Ellis Douek


Ellis Douek is a British surgeon and cochlear implant pioneer.

Early life

He was born in Cairo, Egypt, in 1934, the son of Cesar Elie Douek and his wife Nelly Sassoon. His parents were both from Syrian-Jewish merchant families, and he grew up in Zamalek, Cairo, with his sister Claudia, and brother Zaki.

Career

"During the 1970s, a group in the United Kingdom, headed by Ellis Douek, began experimenting with an extracochlear electrode that was stationed on the promontory near the round window... this device created a great deal of interest because it was judge to be the more conservative, less invasive, approach."
"In Britain... t all started in the early 1970s, soon after Ellis Douek's appointment to a senior ear, nose and throat post at London’s Guy's Hospital. The Department of Health, prompted by a deafened Member of Parliament active on behalf of the disabled, suggested to Douek that his speciality was doing far too little on sensorineural deafness, and why didn't he do something in that area?"

Autobiography

Douek is the author of the autobiography A Middle Eastern Affair,.