Otopathology Laboratory

Our investigators are assisted by a research staff that includes laboratory manager Anbuselvan Dharmarajan, MD, MPH, senior research technologist Meng Yu Zhu, MS, and research scientist Jennifer O'Malley, BS.

Director

Alicia M. Quesnel, MD

Co-director

Andreas Eckhard, MD

Investigators

Elliott D. Kozin, MD
M. Charles Liberman, PhD
Joseph B. Nadol, Jr., MD
Aaron K. Remenschneider, MD, MPH
Felipe Santos, MD

Founder

Harold F. Schuknecht, MD

Former Directors

Harold F. Schuknecht, MD
Saumil N. Merchant, MD
Joseph B. Nadol, Jr., MD

The Otopathology Laboratory was established in 1961 by world-renowned otologist Harold F. Schuknecht, MD. As the former Walter Augustus Lecompte Professor and Chair of the Department of Otology and Laryngology at Harvard Medical School (HMS), Dr. Schuknecht is best known for his teachings and scientific contributions, which profoundly influenced the practice of otology and otopathology in the latter half of the 20th century.

With the imminent retirement of Dr. Schuknecht, Saumil N. Merchant, MD, was recruited in 1992 to continue traditional light microscopic temporal bone research. Dr. Merchant was a world-renowned clinical otologist, otopathologist, teacher and research scholar who served as the Gudrun Larsen Eliasen and Nels Kristian Eliasen Professor of Otology and Laryngology at HMS and Mass Eye and Ear.

As director of the Otopathology Laboratory, he applied genomic and proteinic analysis as a way to enhance the methodology by which human temporal bone pathology is studied. He was highly innovative in developing a computerized database to store, analyze and retrieve data that included images he made available to the scientific community worldwide.

In 2012, Joseph B. Nadol, Jr., MD, assumed directorship of the Otopathology Laboratory following Dr. Merchant's sudden passing.

In 2021, Alicia M. Quesnel, MD, was named the fourth director of the Otopathology Laboratory. She had previously been an investigator since joining the HMS faculty in 2012.

Andreas Eckhard, MD, joined Dr. Quesnel as the laboratory's co-director in 2022. Several years prior, Dr. Eckhard had completed a research fellowship in the Otopathology Laboratory before returning to Switzerland to complete his clinical training. Dr. Eckhard was recruited back to Mass Eye and Ear from University Hospital, Zurich, to become an Investigator in the Eaton-Peabody Laboratories and join Dr. Quesnel in shaping the future research direction of the Otopathology Laboratory.

Current trainees (2024)

• Paula Robles Bolivar, PhD: Post-doctoral research fellow, University of Granada, Spain
• Natalia Carasek M. Cascudo, MD: Post-doctoral research fellow, Universidade Federal de Brasília, Brasília, Brazil
• Diana Marcela Correa, MD: Post-doctoral research fellow, Universidad de Los Andes, Bogotá, Colombia
• Christopher Giardina, MD, PhD: Post-doctoral research fellow, UNC Chapel Hill, NC
• Zohar Hovev, MD: Post-doctoral research fellow, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel
• Nicole Kim, MD: Harvard Medical Student, Boston, MA
• Sheng-Chiao Lin: Research Fellow, Kaohsiung Veterans General Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
• Lucas Alves Teixeira Oliveira, MD: Post-doctoral research fellow, Universidade de Brasília, Brazil

Past trainees

• Nanmaran Anbuselvan: Student Intern, Andover High School MA
• Emily Gall, MD: Otolaryngology Resident, Tufts University, Boston, MA, USA
• Philipp Gamerdinger, MD: Resident, Department of Otolaryngology, University Hospital Tuebingen, Germany
• Alexander Geerardyn, MD: Otolaryngology Resident/PhD Candidate, KU Leuven, Belgium
• Ophir Handzel, MD: Visiting Neurotology Faculty, Tel-Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, Israel
• Nicole Jiam, MD: Neurotology Fellow, Mass Eye and Ear/Harvard, Boston, MA, USA
• Archana Podury, BS: Harvard Medical Student, Boston, MA, USA
• Thore Schade-Mann, MD: Resident, Department of Otolaryngology, University Hospital Tuebingen, Germany
• Yohan Song, MD: Neurotology Fellow, Mass Eye and Ear/Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
• Chloe Swords, MD: Otolaryngology Resident/PhD Candidate University of Cambridge, United Kingdom
• David Wang: Medical Student Intern, Boston University, MA
• Sebastian Zwicky: Medical Student, University of Zurich, Switzerland

Fellowships

Human otopathology research requires uniquely trained individuals. The traditional otopathologist is a clinician-scientist (otologist or neurotologist), but individuals holding a PhD in relevant fields such as molecular biology can also pursue otopathologic research once they have sufficient grounding in the relevant basic sciences and are provided with a clinical link. The translational research potential of otopathologic research is vast, so it is imperative that new investigators be trained and encouraged to take up careers in temporal bone research.

Research fellowships in the Otopathology Laboratory are awarded to qualified individuals from both the medical and basic science fields. Positions are available to medical students, residents in otolaryngology or related specialties, as well as to pre-doctoral and post-doctoral PhD candidates in the hearing and vestibular sciences.

Candidates interested in research training and fellowships should contact Alicia Quesnel, MD,  or Andreas Eckhard, MD, co-directors of the Otopathology Laboratory.