Daryush D. Mehta, PhD (he/him)


Director of Voice Science and Technology Laboratory
Voice Center Research Laboratories, Massachusetts General Hospital
Associate Professor of Surgery
Harvard Medical School
Associate Investigator
Voice Center Research Laboratories, Mass General Research Institute
Principal Investigator
Vocal Hyperfunction Clinical Research Center, Massachusetts General Hospital
Director of Student Affairs and Affiliated Faculty
Program in Speech and Hearing Bioscience and Technology, Harvard Medical School
Adjunct Associate Professor
Communication Sciences and Disorders, MGH Institute of Health Professions
Zoroastrian Chaplain
Harvard Chaplains, Harvard University

Education

Master of Science, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Massachusetts Institute of Technology 2006
PhD, Speech and Hearing Bioscience and Technology Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology 2010
Postdoctoral Researcher Harvard University/Massachusetts General Hospital 2011
Bachelor of Science, Electrical Engineering University of Florida 2003

Research Interests

phonation; speech acoustics; stroboscopy; vocal cords; voice disorders; voice quality

Research Narrative

I continue research efforts into the clinical analysis of normal and disordered voice production with particular emphasis on advanced statistical signal processing algorithms and ambulatory monitoring of daily voice use. My work bridges the areas of statistical signal processing and clinical voice assessment.

I investigate the details of the relationship between the motion of the vocal folds (the "voice box") and the acoustics of voice production. My expertise is in signal processing and acoustic voice analysis, and I bring these engineering tools to clinical voice research. We have developed a comprehensive laryngeal high-speed videoendoscopy system to image and quantify vocal fold vibratory characteristics and relate them to voice-related sensor measurements and mathematical models. Other major efforts develop a smartphone platform for tracking voice use using an accelerometer taped to the neck.

We hope that our results will aid voice surgeons and speech-language pathologists in better understanding the mechanisms of normal and disordered voice production.