Colette M McKay

Colette McKay is an Australian audiologist, academic and researcher. She leads the translational hearing program at the Bionics Institute of Australia.

She holds honorary appointments at the University of Melbourne Department of Medical Bionics and Department of Otolaryngology.

Education At 14, encouraged by her physics teacher, McKay wanted to become a nuclear physicist. She went on to complete a Bachelor of Science with Honours at the University of Melbourne followed by a PhD in Physics and Mathematics in 1979. She then undertook clinical training in audiology, completing a Graduate Diploma in Audiology in 1980.

Research and career McKay undertook research in the Department of Otolaryngology at the University of Melbourne from 1989 to 2004. Her research at this time focussed on psychophysics, speech perception and signal processing in cochlear implants.

In 2013, McKay took up her current role as leader in translational hearing research at the bionics institute. The test will help clinicians determine the best interventions for babies born deaf or hard of hearing.

McKay's work has resulted in six families of patents.

Thomas Simm Littler prize from the British Society of Audiology in 2009

Elected Fellow of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences 2021