Meet the Team

Dr. Ó Maoiléidigh received his BA in Theoretical Physics and MSc in High-Performance Computing from Trinity College Dublin through a full scholarship from the Irish Government. He then received his PhD in Physics from Rutgers University, where he studied pausing in transcription elongation using mathematical and computational approaches. Dr. Ó Maoiléidigh first began to work in the field of hearing research as a Guest Scientist at the Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems. He described how the cochlear amplifier arises from a combination of two forms of active motility in the mammalian cochlea. As a Postdoctoral Associate and Research Associate in The Rockefeller University, he developed models of cochlear mechanics, hair-bundle motility, and synaptic dynamics. A model of hair-bundle motility explained mechanistically how it is possible for hair bundles to have a different function in hearing organs in comparison to balance organs. Under Dr. Ó Maoiléidigh’s guidance, several predictions of this model were verified using a novel experimental system.

Dr. Ó Maoiléidigh founded the annual Sense to Synapse conference in 2012. This meeting brings researchers together who use experimental or computational methods to study any aspect of sensory perception.

Dáibhid Ó Maoiléidigh started his research lab in the Department of Otolaryngology — Head & Neck Surgery at Stanford University in 2019. His lab uses mathematical and computational approaches to study hearing and balance disorders.

Zenghao Zhu received a bachelor’s degree in Thermal Energy and Power Engineering from China Jiliang University in 2012. At the same university, he got his second bachelor’s degree in Law in 2012. He finished his master’s degree in Power Engineering at the University of Shanghai for Science and Technology in 2015. He obtained his Ph.D. degree from Villanova University in Mechanical Engineering in 2019. Zenghao is currently a visiting scholar and is working on hair-bundle mechanics. Zenghao is also a Modeling and Simulation Engineer with Thornton Tomasetti.

George Liu has a BA in Physics from Princeton University and an MD from Stanford University. He is currently a Resident in Otolaryngology — Head & Neck Surgery at Stanford University. George has published several papers in hearing and other fields. George is studying the electrical response of the auditory system to sound.

Rayan Chatterjee received his bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from Jadavpur University in 2009 and his master’s degree in Aerospace Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur in 2012. He obtained his Ph.D. degree from the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research in 2019. Rayan is currently a postdoctoral scholar in Dr. Ó Maoiléidigh’s lab and is working on mechanochemical processes in hair bundles.

Riccardo Marrocchio was awarded a bachelor’s degree in Physics in 2014 from the Sapienza University of Rome and a master’s degree in Physics from the Tor Vergata University of Rome in 2018. He received his Ph.D. degree in Physics from the University of Southhampton in 2022, studying cochlear micromechanics. Riccardo is currently a postdoctoral scholar in the Ó Maoiléidigh lab and is working on stochastic fluctuations in hair bundles.

Kavita Narayan received a bachelor's degree in Health Sciences from California State University East Bay in 2011 and a master's degree in Healthcare Administration and Management in 2018 from the same institution. Kavita has been part of Stanford University for seven years and has also been part of Stanford Hospital & Clinics/Stanford Children's in the past. In her spare time, she enjoys being with her two children, traveling, and cooking.

Wisam Reid has a BS in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science along with a Minor in Music from UC Berkeley. After completing an MA in Music Science and Technology at Stanford, Wisam worked with Dáibhid Ó Maoiléidigh to study hair-bundle cohesion.. Wisam is presently a PhD candidate in the Speech & Hearing Bioscience & Technology (SHBT) program at Harvard Medical School.

Victoria Ou received a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering from Princeton University in 2019 and a master’s degree from Stanford University in Mechanical Engineering in 2020. While at Stanford, Victoria worked on how to determine the mechanical properties of hair bundles from experimental observations. Victoria is currently a Biomedical Research Engineer with BlueHalo.