Nicolas Grillet, PhD

Assistant Professor of Otolaryngology - Head & Neck Surgery (OHNS)

Bio

2014-present
Assistant Professor, Stanford University, School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA
Otolaryngology department

2010-2014
Senior Research Associate, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA, USA
Department of Cell Biology and Dorris Neuroscience Center
Advisor: Ulrich Müller

2005-2010
Research Associate, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA, USA
Department of Cell Biology and Dorris Neuroscience Center
Advisor: Ulrich Müller

1999-2004
Ph.D. Student, The Institute for Developmental Biology of Marseilles, France
then moved to the Ecole Normale Supérieure, Paris, France
CNRS/ENS “Development and Evolution of the Nervous System”
Advisor: Jean-François Brunet

1998-1999
Graduate Student, The Institute for Developmental Biology of Marseilles, France
INSERM “Development and Pathology of Spinal Motoneuron”
Advisors: Christopher E Henderson, Keith Dudley

Academic Appointments

Assistant Professor, Otolaryngology (Head and Neck Surgery)
Member, Bio-X
Member, Maternal & Child Health Research Institute (MCHRI)

Current Research and Scholarly Interests

Genetics of Hearing and Vestibular Impairment

The inner ear contains the sensory cells that detect sound and head motion, the hair cells. In mammals, these cells are generated during the mid-gestation and will never be replaced during the entire life. The hair cells are in constant activity and their dysfunction is a major cause of deafness and peripheral vestibular disorders: they are both the core and the Achilles’ heel of the system.
Hearing loss can result from exposure to excessive noise, chemicals and certain medications. However, susceptibility to deafness is generally dictated by genetic transmission. To this date, 136 human loci have been linked to hearing loss, but we know the corresponding affected genes for only 85 of them. These genes are very often required, directly or indirectly, for the proper hair cell function.

We want to identify the comprehensive list of genes required for hearing and head motion detection, and ultimately characterize the function of these genes at the molecular level.

Function of Hair Cells and other Inner Ear Cells

Differently from the sense of Vision, still little is known about Hearing and Balancing at their molecular level. This is due to the technical challenges associated with this organ: the paucity of the inner ear sensory cells, their inaccessibility and their fragility.
The inner ear is composed of two functional parts: the cochlea, which is the auditory organ, and the vestibule, organs responsible for head motion and balancing. In both parts, the sensory epithelia are composed by the sensory hair cells, always surrounded by supporting cells.
We want to characterize down to the molecular level the function of the cells that compose the inner ear, particularly the hair cells.

The hair cells have different functions: 1) to detect the mechanical stimuli induced by sound, and 2), to transmit this information to the central nervous system through their synapses.

2024-25 Courses

Independent Studies
- Directed Reading in Otolaryngology
  OTOHNS 299 (Aut, Win, Spr, Sum)
- Graduate Research
  OTOHNS 399 (Aut, Win, Spr, Sum)
- Medical Scholars Research
  OTOHNS 370 (Aut, Win, Spr, Sum)
- Undergraduate Research
  OTOHNS 199 (Aut, Win, Spr, Sum)

Prior Year Courses

2022-23 Courses

Biology and Physics of Hearing
OTOHNS 204 (Spr)

2021-22 Courses

Biology and Physics of Hearing
OTOHNS 204 (Spr)

Graduate and Fellowship Programs

Biology (School of Humanities and Sciences) (Phd Program)
Biomedical Data Science (Masters Program)
Developmental Biology (Phd Program)
Genetics (Phd Program)
Human Genetics and Genetic Counseling (Masters Program)
Neurosciences (Phd Program)

All Publications

Profiles With Related Publications

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Jennifer Alyono, MD, MS

Clinical Associate Professor, Otolaryngology (Head and Neck Surgery)
Clinical Focus
Otology, Neurotology, Skull Base Surgery, Ear tumors, Cochlear implant, Acoustic neuroma, Otosclerosis, Cholesteatoma, Paraganglioma, Neurofibromatosis 2, Facial nerve tumors, Skull base neoplasm

58 Total Publications
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Jeffrey Axelrod

Professor of Pathology
Research Interests
Genetic and cell biological analyses of signals controlling cell polarity and morphogenesis. Frizzled signaling and cytoskeletal organization.

96 Total Publications
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Nesrine Benkafadar

Instructor, Otolaryngology (Head and Neck Surgery)

13 Total Publications
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Alan G. Cheng, MD

Edward C. and Amy H. Sewall Professor in the School of Medicine, Professor of Otolaryngology - Head & Neck Surgery (OHNS) and, by courtesy, of Pediatrics
Clinical Focus
Hearing loss, Cholesteotoma, Pediatric sinus disease, Pediatric head and neck tumors, Pediatric Otolaryngology
Research Interests
Active Wnt signaling maintains somatic stem cells in many organ systems. Using Wnt target genes as markers, we have characterized distinct cell populations with stem cell behavior in the inner ear, an organ thought to be terminally differentiated. Ongoing work focuses on delineating the developing significance of these putative stem/progenitor cells and their behavior after damage.

89 Total Publications
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Maria Inmaculada Cobos Sillero

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Clinical Focus
Neuropathology, Anatomic and Clinical Pathology

52 Total Publications
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Miriam B. Goodman

Mrs. George A. Winzer Professor of Cell Biology
Research Interests
We study the molecular events that give rise to the sensation of touch and chemical stressors that compromise touch sensation in C. elegans. To do this, we use a combination of quantitative behavioral analysis, genetics, in vivo electrophysiology, and heterologous expression of ion channels. We collaborate with physicists and other physiologist to expand our experimental research.

112 Total Publications
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Stefan Heller

Edward C. and Amy H. Sewall Professor in the School of Medicine and Professor of Otolaryngology - Head & Neck Surgery (OHNS)
Research Interests
Our research focuses on the inner ear, from its earliest manifestation as one of the cranial placodes until it has developed into a mature and functioning organ. We are interested in how the sensory epithelia of the inner ear that harbor the sensory hair cells develop, how the cells mature, and how these epithelia respond to toxic insults. The overarching goal of this research is to find ways to regenerate lost sensory hair cells in mammals.

129 Total Publications
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Mary Hynes

Associate Professor (Research) of Biology

37 Total Publications
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Lukas D. Landegger

Clinical Instructor, Otolaryngology (Head and Neck Surgery)
Clinical Focus
Neurotology

67 Total Publications
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Maggie Matern

Instructor, Otolaryngology (Head and Neck Surgery)

8 Total Publications
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Mark Mercola

Professor of Medicine (Cardiovascular) and, by courtesy, of Chemical and Systems Biology

238 Total Publications
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Katharine Miller

Basic Life Research Scientist, OHNS/Research Division

16 Total Publications