This is a PhD studentship awarded to Professor Abigail Tucker at King’s College London. Karishma Panchani started her PhD in October 2025. We are co-funding this project with the Masonic Charitable Foundation.
Background
The eardrum sits at the end of the ear canal and vibrates to transmit sound waves into the middle and inner ear. The eardrum is stretched tightly across the ear canal and is at high risk of damage from ear infections, pressure changes, or head trauma. Around 3 out of every 10 children will experience damage to their eardrum (known as a perforation) caused by inflammation of the middle ear (called glue ear or otitis media).
Most damage to the eardrum heals rapidly without any need for intervention. Some perforations, however, do not heal, leading to ear pain, ringing in the ears (tinnitus), ear infections, and hearing loss. Perforations that fail to heal are called chronic – their failure to heal may be due to the size or position of the initial damage, or the presence of inflammation and infectious agents in the ear. Chronic perforations are treated by surgery – tissue taken from elsewhere in the body is grafted into the ear to bridge the gap. This surgery is invasive and can be hard to access in certain communities which have high rates of chronic otitis media. Simpler and less invasive techniques are, therefore, needed in the clinic.
Aims
In this project, Karishma will investigate how the eardrum heals and the role that stem cells play in that repair. The research group already has evidence that there is a population of stem cell-like cells in the mouse eardrum. When the eardrum is damaged, these cells wake from a dormant state and play a critical role in replacing cells that were damaged. It is possible that these dormant cells can also be triggered to improve the repair of chronic eardrum injuries as well.
Karishma will investigate the factors that lead to chronic perforations and their impact on the stem cells of the ear drum. They will assess the impact of the size and location of a perforation, as well as the presence and degree of infection on eardrum healing and stem cell activity.
Research methods
Karishma will use genetically engineered mice, high-resolution imaging, and novel cell culture techniques to follow the role of stem cell populations in eardrum repair in a variety of conditions. Karishma will carry out experiments in mice and explant culture of the mouse eardrum (growing eardrum tissue in the lab) to allow them to visualise the ear as it heals, and to understand how cells and bacterial infections interact with each other.
Benefit
The findings from this project will provide a basis to develop methods to treat chronic eardrum perforations which avoid the need for surgery by making use of the eardrum’s ability to repair itself. This grant will ultimately benefit future patients with chronic eardrum perforations by improving our understanding of why chronic perforations develop and improve outcomes with current proposed treatments, such as the use of specific ear drops.