Researcher award bolsters research into children's balance
Clinical Professor and Consultant Therese Ovesen from Aarhus University and Gødstrup Regional Hospital has received the Independent Order of Odd Fellows Research Award 2024. The award recognises Therese Ovesen's clinical research into our senses, sleep and infections. It includes DKK 250,000 earmarked for her research into children's balance, among other things.
Dizziness and hearing loss are common health problems in the Danish population, especially in middle-aged and elderly people. Almost every third adult male experiences discomfort from snoring and/or sleep apnoea, while approximately five per cent of all Danes suffer from permanent loss or disruption of senses of smell and taste, often following, or in connection with, Covid-19 and influenza.
Therese Ovesen, who is now being honoured for her efforts, conducts research within the ear, nose and throat medical specialty, with a focus on our senses of hearing, smell, taste and balance, as well as on infections. In addition, she studies our sleep, especially snoring and sleep apnoea. Her work also includes research into children who fall within her medical specialty, and she is also interested in patients requiring multidisciplinary diagnosis and treatment, e.g. patients with chronic rhinosinusitis and cancer.
"I’ll use the money that comes with the award to buy advanced equipment for measuring and monitoring balance, with particular focus on the organ of balance, the vestibular system, in the inner ear. With the new equipment, we’ll be able to clarify the individual balance problems in patients suffering from dizziness, balance disorders and balance insecurity," explains the award winner and continues:
"In particular, we’ll examine children's balance. This will form the basis for a reference of normal balance in children in Denmark. Such a reference does not currently exist, but this knowledge is a natural prerequisite for being able to define balance disorders."
Therese Ovesen also explains that the support from the Independent Order of Odd Fellows will enable the research group to develop rehabilitation tailored to the individual patient's balance disorder, including developing exercise programmes for people with pronounced motion sickness.
Contact
Clinical Professor, Consultant and DMSc Therese Ovesen
Aarhus University, Department of Clinical Medicine and
Gødstrup Regional Hospital - Ear, nose and throat
Telephone: +45 60 17 07 66
Mail: tovs@clin.au.dk