher at Gravesend Grammar School for Girls, who taught the subject with tremendous enthusiasm. On graduating from Greenwich University in 1998 with a 1st Class Honours degree in applied biology, Dr Nolan undertook a post as a Scientific Officer in Professor David Phillips’ lab in the section of Molecular Carcinogenesis at the Institute of Cancer Research.
In 2001 she joined Dr Sally Dawson’s team at UCL to pursue research in the genetics of deafness and obtained her PhD in 2006. Dr Nolan is currently working on the genetics of adult onset hearing loss.
