Dr. Matthew J. Mason: biography
University Physiologist Tel: +44 (0)1223 333829, Fax: +44 (0)1223 333840, E-mail: mjm68@cam.ac.uk
Academic biography
I read Veterinary Medicine at St. John's College, Cambridge, specialising in Zoology in my third year. I decided at that point to change career direction, and I left veterinary work to study for my doctorate under Dr Adrian Friday in the Department of Zoology in Cambridge. My PhD dissertation, submitted in 1999, was entitled The Functional Anatomy of the Middle Ear of Mammals, with an Emphasis on Fossorial Forms; my thesis examiners were Bob Presley and Jenny Clack. After this, I moved to the University of California, Los Angeles, undertaking post-doctoral research in the laboratory of Prof. Peter Narins. There, I used laser interferometry to study the vibrations of the middle ear apparatus of frogs, publishing several papers on the mechanics of the stapes, extrastapes and operculum.
Returning to Cambridge in 2001, I took a position as College Lecturer in Physiology at St Catharine's College, later moving to the Department of Physiology, Development & Neuroscience. Since 2007, I have been the first and only holder of the position of University Physiologist, but I remain Fellow and Director of Studies in Physiology at St Catharine's.
I am a Full Member of both the Anatomical Society and the Physiological Society. I am a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology.
I continue to research the structure, function and evolution of the ear in vertebrates.