About Graeme Clark

After commencing research on electrical stimulation of the auditory pathways in 1967, Professor Clark was appointed Foundation Professor of Otolaryngology at the University of Melbourne in 1970. He systematically undertook the basic and clinical research to bring about the development of the prototype multiple-channel cochlear implant which was implanted in a research volunteer in 1978. During the 1980s, significant basic research was required to establish the feasibility and safety of use in pre-lingually deafened children.

In 1984 Professor Clark founded The Bionic Ear Institute. He continues to lead research which achieves significant improvements in the device, with patients now understanding significantly more speech, and severely and profoundly deaf children gaining the opportunity to develop near-normal speech and acquire effective spoken language.

In 2004 Professor Clark was awarded Australia's highest civil honour, the Companion of the Order of Australia (AC), "for services to medicine and to science through innovative research to further the development of cochlear implant technology for worldwide benefit." Earlier this year, Professor Clark was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society and awarded an Honorary Fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons in London.

Professor Clark recently received the 2004 Prime Minister's Prize for Science, Australia's premier national award for scientific achievement, and has been named Australian Father of the Year.

Click here to read our fact sheet on Graeme Clark and the Bionic Ear. Or you can go to the Graeme Clark webpage.

  Date Created: Thursday February 19 2004
  Last Updated:  Tuesday July 29 2008
  Authorised By: General Manager, The Bionic Ear Institute
  Maintainer: Webmaster, The Bionic Ear Institute
  Email: webmaster@bionicear.org
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