Dr Dona Jayakody is the Head of Brain and Hearing at Ear Science Institute Australia. In addition, she is also a Career Advancement Fellow at the Royal Perth Hospital Research Foundation, an Adjunct Senior Research Fellow at Curtin University and the University of Western Australia and a Director of the Australian Society for Medical Research. Dona’s research has contributed significantly to understanding the broad health impacts of hearing loss—particularly on cognition & mental well-being—and has influenced changes to clinical guidelines and policies nationally & internationally.
Her exceptional standing is recognised by 14 awards, including Superstar of STEM 2023-2024, STEM Ambassador, and Tall Poppy in Science 2023. She has received over $6.6m in research funding through national and international funding schemes. She has published over 50 research publications and presented at more than 70 national and international conferences. She reviews journal articles for Nature, LANCET and JARO and grants for the National Health and Medical Research Council Australia, Medical Research Future Fund Australia, Alzheimer’s Research, and Action on Hearing Loss- Deafness Research Foundation, UK.