Saumil N. Merchant, M.D.
Gudrun Larsen Eliasen and Nels Kristian Eliasen Professor of Otology and Laryngology at Harvard Medical School;
Surgeon in Otolaryngology at Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary;
Director of Otopathology Laboratory at Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary;
Co-Director of the Wallace Middle Ear Research Unit at Massachusetts
Eye and Ear Infirmary
Dr. Merchant is a clinician-scientist who spends about 50% of his time in clinical practice as an otologist and the other 50% in research. His research is funded mainly by the National Institutes of Health. He has two principal research interests: pathology of the ear and middle ear mechanics.
He is the Director of the Otopathology Laboratory whose long term goal is to provide insight into the causes, pathogenesis, treatment and prevention of otologic disease through the study of temporal bones obtained from subjects with well-documented ear disease. Temporal bones are studied by a variety of techniques including light microscopy, immunostaining, and the use of genomic and proteomic assays. The Laboratory also serves as a resource for the training of residents and researchers, and particularly for the training of academic otologists through the mechanism of research fellowships.
Along with Professor John Rosowski, Ph.D., Dr. Merchant is the Co-Director of the Wallace Middle Ear Research unit. The goal of this research is to better understand sound transmission through normal, diseased and reconstructed middle ears, so that better diagnostic tests and therapeutic procedures can be offered to patients with middle ear disease. The research utilizes unique and powerful combinations of methods to study middle ear mechanics including in-vitro measurements in temporal bones, in-vivo measurements using audiometry and laser Doppler vibrometry and physics-based quantitative modeling.
Selected Recent Publications (out of 150):
1. Merchant SN, Durand ML, Adams JC. Sudden deafness- is it viral? ORL 2008;70:52-62.
2. Merchant SN, Rosowski JJ. Conductive hearing loss caused by third-window lesions of the inner ear. Otol Neurotol 2008; 29:282-289.
3. Rosowski JJ, Nakajima HH, Merchant SN. Clinical utility of laser-Doppler vibrometer measurements in live normal and pathologic human ears. Ear and Hearing 2008; 29:3-19
4. Chien W, Rosowski JJ, Merchant SN. Investigation of the mechanics of type III stapes columella tympanoplasty using laser Doppler vibrometry Otol Neurotol 2007; 28:782-787.
5. Fayez B, Merchant SN. Histopathology of ossicular grafts and implants in chronic otitis media. Ann Otol Rhinol Laryngol 2007; 116:181-191.
6. Bahmad F, Merchant SN, Nadol JB Jr., Tranebjærg L. Otopathology in Mohr-Tranebjærg syndrome. Laryngoscope 2007; 117:1202-1208.
