Aysen Erdil, MSc
Bio
Aysen Erdil, chief of audiology at the American Hospital in Istanbul, is the epitome of humanitarian good deeds. Recognizing unmet health-care needs in underdeveloped regions of her native Turkey and its neighboring countries, she created a non-governmental organization (NGO), Symbiosis, in 1999 to address those needs. Erdil organized teams of physicians from the hospital, who volunteered their vacation time to provide basic health-care services. These NGO’s teams, led by Erdil, have provided much needed care over the past 10 years in the rural areas of Turkey, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Afghanistan and Nepal. Soon after the Symbiosis teams began delivering services, Erdil added audiological testing as another dimension of the Symbiosis delivery system; a hearing care service much appreciated by villagers who would not otherwise have it available to them. Always pushing out the envelope of meeting needs, Erdil introduced OAE newborn hearing screening five years ago in the areas served by the Symbiosis teams. Her most recent humanitarian endeavor, started in 2008, is the development of the Special Olympics Healthy Hearing Program in Turkey for individuals with intellectual disabilities. Aysen Erdil certainly exemplifies the spirit of the Academy’s Humanitarian Award.
