We are delighted to introduce Dr Samuel Webb as the seventh recipient of our Joint Early Career Post-Doctoral Fellowship with RNID, the national charity supporting people who are deaf, have hearing loss or tinnitus.
Samuel is a Research Fellow at the Hearing Research Group at University of Sheffield, where he is investigating how noise exposure weakens the medial olivocochlear system (the ear’s own “volume control”), and contributes to the acceleration of age-related hearing decline. His approach aims to identify early biomarkers of vulnerability to inform better hearing-protection strategies.
The joint fellowship scheme aims to support talented early career hearing researchers in transitioning from post-doctoral scientist to independent investigator. The sixth round of the scheme, through which Samuel was funded, opened to applications in early 2025.
Five eligible applications underwent external peer review and were then interviewed by the RNID’s Future Leaders Review Panel. The panel consisted of:
- Professor Brian Moore, University of Cambridge (Chair)
- Professor Jennifer Bizley, University College London
- Professor Jonathan Gale, University College London
- Dr Juan Fons Romero, Kin’s College London
- Dr Magdalena Sereda, University of Nottingham
- Dr Morag Lewis, King’s College London
- Dr Nicholas Rattray, University of Strathclyde (representing the Vivensa Foundation Research Grants Committee)
- Dr Rebecca Dewey, University of Nottingham
- Dr Victoria Bajo Lorenzana, University of Oxford
Following interviews with the Panel and approval by our Research Grants Committee, Samuel was awarded the fellowship. In addition to our funding of Samuel, Dr Charlotte Garcia (University of Cambridge) was also funded by RNID in this round of the scheme, equating to a success rate of 40%. You can read more details about the Sam’s and Charlotte’s work on the RNID website (here and here, respectively).
Samuel joins the cohort of RNID / Vivensa Foundation Fellows, alongside Dr Jing-Yi Jeng (University of Sheffield), Dr Magdalena Zak, Dr Chris Hardy, Dr Katie Smith (University College London), Dr Elisa Martelletti (King’s College London) and Dr Prez Jarzebowski (University College London).
Many congratulations to Samuel and Charlotte on securing their fellowships.
In the meantime, feel free to take a look at the stories from our award-holders and explore our other funding opportunities. This includes the Foundation’s Early Career Postdoctoral Fellowship Scheme, which is due to open in Spring 2026. The scheme supports early career postdoctoral researchers with up to three years of postdoctoral experience who have demonstrated excellence and the potential for independent ageing-related research, including work in hearing research.
To stay informed about our future activities and funding calls, join our mailing list by adding your details to the ‘Join our community’ section of our “Contact us” page.
