Full details on the venue, accommodation, travel, and local attractions for the 4th World Tinnitus Congress and XV International Tinnitus Seminar (WTC & ITS 2027) will be available soon. In the meantime, we are pleased to share the distinguished history of the ITS and the founding of the WTC.
The International Tinnitus Seminar (ITS) series was initiated by Dr Abraham Shulman and Dr Barbara Goldstein, who brought together leading figures in hearing science during the 1960s and 1970s.

In 1979, they organised a landmark meeting in New York that convened some of the most eminent researchers and clinicians in the tinnitus field, including Jack Vernon, Ellis Douek, Harald Feldmann, Jean-Marie Aran, Jack Pulec, and Juergen Tonndorf.

Their vision was to raise global awareness of tinnitus and establish a platform for interdisciplinary scientific exchange. Over the past five decades, the ITS has continued to fulfil that mission, uniting experts from around the world to share research on the causes, mechanisms, assessment, and treatment of tinnitus.

Since its founding, the ITS has been hosted in nine countries across five continents, including:

  • United States – 1979 and 1983 (organised by Abraham Shulman and Barbara Goldstein), and 1995 (organised by Jack Vernon and Gloria Reich)
  • France – 1991 (Jean-Marie Aran and Rene Dauman), and 2005 (Rene Dauman and Frederic Bouscau-Faure)
  • Germany – 1987 (Harald Feldmann), and 2014 (Birgit Mazurek)
  • Poland – 2017 and 2025 (Henryk Skarżyński and Piotr Henryk Skarżyński)
  • United Kingdom – 1999 (Jonathan Hazell)
  • Australia – 2002 (Pam Gabriels)
  • Sweden – 2008 (Kajsa-Mia Holgers and Gunilla Jansson)
  • Brazil – 2011 (Tanit Sanchez)
  • Kyrgyzstan – 2023 (Henryk Skarżyński and Piotr Henryk Skarżyński)

 

In 2017, the World Tinnitus Congress (WTC) was established alongside the ITS as a new initiative by Professor Henryk Skarżyński and Professor Piotr Henryk Skarżyński. The aim was to expand the reach and ambition of the ITS, transitioning it from a seminar-style format into a fully-fledged global congress that reflects the interdisciplinary and international nature of contemporary tinnitus science.

Together, the WTC and ITS now represent the world’s leading platform for advancing tinnitus research, clinical innovation, and international collaboration.