The “Friends Forever” plaque is a form of prof. Henryk Skarżyński’s gratitude to those who supported his activities for people with hearing impairments. This plaque welcomes the guests of the World Hearing Center and reminds of famous people, artists, and outstanding scientists who have particularly contributed to the creation and development of the Institute of Physiology and Pathology of Hearing. The “Friends Forever” group is constantly growing. Recently, four outstanding scientists joined it: prof. Wanda Bochenek, Dr. Agnieszka Szczepek, prof. Roger Thornton and prof. Stavros Hatzopoulos. Their nameplates were unveiled in Kajetany on May 23, 2017 during a ceremony accompanying two international meetings organized in Warsaw: 1st World Tinnitus Congress and XXV International Evoked Response Audiometry Study Group Biennial Symposium.

Professor Wanda Bochenek is an outstanding specialist in the field of audiology, counted among the most outstanding Polish audiologists of the twentieth century and Polish pioneers in the field of electrophysiological examination of hearing. She devoted her entire scientific career to cooperation with the Warsaw Medical University (formerly the Medical Academy). In the Otolaryngology Clinic, she was the head of the Audiology Laboratory for many years. In the 1960s and 1970s, her research interests focused on auditory potentials, impedance audiometry, sonomotor reflex and electrocochleography. For many years she was a member of the Academy of Acoustics of the Polish Academy of Sciences. Subsequently she dealt with the electrical stimulation of hearing using the electrophonic effect and the phenomenon of otoacoustic emissions. Professor Bochenek is a co-author of devices for electrical stimulation of the auditory system. At the Warsaw Medical University, she contributed to the development of a laboratory device enabling the recording of otoacoustic emissions. Last but not least, she was one of the initiators of establishing the ERA group of countries from the former Eastern Bloc. She always took care of fruitful research cooperation with French scientists and the IERASG group.

Dr Agnieszka Szczepek, a prominent specialist from the Charité University Hospital in Berlin, graduate of the University of Warsaw and the University of Alberta in Canada. Dr Szczepek has also worked at the Department of Molecular Biology at the Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology in Berlin, at the Department of Anaesthesiology at the University of Texas Health Science Center, at the Faculty of Medicine at Adelaide University in Australia, at the Department of Immunology at the University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada. Her research interests include mitochondrial medicine, molecular diagnostics, mechanisms and prevention of inflammation in the course of neurosensory disorders and in the case of ototoxicity. Dr Szczepek is a member of 4 scientific societies and a reviewer of 8 scientific journals. In addition, she is the author of two patents, 70 publications and 6 chapters of books.

Professor Roger Thornton, an eminent scientist, one of the world’s leading experts in hearing tests. He is primarily involved in audiometry research in evoked responses. Professor Thornton began his scientific career at the University of Southampton. Together with his co-workers, he is the author of fundamental works on electrophysiological phenomena occurring in the cochlea. Moreover, he conducted research on otoacoustic emissions and – as one of the first in this field – on cochlear implants. For many years he was the director of the Institute of Hearing Research in Southampton. Today, as Professor Emeritus at the School of Medicine, he continues to participate in research programs. Professor Thornton has been a member of IERASG since 1997. In 2001, he became the chairman of the IERASG Board and held this position until 2009. He is the author of over 300 scientific articles, mostly regarding auditory evoked potentials and otoacoustic emissions. Finally, he is also the author of several monographs and textbooks on electronics, acoustics and electrophysiology.

Professor Stavros Hatzopoulos from the Department of Audiology and Otolaryngology at the University of Ferrara in Italy is dealing with biomedical engineering, audiology engineering and hearing science. He developed many innovative research methods in the field of clinical use of otoacoustic emissions. He is the author of over 185 chapters of books, articles and conference papers. He participated in numerous international studies on otoacoustic emissions, genetics and nanotechnology. He is the editor-in-chief of the Otoacoustic Emissions portal and the editor of the audiology section in the Journal of Hearing Science. For many years, he has been cooperating with the Institute of Physiology and Pathology of Hearing in the field of measuring protocols and procedures for otoacoustic emissions, auditory evoked potentials as well as other types of hearing tests.