RNID celebrating year of partnership with the BIA and its members

In this blog, Harriet Oppenheimer, Chief Executive of RNID, shares how hugely exciting it has been to partner with the BIA and its members as their Charity of the Year throughout 2024. She extends a heartfelt thank you to the BIA and all its member organisations for their incredible support, enthusiasm, and generosity.

RNID and BIA: Working together to change lives

Our partnership came at a pivotal moment for hearing therapeutics, helping to accelerate the progress being made to bring about treatments to prevent hearing loss, restore hearing for those who want it and silence tinnitus.

RNID is the UK’s only charity dedicated to funding hearing research, and we support the 18 million people in the UK who are deaf, have hearing loss or tinnitus — that’s one in three of us. Given this prevalence, it’s no surprise that the BIA’s 2023 survey on Diversity and Inclusion in UK Biotech identified hearing loss as one of the most common disabilities in the sector. Being deaf, or living with hearing loss or tinnitus, can profoundly affect people's lives — impacting relationships, employment, and overall wellbeing. Yet, for the vast majority there are still no clinically approved treatments to prevent or restore hearing loss or to silence tinnitus.

This is a huge unmet medical need, and RNID is fully committed to finding effective, accessible treatments to prevent hearing loss, restore hearing, and silence tinnitus for those who want them.

Through this partnership with the BIA, we set out to:

• Expand RNID’s reach and build new connections within the research ecosystem.
• Promote knowledge exchange across the biotech sector and influence policy and regulatory pathways that support innovation in hearing therapeutics.
• Increase diversity and inclusion within the biotech industry.
• Inspire BIA members to fundraise for RNID and support the growing field of hearing therapeutics.

Together, we have achieved so much. Across the year, BIA members raised nearly £60,000 for RNID’s biomedical research funding. Beyond fundraising, this partnership has allowed us to raise the profile of hearing therapeutics within the UK’s biotech sector and highlight the potential commercial opportunities that this area presents. We’re encouraged to see the growing interest in hearing therapeutics within the industry and we look forward to deepening our engagement with BIA members in the future.

Our collaboration has also allowed us to develop and test strategic ideas for future industry partnerships.

For example, we are exploring how we can convene the sector to find solutions to key challenges in developing therapeutics such as the lack of consistency in the use of clinical trial outcome measures and accelerator models to strengthen translational research.

Our year in summary

The launch of our partnership in January at the BIA’s Gala Dinner was spectacular. We heard from Carla who shared her personal story and the hope RNID’s mission gives to her family, and the support from those in the room was amazing.

Our team enjoyed meeting and networking with BIA members across the UK, presenting our work, and fostering new connections. We facilitated a series of blogs and webinars to share knowledge across the biotech sector and hearing research community.

In May, BIA member teams celebrated Deaf Awareness Week by "Stepping Up for RNID," competing to raise sponsorships and travel the furthest. We were thrilled by the engagement and interest from BIA members committed to increasing accessibility and inclusion across the sector for those who are deaf, have hearing loss, or experience tinnitus.

We offered free deaf awareness training sessions, spoke at workshops, provided bespoke advice, and delivered plaques welcoming people to company receptions in British Sign Language (BSL).

What the future holds

While this is the end of our Charity of the Year partnership, we intend to stay connected and continue our collaboration. Together, we have laid the groundwork for transformative change in the lives of people affected by hearing loss and tinnitus.