Susan Emmett

Activist, Change Agent, Doctor, Public servant, Scientist

There are an estimated 1.6 billion people living with hearing loss globally, and 60% of all hearing loss in children can be prevented. Susan Emmett, MD, MPH is committed to addressing this disparity. She serves as Associate Professor of Otolaryngology and Public Health at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock, AR, USA. Susan completed residency in Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery at The Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, MD. During her surgical training, she also obtained a Master of Public Health from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and completed a postdoctoral research fellowship at the Bloomberg School’s Center for Human Nutrition. A native of Tennessee, Susan graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from Princeton University in Molecular Biology and the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. She worked in science and health policy at the National Institutes of Health and U.S. Senate before matriculating in medical school at Duke University. Her commitment to global health began as a Duke medical student during a year-long Howard Hughes Medical Institute Research Training Fellowship in Moshi, Tanzania. She was thrilled to return to Tanzania in 2017 as a TED Fellow – her first visit since moving back to the U.S. in 2009.

Eliminating hearing loss disparities, improving child health, and maximizing childhood development and school achievement. I’m committed to advancing health in rural communities, applying digital innovations to expand access to care, and addressing undernutrition – actions that eliminate preventable hearing loss among the world’s poorest.

Hearing loss prevention can help children to reach their full potential

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