Michael O’Toole is an experienced author, writer and broadcaster who, since1991, has been exclusively engaged in the subject of tinnitus. His early book, Tinnitus: Living with Noises in Your Head, was widely praised as the best layman’s guide to the subject and his media work has taken a greater understanding of tinnitus to audiences of millions, prompting appreciative responses from thousands of individuals. His other initiatives have included the writing and publication of a World Tinnitus Manifesto and the submission of a petition to the European Parliament – both documents calling for greater clinical and scientific resources for the defeat of the medical condition which badly affects the lives of a huge part of the world’s population. With his own mild tinnitus since 1973, he was inspired to specialise in the subject by witnessing the plight of his late brother Gerard, who was seriously burdened with the complaint for some 40 years.