Faheema Mahomed Asmail, MComPath, DPhil (ComPath), is a dually qualified Speech-Language Pathologist and Audiologist and currently holds an Associate Professor position at the Department of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology, University of Pretoria, South Africa.

Past ISA activity:
ISA member from 2023, attendance of WCA in 2018 (Cape Town) and online webinars during 2023 and 2024. An associate editor of the International Journal of Audiology and a member of the WHO Global Coalition on Hearing Health School Screening Committee.

Presence at World Congress of Audiology meetings:

2018 attendee and presenter, 2024 presenter and invited speaker in plenary session.

Contribution to hearing science/healthcare:
As an Associate Professor at the University of Pretoria, Faheema has played a pivotal role in upskilling the next generation of professionals through her dedicated teaching, clinical training, and research supervision of undergraduate and postgraduate students. Furthermore, her interdisciplinary research on improving accessibility to quality hearing healthcare has led to significant contributions to the field, including numerous publications in accredited, peer-reviewed journals (available at https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3666-8331) and presentations at prominent local and international forums. Her work has also been cited in World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines, underscoring its global impact. Additionally, she is involved in her local association, South African Speech-Language-Hearing Association (SASLHA), as a council member to promote the profession and support clinician’s needs.

Expected ISA contribution if elected to the board:
I am honored to be nominated for a position on the board of the International Society of Audiology. If elected, I will use my experience, networks, and commitment to advance the society's mission. My focus will be on enhancing member benefits through increased engagement, supporting educational initiatives, and fostering global collaboration.

To achieve these outcomes, I aim to:

-       Utilize my teaching and clinical training experience to develop and promote mentorship opportunities that address the diverse needs of newly qualified ISA members,

-       Promote evidence-based practice by providing members with concise research updates through short summary posts and blogs on social media (LinkedIn, Twitter/X-app), with access to relevant literature and publications,

-       Support and assist with the webinar series and include discussion forums with experts on current ‘hot topics’ in the field to clarify uncertainties and raise awareness,

-       Foster global collaboration through online networking events or special interest groups. These opportunities can bring together like-minded individuals and amplify the voices of our diverse membership, which can lead to impactful global changes,

-       Contribute to curriculum refinement by developing best practice and/or core competency guidelines in collaboration with global experts,

-       Focus on expanding affiliations with audiology and other healthcare associations worldwide by offering learning opportunities that promote interprofessional knowledge and resource sharing.

I am eager to contribute meaningfully to ISA's mission and enhance the global reach and influence of our society.

M.D., specialized in ENT and in Phoniatrics and Pediatric Audiology.

Presentations at WCAs in Innsbruck 2006, Sao Paulo 2010, Cape Town 2018, Paris 2024; data collection for the survey on the global status of newborn and infant hearing screening (Neumann, …Chadha et al. 2020, 2021, 2022) supported by ISA.

KN is audiological advisor in the Prevention of Deafness and Hearing Loss Programme and in the Rehabilitation Programme of the WHO and represent the German Society of Audiology, the German Society of Phoniatrics and Pediatric Audiology, the Union of European Phoniatricians (UEP), and the International Association of Communication Sciences and Disorders (IALP) in the World Hearing Forum (WHF) of the WHO.

She belongs to the External Relations Working Group of the WHF. She contributed to several WHO publications, among others to the World Report on Hearing (2021), Hearing screening - considerations for implementation (2021) Childhood hearing loss: strategies for prevention and care (2016), Planning & monitoring of national strategies: a manual (2016), Ear and hearing care: situation analysis tool (2016), Neonatal and Infant Hearing Screening. Current Issues and Guiding Principles for Action (2010).

 Together with her team, she has implemented a Universal Newborn Hearing Screening (UNHS) in the State of Hesse, which was the model project in Germany (Neumann et al. 2006, 2009, Boettcher et al. 2009) and published, among others, by the WHO (2010) and which was the national basis for the implementation of a UNHS in Germany. For the latter she worked 8 years for Germany’s Federal Joint Committee as the person responsible for children's hearing and speech, which developed and published the legal regulations for the national UNHS program and monitors it by regular evaluations.

She chairs the Association of German Hearing Screening Centers since its foundation in 2009. As volunteering for the WHO KN was often involved in the WHO work on Newborn Hearing Screening (NHS). Over several years she has collected the worldwide NHS data of 158 countries and published them together with Shelly Chadha from the WHO and with many international authors; Neumann et al. 2019, 2020, 2022). She helped to implement NHS in China, the Philippines, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and were or am advisor in other countries such as Chile, Georgia, and Uzbekistan. At current, she works on the UNHS- implementation in Indonesia.

KN coordinates or has coordinated several research projects, among the latter one on implementation of a universal hearing screening, diagnostics, treatment, and monitoring program for people with intellectual disabilities and one on the potential implementation of a neonatal CMV-screening in Germany and Qatar.

Secretary-General or the President Elect (if I am considered worthy and qualified).

Of course, I would be willing to attend the six-weekly EB meetings, answer emails immediately and work with the other EB members, committees, and working groups in a trusting and fruitful manner. I would also be involved in the coordination and organization of the next World Congress(es) of Audiology. I would be committed to an international and interdisciplinary exchange and to opening up the topic of ear and hearing health to external groups of people.

Furthermore, I can imagine helping to shape and innovatively promote ISA activities in the following areas:

1. Implementation of universal newborn hearing screening (UNHS) programs and the corresponding tracking and data collection structures, including the establishment and promotion of pediatric audiological follow-up and service structures, as called for in the 2017 WHO Resolution on Ear and Hearing Care. This seems important to me in view of the fact that the WHO has defined the increase in the implementation of such UNHS programs as one of the three tracer indicators of countries' progress in Ear and Hearing Care.

2. I would advocate—in collaboration with the working group CAN-SIG—the greater implementation of telemedical structures (teleaudiometry, telefitting, telemonitoring of treatments, and telerehabilitation), as this is in line with the increasing need for networking and digitalization. I coordinate several respective research projects.

3. I would utilize my many international contacts from newborn hearing screening to stimulate further epidemiological large- scale data collection, e.g., on the prevalence of hearing disorders according to age, kind, side, and grade of hearing loss. This would meet the need for a new prevalence determination according to the new WHO classification of grades of hearing loss. Collaboration with the Global Audiology working group seems essential for this topic.

4. I want to promote the provision of hearing technology for older people with hearing loss, help overcome barriers to it, and involve those affected in hearing and communication training and rehabilitation programs. I consider the activities of the Hearing in Later Life Working Group an excellent prerequisite for advancing this topic.

5. I would strive for equity in the availability of hearing technology for people with hearing impairment, in line with the 2017 WHO resolution and the 2015 Sustainable Development Goals and universal health coverage, e.g. by motivating health ministries or

organizations to make bulk purchases.

6. I would try to advance other topics relevant to population medicine. These include the implementation of universal hearing screening, diagnostics, treatment, and monitoring programs for people with intellectual disabilities, a population group with more than 40% prevalence of hearing loss.

ISA Member since 26 Jun 2013, delivered a webinar on APD during the last two years