< Program

Carhart Memorial Lecture

The Ear: In Search of Solutions for Engineers and Clinicians
Hideko Heidi Nakajima, MD, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Harvard Medical School, and Mass Eye and Ear, Boston, MA

Learning control theory in an electrical engineering course taught by Dave Mountain sparked my interest in hearing research. This led me to study the control mechanisms involved in cochlear tuning. With continued learning in medicine and engineering, and supportive and kind mentors helping to open opportunities, I was able to focus and delve deeply on studying the acoustics and mechanics of human hearing. Our lab studies how the human ear transmits sound up to the nervous system, yet keeping in mind what is relevant for the human nervous system. This focus, supported by lab members with diverse expertise, including biologists, engineers, and clinicians, also lends itself to clinical applications. Close collaborative efforts of our lab members utilize decades of research and theoretical findings by others together with new ideas to work towards understanding normal and pathological mechanisms and develop diagnostic techniques and treatments.

 

Hideko Heidi Nakajima received the B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees in biomedical engineering from the College of Engineering, Boston University and the M.D. degree from the School of Medicine, Boston University. She also trained at Harvard for post-doc and residency in Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery. She is currently an Associate Professor of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery with the Harvard Medical School, Boston. She conducts research at the Eaton-Peabody Laboratories of the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Boston. With a focus in acoustics and mechanics of the ear, her research delves into addressing fundamental scientific questions about the human auditory system and developing new and improved methods to diagnose and treat pathologies.