Rate My Professor Sally Dawson

Professor Sally Dawson is the Professor in Molecular Genetics of Hearing Loss at the UCL Ear Institute, Faculty of Brain Sciences, University College London. She leads a research group dedicated to investigating the genetic and molecular mechanisms underlying different forms of hearing loss using advanced genetic and molecular biology techniques. Her research encompasses genetic susceptibility to hearing loss, molecular mechanisms of age-related hearing loss, and the genetic basis of noise-induced hearing loss. Dawson completed her PhD in cardiovascular genetics. Post-PhD, she studied the role of a group of genes in development and attended the Woods Hole Neurobiology course, which she describes as a pivotal moment in her career. In 2001, she was one of nine co-applicants on a Joint Infrastructure Fund (JIF) award that supported the construction of the UCL Ear Institute. In 2005, she moved her research group to the newly opened facility. She serves as Subtheme Lead for Molecular Genetics of Hearing Loss within the Hearing Health theme of the UCLH Biomedical Research Centre.

Dawson's contributions have significantly advanced understanding of auditory genetics. She co-led a landmark study identifying 44 genes associated with age-related hearing loss, expanding prior knowledge from only five genes. Key publications include 'KLHDC7B, a novel gene associated with age-related hearing loss' (2024), 'Genetic variation in RCOR1 is associated with tinnitus severity in UK Biobank' (2020), 'Hearing difficulty is linked to Alzheimer's disease by an epistatic interaction in the FBN1 gene' (2021), and 'The Mouse as a Model for Age-Related Hearing Loss' (2015). Her research has received funding from organizations such as RNID and Johnson & Johnson. Dawson has delivered public lectures, including at the BAAP Annual Conference on age-related hearing loss and its links to dementia. Her work informs potential therapeutic targets for hearing disorders and their connections to neurodegenerative conditions.