Speech Science Forum - Debi Vickers (University of Cambridge)

Abstract:

I have been asked to share my experiences of working in the cochlear implant industry.  I will share information on my career pathway from academia to industry and back again.

For my industry experience I worked for seven years at Advanced Bionics as the Manager of European Clinical Research.  During that time, I travelled to cochlear implant clinics in 12 countries, attended multiple conferences, organised an annual international conference, led multiple multi-centre clinical trials/studies and led the clinical research ISO 9001 approval.  These experiences have helped me to gain an understanding of how clinical practice varies across country, the stages of running a clinical trial (for both obtaining kite mark approval and post-market surveillance), project management and quality standards.  Research funders look positively on industry experience and often consider time in industry as a career break, so the time post-PhD is not counted when considering fellowship applications.

I gained knowledge and understanding about medical device development and approvals; helpful skills for enriching my translational research activities.