Columbia University in the City of New York
Elizabeth Olson
PROFESSOR OF BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING AND AUDITORY BIOPHYSICS, IN OTO/HNS
P&S 11-452
630 West 168th Street
New York, NY 10032
Research Interests
Mechanics of hearing: Transmission of sound through the middle ear, the basis for frequency tuning in the inner ear, in particular the operation of the cochlear amplifier. , Cochlear implants.Professor Olson received her BA in Physics from Barnard College in 1981. In 1988 she earned a PhD in Physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
Professional Experience
| Date | Position |
| 1993—1995 | Visiting Assistant Professor, Physics Dept., Rutgers Univ., Newark, NJ |
| 1996—2001 | Research staff and Lecturer, Physics Dept., Princeton Univ., Princeton, NJ |
| 2001 | Research Physicist and Lecturer, Physics Dept. Princeton Univ., Princeton, NJ |
| 2001 | Director, Fowler Memorial Laboratory, OTO/HNS, Columbia University |
| 2001—2009 | Assistant Professor, Depts. of OTO/HNS, joint appointment in Biomedical Engineering, Columbia University, New York, NY |
| 2011 | Member of Columbia University Graduate Program in Neurobiology and Behavior |
| 2015 | Member of Columbia Translational Neuroscience Initiative |
| 2009—2018 | Associate Professor with tenure, Departments of OTO/HNS and Biomedical Engineering |
| 2018 | Professor with tenure, Departments of OTO/HNS and Biomedical Engineering |
Professional Affiliations
Treasurer/Secretary of The Association for Research in Otolaryngology 2014-2017 (elected position)
Professional Organizations:
- Member of Association for Research in Otolaryngology
- Member of Publication Committee of ARO 2010-2012.
- Member of Finance and Investment Committee of ARO 2014 –
- Member of Acoustical Society of America
Editorial:
- Co-editor of special issue of Journal Oto-Rhino-Laryngology, Nov. 2006
- Associate Editor, Journal of the Association for Research in Otolaryngology, 2007 – 2010
- Co-editor of Proceedings of 11th International Mechanics of Hearing Workshop, 2011
- Associate Editor, Hearing Research, 2018 -
Consultative:
- Regular member of NIH AUD grant review study-section, 2002 – 2006
- Regularly review grant applications for: National Institutes of Health, National Science
Foundation, DOD, national and international grant organizations in Europe and Canada.
Organizational:
- Primary organizer, Eastern Auditory Retreat 2006 & 2010
- Co-organizer, Eastern Auditory Retreat, 2003 - 2012
- Co-Chair of organizing committee, Mechanics of Hearing Conference July, 2011
- Member of organizing committee, Mechanics of Hearing Conference 2014 and 2017
Honors and Awards
Henry A. Boorse Award in Physics - Barnard College, 1980
Phi Beta Kappa - May, 1981
Magna Cum Laude - Barnard College. May, 1981
Individual National Research Service Award 1/89 - 12/91
Visiting Professorship for Women Award (NSF) 9/93 - 8/95
Honorary President, Sino American Hospital, Song Yuan, China, 2005 – 2007
Grant Support
Present Grants:
- NIH NIDCD R01 Grant, 5 year award beginning 2016
Role: PI, Title “Auditory mechanics and the cochlear amplifier”
Diversity supplement to above R01 grant for CUMC “Dean’s Research Fellow,” April 2018 - NIH NIDCD R01 Grant, 5 year award beginning 2015
Role: Co-I, Title “Intracochlear delivery of therapeutic agents across round window membrane via microneedle array”
Selected Publications
Olson ES, Duifhuis D and Steel CR 2012 “von Bekesy and cochlear mechanics” Hearing Research (in press). Mechanics of hearing: Transmission of sound through the middle ear, the basis for frequency tuning in the inner ear, in particular the operation of the cochlear amplifier. Cochlear implants.
Huang S, Dong W and Olson ES 2012 “Subharmonic distortion in ear canal pressure and intracochlear pressure and motion.” J. Assoc. Res. Otolaryn. (on line first)
Dong W, Decraemer, WF and Olson ES 2012 “Reverse transmission along the ossicular chain in gerbil.” J. Assoc. Res. Otolaryn. (on line first)
Shera CS and Olson ES (editors) 2011 What Fire is in Mine Ears: Progress in Auditory Biomechanics Proceedings of the 11th International Mechanics of Hearing Workshop. Published by American Institute of Physics Conference Proceedings, Melville, NY USA.
Shera CS, Olson ES and Guinan JJ 2011 “On cochlear impedances and the miscomputation of power gain.” J. Assoc. Res. Otolaryn.12: 671– 676.
Huang S and Olson ES 2011 “Auditory nerve excitation via a non-traveling-wave mode of basilar membrane motion.” J. Assoc. Res. Otolaryn. 12: 559 – 575.
Eze, N. and Olson, E.S. 2011 “Basilar membrane velocity in a cochlea with modified organ of Corti.” Biophysical J. 100: 858-867.
de La Rochefoucauld, O., Kachroo, P. and Olson, E.S. 2010 "Ossicular motion related to middle ear transmission delay in gerbil." Hearing Research 270: 158-172.
Dong, W. and Olson, E.S. 2010 "Local cochlear damage reduces local nonlinearities and decreases generator-type cochlear emissions while increasing reflector-type emissions. J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 127: 1422-1431.
de La Rochefoucauld, O. and Olson, E.S. 2010 "A sum of simple and complex motions on the eardrum and manubrium in gerbil." Hearing Research 263: 9-15.
Nakajima, H.H., Dong, W., Olson, E.S., Merchant, S.N., Ravicz, M.E. and Rosowski, J.J. 2010 “Evaluation of round window stimulation using the floating mass transducer by intracochlear sound pressure measurements in temporal bones.“ Otology and Neurotology 31: 506-511.