Taha Jan, M.D.

Assistant Professor

taha.a.jan.1@vanderbilt.edu

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Faculty Appointments
Assistant Professor of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery Assistant Professor of Cell & Developmental BiologyAssistant Professor of Cell & Developmental BiologyAssistant Professor of Hearing & Speech SciencesAssistant Professor of Hearing & Speech Sciences
Education
M.D., Stanford University, Stanford, CaliforniaB.A., Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee
Research Description
We study the mammalian inner ear by answering fundamental questions of development and regeneration and performing translational research using disease models of hearing loss. Our research aims to transform the understanding of hearing loss and identify the mechanisms that can be targeted for diagnosis and treatment of patients suffering from hearing and balance impairment.
Clinical Description
Dr. Taha Jan is an Assistant Professor of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery and is a fellowship-trained and board-certified Otologist, Neurotologist, and Skull Base Surgeon. He graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor's in Molecular and Cellular Biology with Honors from Vanderbilt University prior to attending medical school at Stanford University. During medical school, he completed a one year Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) research fellowship in cochlear development, stem cell biology, and regenerative medicine. Dr. Jan then went onto his internship in General Surgery at the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) followed by residency in Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary / Harvard Medical School Program in Boston. He then completed the Stanford University Clinician Scientist Training Program, a T32 postdoctoral research fellowship followed by Otology, Neurotology, and Skull Base Surgery clinical fellowship. He was an Assistant Professor at UCSF for 2 years prior to joining VUMC in July 2022.

Dr. Jan is a surgeon-scientist with a research interest in developmental and regenerative biology of the inner ear with the ultimate goal of translating discoveries in the laboratory to therapies in the clinic and operating room.

Specialty:
Otology, Neurotology, and Skull Base Surgery

Expertise:
Treatment of diseases and tumors of the temporal bone and lateral skull base, including the external ear canal, middle ear, and inner ear. These include hearing loss, otosclerosis, stapes surgery, cholesteatoma, cochlear implantation, tympanic membrane perforation, sudden sensorineural hearing loss, acoustic neuroma (vestibular schwannoma), meningioma, paraganglioma, and other skull base tumors.
Research Keywords
Inner ear, hair cell, regeneration, single cell RNAseq, scRNAseq, development, stem cells, auditory system, vestibular system, hearing, balance, neurosensory, mechanoreceptors, computational biology, bioinformatics, cell biology, computational genetics, developmental biology, gene therapy, neuroscience, regenerative medicine, stem cell biology
Publications
Wang T, Ling AH, Billings SE, Hosseini DK, Vaisbuch Y, Kim GS, Atkinson PJ, Sayyid ZN, Aaron KA, Wagh D, Pham N, Scheibinger M, Zhou R, Ishiyama A, Moore LS, Maria PS, Blevins NH, Jackler RK, Alyono JC, Kveton J, Navaratnam D, Heller S, Lopez IA, Grillet N, Jan TA, Cheng AG. Single-cell transcriptomic atlas reveals increased regeneration in diseased human inner ear balance organs. Nat Commun. 2024 Jun 6/6/2024; 15(1): 4833. PMID: 38844821, PMCID: PMC11156867, PII: 10.1038/s41467-024-48491-y, DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-48491-y, ISSN: 2041-1723.

Benkafadar N, Sato MP, Ling AH, Janesick A, Scheibinger M, Jan TA, Heller S. An essential signaling cascade for avian auditory hair cell regeneration. Dev Cell [print-electronic]. 2024 Jan 1/22/2024; 59(2): 280-291.e5-291.e5. PMID: 38128539, PII: S1534-5807(23)00649-4, DOI: 10.1016/j.devcel.2023.11.028, ISSN: 1878-1551.

Okhovat M, VanCampen J, Nevonen KA, Harshman L, Li W, Layman CE, Ward S, Herrera J, Wells J, Sheng RR, Mao Y, Ndjamen B, Lima AC, Vigh-Conrad KA, Stendahl AM, Yang R, Fedorov L, Matthews IR, Easow SA, Chan DK, Jan TA, Eichler EE, Rugonyi S, Conrad DF, Ahituv N, Carbone L. TAD evolutionary and functional characterization reveals diversity in mammalian TAD boundary properties and function. Nat Commun. 2023 Dec 12/7/2023; 14(1): 8111. PMID: 38062027, PMCID: PMC10703881, PII: 10.1038/s41467-023-43841-8, DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-43841-8, ISSN: 2041-1723.

David AP, Loftus PA, Russell MS, Goldberg AN, El-Sayed IH, Jan TA, Roland LT. RNA Sequencing and Gene Ontology Analysis in Acute Invasive Fungal Sinusitis. Am J Rhinol Allergy [print-electronic]. 2022 Oct 10/26/2022; 19458924221134732. PMID: 36285477, DOI: 10.1177/19458924221134732, ISSN: 1945-8932.

Scheibinger M, Janesick A, Benkafadar N, Ellwanger DC, Jan TA, Heller S. Cell-type identity of the avian utricle. Cell Rep. 2022 Sep 9/27/2022; 40(13): 111432. PMID: 36170825, PMCID: PMC9588199, PII: S2211-1247(22)01273-6, DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2022.111432, ISSN: 2211-1247.

Landegger LD, Fujita T, Jan TA, Varela-Nieto I. Editorial: Otologic Trauma, Pathology, and Therapy [editorial]. Front Cell Neurosci. 2022; 16: 900074. PMID: 35496907, PMCID: PMC9043112, DOI: 10.3389/fncel.2022.900074, ISSN: 1662-5102.

Jan TA, Eltawil Y, Ling AH, Chen L, Ellwanger DC, Heller S, Cheng AG. Spatiotemporal dynamics of inner ear sensory and non-sensory cells revealed by single-cell transcriptomics. Cell Rep. 2021 Jul 7/13/2021; 36(2): 109358. PMID: 34260939, PMCID: PMC8378666, PII: S2211-1247(21)00756-7, DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2021.109358, ISSN: 2211-1247.

Benkafadar N, Janesick A, Scheibinger M, Ling AH, Jan TA, Heller S. Transcriptomic characterization of dying hair cells in the avian cochlea. Cell Rep. 2021 Mar 3/23/2021; 34(12): 108902. PMID: 33761357, PII: S2211-1247(21)00216-3, DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2021.108902, ISSN: 2211-1247.

Kubota M, Scheibinger M, Jan TA, Heller S. Greater epithelial ridge cells are the principal organoid-forming progenitors of the mouse cochlea. Cell Rep. 2021 Jan 1/19/2021; 34(3): 108646. PMID: 33472062, PMCID: PMC7847202, PII: S2211-1247(20)31635-1, DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2020.108646, ISSN: 2211-1247.

Kozin ED, Remenschneider AK, Blevins NH, Jan TA, Quesnel AM, Chari DA, Kesser BW, Weinstein JE, Ahsan SF, Telischi FF, Adunka OF, Weber P, Knoll RM, Coelho DH, Anne S, Franck KH, Marchioni D, Barker FG, Carter BS, Lustig LR, Bojrab DI, Bhansali SA, Westerberg BD, Lundy L, Jackler RK, Roland JT, Chandrasekhar SS, Antonelli PJ, Carey JP, Welling DB, Slattery WH, Lee DJ, . American Neurotology Society, American Otological Society, and American Academy of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Foundation Guide to Enhance Otologic and Neurotologic Care During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Otol Neurotol. 2020 Oct; 41(9): 1163-74. PMID: 32925832, PII: 00129492-202010000-00004, DOI: 10.1097/MAO.0000000000002868, ISSN: 1537-4505.

Jan TA, Remenschneider AK, Halpin C, Seton M, McKenna MJ, Quesnel AM. Third-generation bisphosphonates for cochlear otosclerosis stabilizes sensorineural hearing loss in long-term follow-up. Laryngoscope Investig Otolaryngol. 2017 Oct; 2(5): 262-8. PMID: 29094069, PMCID: PMC5655565, PII: LIO291, DOI: 10.1002/lio2.91, ISSN: 2378-8038.

Gadkaree SK, Jan TA, Quesnel AM. Pneumatocele of the Tympanic Membrane. Otol Neurotol. 2017 Apr; 38(4): e19-e20-e20. PMID: 28198720, PMCID: PMC6215486, DOI: 10.1097/MAO.0000000000001363, ISSN: 1537-4505.

Jan TA, Cheng YS, Landegger LD, Lin BM, Srikanth P, Niesten ME, Lee DJ. Relationship between Surgically Treated Superior Canal Dehiscence Syndrome and Body Mass Index. Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg [print-electronic]. 2017 Apr; 156(4): 722-7. PMID: 28116976, DOI: 10.1177/0194599816686563, ISSN: 1097-6817.

Jan TA, Kozin ED, Kanumuri VV, Sethi RK, Jung DH. Improvement in word recognition following treatment failure for sudden sensorineural hearing loss. World J Otorhinolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2016 Sep; 2(3): 168-74. PMID: 29204563, PMCID: PMC5698528, PII: S2095-8811(16)30034-8, DOI: 10.1016/j.wjorl.2016.06.002, ISSN: 2095-8811.

Jan TA, Jansson L, Atkinson PJ, Wang T, Cheng AG. Profiling Specific Inner Ear Cell Types Using Cell Sorting Techniques. Methods Mol Biol. 2016; 1427: 431-45. PMID: 27259940, DOI: 10.1007/978-1-4939-3615-1_23, ISSN: 1940-6029.

Liu YM, Ibrahim A, Jan T, Chang P, Fagan S, Goverman J. Skin necrosis as a complication of therapeutic hypothermia. J Burn Care Res. 2014; 35(3): e184-6-e186. PMID: 24043239, DOI: 10.1097/BCR.0b013e3182a22730, ISSN: 1559-0488.

Volkenstein S, Oshima K, Sinkkonen ST, Corrales CE, Most SP, Chai R, Jan TA, van Amerongen R, Cheng AG, Heller S. Transient, afferent input-dependent, postnatal niche for neural progenitor cells in the cochlear nucleus. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A [print-electronic]. 2013 Aug 8/27/2013; 110(35): 14456-61. PMID: 23940359, PMCID: PMC3761577, PII: 1307376110, DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1307376110, ISSN: 1091-6490.

Jan TA, Redjal N, Walcott BP, Sheth SA. Intranasal myiasis: a rare complication of transnasal skull base surgery. J Clin Neurosci [print-electronic]. 2013 Aug; 20(8): 1178-80. PMID: 23669173, PII: S0967-5868(12)00669-8, DOI: 10.1016/j.jocn.2012.09.028, ISSN: 1532-2653.

Jan TA, Chai R, Sayyid ZN, van Amerongen R, Xia A, Wang T, Sinkkonen ST, Zeng YA, Levin JR, Heller S, Nusse R, Cheng AG. Tympanic border cells are Wnt-responsive and can act as progenitors for postnatal mouse cochlear cells. Development. 2013 Mar; 140(6): 1196-206. PMID: 23444352, PMCID: PMC3585657, PII: 140/6/1196, DOI: 10.1242/dev.087528, ISSN: 1477-9129.

Herget M, Scheibinger M, Guo Z, Jan TA, Adams CM, Cheng AG, Heller S. A simple method for purification of vestibular hair cells and non-sensory cells, and application for proteomic analysis. PLoS One [electronic-print]. 2013; 8(6): e66026. PMID: 23750277, PMCID: PMC3672136, PII: PONE-D-12-31044, DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0066026, ISSN: 1932-6203.

Chan DK, Jan TA, Koltai PJ. Effect of obesity and medical comorbidities on outcomes after adjunct surgery for obstructive sleep apnea in cases of adenotonsillectomy failure. Arch Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2012 Oct; 138(10): 891-6. PMID: 23069817, PII: 1379939, DOI: 10.1001/2013.jamaoto.197, ISSN: 1538-361X.

Chai R, Kuo B, Wang T, Liaw EJ, Xia A, Jan TA, Liu Z, Taketo MM, Oghalai JS, Nusse R, Zuo J, Cheng AG. Wnt signaling induces proliferation of sensory precursors in the postnatal mouse cochlea. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A [print-electronic]. 2012 May 5/22/2012; 109(21): 8167-72. PMID: 22562792, PMCID: PMC3361451, PII: 1202774109, DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1202774109, ISSN: 1091-6490.

Jan TA, Chai R, Sayyid ZN, Cheng AG. Isolating LacZ-expressing cells from mouse inner ear tissues using flow cytometry. J Vis Exp. 2011 Dec 12/23/2011; (58): e3432. PMID: 22217925, PMCID: PMC3369666, PII: 3432, DOI: 10.3791/3432, ISSN: 1940-087X.

Chai R, Xia A, Wang T, Jan TA, Hayashi T, Bermingham-McDonogh O, Cheng AG. Dynamic expression of Lgr5, a Wnt target gene, in the developing and mature mouse cochlea. J Assoc Res Otolaryngol [print-electronic]. 2011 Aug; 12(4): 455-69. PMID: 21472479, PMCID: PMC3123443, DOI: 10.1007/s10162-011-0267-2, ISSN: 1438-7573.

Narsinh KH, Sun N, Sanchez-Freire V, Lee AS, Almeida P, Hu S, Jan T, Wilson KD, Leong D, Rosenberg J, Yao M, Robbins RC, Wu JC. Single cell transcriptional profiling reveals heterogeneity of human induced pluripotent stem cells. J Clin Invest [print-electronic]. 2011 Mar; 121(3): 1217-21. PMID: 21317531, PMCID: PMC3049389, PII: 44635, DOI: 10.1172/JCI44635, ISSN: 1558-8238.

Sinkkonen ST, Chai R, Jan TA, Hartman BH, Laske RD, Gahlen F, Sinkkonen W, Cheng AG, Oshima K, Heller S. Intrinsic regenerative potential of murine cochlear supporting cells. Sci Rep [print-electronic]. 2011; 1: 26. PMID: 22355545, PMCID: PMC3216513, PII: srep00026, DOI: 10.1038/srep00026, ISSN: 2045-2322.

Lieberman DM, Jan TA, Ahmad SO, Most SP. Effects of corticosteroids on functional recovery and neuron survival after facial nerve injury in mice. Arch Facial Plast Surg [print-electronic]. 2011; 13(2): 117-24. PMID: 21079107, PII: archfacial.2010.98, DOI: 10.1001/archfacial.2010.98, ISSN: 1538-3660.

Reiner DJ, Jan TA, Boughter JD, Li CX, Lu L, Williams RW, Waters RS. Genetic analysis of tongue size and taste papillae number and size in recombinant inbred strains of mice. Chem Senses [print-electronic]. 2008 Oct; 33(8): 693-707. PMID: 18653645, PMCID: PMC2565774, PII: bjn025, DOI: 10.1093/chemse/bjn025, ISSN: 1464-3553.

Walker WB, Smith EM, Jan T, Zwiebel LJ. A functional role for Anopheles gambiae Arrestin1 in olfactory signal transduction. J Insect Physiol [print-electronic]. 2008 Apr; 54(4): 680-90. PMID: 18328499, PMCID: PMC2408752, PII: S0022-1910(08)00022-X, DOI: 10.1016/j.jinsphys.2008.01.007, ISSN: 0022-1910.

Jan TA, Lu L, Li CX, Williams RW, Waters RS. Genetic analysis of posterior medial barrel subfield (PMBSF) size in somatosensory cortex (SI) in recombinant inbred strains of mice. BMC Neurosci. 2008 Jan 1/7/2008; 9: 3. PMID: 18179704, PMCID: PMC2254631, PII: 1471-2202-9-3, DOI: 10.1186/1471-2202-9-3, ISSN: 1471-2202.

Oladehin A, Margret CP, Maier SE, Li CX, Jan TA, Chappell TD, Waters RS. Early postnatal alcohol exposure reduced the size of vibrissal barrel field in rat somatosensory cortex (SI) but did not disrupt barrel field organization. Alcohol. 2007 Jun; 41(4): 253-61. PMID: 17630086, PMCID: PMC2435073, PII: S0741-8329(07)00074-2, DOI: 10.1016/j.alcohol.2007.04.005, ISSN: 0741-8329.

Margret CP, Chappell TD, Li CX, Jan TA, Matta SG, Elberger AJ, Waters RS. Prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) reduces the size of the forepaw representation in forepaw barrel subfield (FBS) cortex in neonatal rats: relationship between periphery and central representation. Exp Brain Res [print-electronic]. 2006 Jul; 172(3): 387-96. PMID: 16424976, DOI: 10.1007/s00221-005-0339-9, ISSN: 0014-4819.