Biomedical technology

Joining me is Ingeborg Hockmeyer, founder and CEO at Med-El, and Erwin Hockmeyer, co-founder and owner at Med-El.

They're two of five scientists who developed the groundbreaking cochlear implant and are now being honored with the Merkin Prize in Biomedical Technology.

Thank you both so much for being here today.

Pleasure.

So yeah, I think the awareness is the most important part of this.

Yeah, absolutely.

So where can people go for more information about your work at MED-EL, Cochlear Implants or the Merkin Prize in Biomedical Technology?

They have to look up merkinprice.org and there they find a lot of information about cochlear implants.

He's a cochlear implant pioneer.

And he is one of the recipients of the 2026 Richard N. Merkin Prize in Biomedical Technology.

And Dr. Rezenich, why do most people lose their hearing?

The reason you lose your hearing most often is because the hearing organ itself, which is translating sound to electrical activity in the hearing nerve, that part of the inner ear dies.

And I remember when she said that he was first getting it, how excited they were that he was going to be able to hear.

So again, as you said, it has changed so many lives through the years.

And I can't think of any more deserving individuals than those of you who are receiving this year's 2026 Merkin Prize in Biomedical Technology.

Congratulations again, doctor.