OHRC Researchers

Alfred L. Nuttall, Ph.D. - Director

Alfred L. Nuttall, Ph.D., has been the director of the Oregon Hearing Research Center since 1996 and is a Professor in the OHSU Department of Otolaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery and is Vice Chairman for Research. In addition, Dr. Nuttall is Professor Emeritus in Otolaryngology at University of Michigan

Previous appointments:

• Professor and Assistant Professor in the Department of Otolaryngology at the University of Michigan
  

 Degrees:

• B.S. degree in electrical engineering, Lowell Technological Institute (now the University of Massachusetts at Lowell)
• M.S. degrees in bioengineering and electrical 
  engineering, University of Michigan
• Ph.D. degree in bioengineering, University of Michigan
• Postdoctoral work at the Kresge Hearing Research Institute

Research Interest:

• Hearing function and hearing loss
• Cochlear physiology, with paticular interest in:
  
• • How does load sound cause hearing loss?
    
  • How do the sensory cells of the organ of Corti amplify and discriminate complex sounds?
    

Major Milestones and Significant Discoveries

• Proof that spontaneous otoacoustic emissions come from vibration of the basilar membrane
• The cochlea produces nitric oxide (NO) in abundance
• The organ of Corti produces power in response to sound
• A technology to measure human cochlear blood flow
  

Additional information is available on his lab page. To access his publications,  click here to go to PubMed.

Recent Publications:

Alfred L. Nuttall, Ph.D., Oregon Hearing Research Center Director and Anders Fridberger, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden co-authored a Hearing Research special edition chapter entitled, "Instrumentation for studies in cochlear mechanics: From von Békésy forward." Hear Res (2012) 293(1-2):3-11.

Peter G. Barr-Gillespie, Ph.D. - Professor

Peter G. Barr-Gillespie, Ph.D., is a Professor with the Oregon Hearing Research Center and an Affiliated Scientist with the Vollum Institute. He has been with OHSU since 1999.

Overview

Current appointments:

• Professor in the departments of Otolaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery, Cell Biology & Development and Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
  

Previous appointments:

• Assistant Professor and Associate Professor of physiology, Johns Hopkins University
  

 Degrees:

• B.S. degree in chemistry, Reed College
  
• Ph.D. degree in pharmacology, University of Washington
  
• Postdoctoral work at UCSF, UT Southwestern Medical Center
  

Research Interests

• Hair-cell transduction
• Hair-bundle development and homeostasis
  

Major Milestones and Significant Discoveries

• Development of methods for isolation of hair bundles (twist-off) and analysis of constituent proteins (via mass spectrometry).
  
• Identification of myosin-1c as the hair-cell adaptation motor.
• Demonstration of the structure and mechanics of the tip link.
  
• Detailed description of homeostatic mechanisms used by hair bundle to handle bundle Ca2+ load (Ca2+ pump, ATP delivery, H+ transporter).
  
• Identification of the tip link as cadherin-23.
  

 Click here to go to his Vollum Lab page or click here to find his publications on PubMed.

John V. Brigande, Ph.D. - Associate Professor

John V. Brigande, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor with the Oregon Hearing Research Center. 

Overview

Current appointments:

• Associate Professor of Otolaryngology / Head and Neck Surgery
• Associate Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology
  

 Degrees:

• B.S. degree in biological sciences, Boston College
• M.S. degree in biological sciences, Boston College
• Ph.D. degree in biological sciences, Boston College
• Postdoctoral work with Karen Artzt at the University of Texas at Austin and with Donna M. Fekete, Purdue University

Research Interests

• Fate of otic epithelial progenitors in the mouse otic vesicle
• Lineage relationships of sensory and nonsensory cells in the mouse inner ear
• Molecular regulation of sensory organ formation
  

Major Milestones and Significant Discoveries

• Misexpression of the transcription factor atonal homolog 1 in the developing mouse inner ear generates functional auditory hair cells.
  
• The in utero gene transfer technique premits gain and loss-of-function experiments in the developing mouse inner ear.
  

 To access Dr. Brigande's  publications,  click here to go to PubMed.

Stephen V. David, Ph.D. - Assistant Professor

Stephen V. David, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor with the Oregon Hearing Research Center. He joined the faculty in 2012.

Overview

Current Appointments:

• Assistant Professor in the Department of Otolaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery

Degrees:

• A.B. degree in Applied Mathematics, Harvard University
• Ph.D. degree in bioengineering, University of California, Berkeley
• Postdoctoral work at the University of Maryland, College Park

Research Interests

• Representation of speech and other natural sounds in auditory cortex
• Learning and attention-driven changes in auditory representations
• Biological mechanisms underlying neural computations

Major Milestones and Significant Discoveries

• Determined that the representation of speech in auditory cortex cannot be predicted by responses to noise and tone stimuli traditionally used to characterize auditory representations
• Found that the reward structure of a task controls the sign of attention-driven plasticity in primary auditory cortex.

Additional information can be found on his lab page. To access Dr. David's publications click here to go to PubMed

Zhi-Gen Jiang, M.D. - Professor

Zhi-Gen Jiang, M.D., is a Professor with the Oregon Hearing Research Center. He has been with OHSU since 1988.

Overview

Current appointments:

• Professor with the Department of Otolaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery
  
• Adjunct Professor with Thoracic & Cardiovascular Surgery Department, Nanjing First Hospital, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China.
  

Previous appointments:

• Associate Scientist, Center for Research on Occupational and Environmental Toxicology (CROET)
• Professor in the Department of Physiology at Wannan Medical College, China

 Degrees:

• M.S. degree in physiology from Fudan University, Shanghai Medical College, China
• M.D. degree from Soochow University Medical College, China
• Postdoctoral work at the Department of Physiology, University of Saskatchewan Medical College, Canada
• Postdoctoral work at the Department of Pharmacology, Loyola University Medical School, USA
  

Research Interests

• Cellular physiology and pathophysiology of cochlear vasculatures and vascular grafts for coronary disease
  
• Identification of aminoglycoside-permissive channels
• Channels, neurotransmitters, receptors in the nervous system and the related drugs
  

Major Milestones and Significant Discoveries

• Cochlear arterial cells are unique to ensure inner-ear health
  
• A newly identified side effect of dihydropyridines
  
• A state-of-the-art method introduced for identification of aminoglycoside-permissive channels
  

To access Dr. Jiang's publications,  click here to go to PubMed.

Teresa Nicolson, Ph.D. - Associate Professor

Teresa Nicolson, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor with the Oregon Hearing Research Center. She is also an Adjunct Faculty member with the Vollum Institute and with the Department of Cellular and Developmental Biology. She joined OHSU in 2005. 

Overview

Current appointments:

• Associate Professor with the Department of Otolaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery
  
• Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator
  
• Adjunct Faculty with the Vollum Institute
  
• Adjunct Faculty with the Department of Cellular and Developmental Biology
  

Previous appointments:

• Group Leader with the Max-Planck-Institute, Tuebingen, Germany
  

 Degrees:

• B.S. degree in biochemistry from Western Washington University
  
• Ph.D. degree in biological chemistry from University of California, Los Angeles
  
• Postdoctoral work at the Max-Planck-Institute, Tuebingen, Germany
  

Research Interests

• Molecular basis of mechanotransduction in auditory/vestibular hair cells
  
• Hair-cell ribbon synapse formation and function
  

Major Milestones and Significant Discoveries

• First laboratory to establish animal models of human deafness in zebrafish
  
• Discovery that Cadherin 23 comprises the tip link or filament, which mechanically gates electrical signals in auditory/vestibular hair cells
  
• Identified the glutamate transporter (Vglut3) in hair cells that loads synaptic vesicles with neurotransmitter, enabling hair cells to communicate with the brain
  

In addition to her OHRC appointment, Dr. Nicolson also has appointments with: 

• Howard Hughes Medical Investigator
• Vollum Institute

To access her publications,  click here to go to PubMed.

Lina A. J. Reiss, Ph.D. - Assistant Professor

Lina A. J. Reiss, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor with the Oregon Hearing Research Center. She joined the faculty in 2009.

 

Overview

Current appointments:

• Assistant Professor in the Department of Otolaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery
  
• Joint appointment in the Department of Biomedical Engineering
  
• Joint appointment in the National Center for Rehabilitation and Auditory Research at the Portland Veterans Administration Medical Center
  

Degrees:

• B.S.E. degree in mechanical engineering from Princeton
  
• Ph.D. degree in biomedical engineering from Johns Hopkins University
  
• Postdoctoral work at University of Iowa
  

Research Interests

• Cochlear implants, particularly:
  
• • How can we enhance the benefits of combined acoustic plus electric stimulation?
    
  • How can we improve hearing preservation with cochlear implants?
    
• Plasticity and learning with auditory prostheses:
  
• • How is the brain changed by long-term experience with cochlear implants or hearing aids?
    
  • What do these changes mean for speech perception with these devices?
    
• Auditory neurophysiology
  

Major Milestones and Significant Discoveries

• Neurons in the premotor cortex encode sound-source location (both angle and distance) independent of the loudness of the sound source (Nature 1998)
  
• The function of nonlinear neurons in the dorsal cochlear nucleus is to encode spectral edges as cues for sound localization (J Neurosci 2005)
  
• Pitch perception with a cochlear implant can change with long-term experience (JARO 2007)
  

 If you would like to access Dr. Reiss'  list of publications, please click here to go to PubMed.

Tianying Ren, M.D. - Professor

Tianying Ren, M.D., is a  Professor with the Oregon Hearing Research Center.

Overview

Current appointments:

• Professor in the Department of Otolaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery
  

Previous appointments:

• Assistant and Associate Professor in the Department of Otolaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery
• Research Investigator at the Kresge Hearing Research Institute, the University of Michigan
• Instructor in the Department of Otolaryngology at the First Teaching Hospital of Xi'an Medical University
  

 Degrees:

• M.D. and M.S. degrees from Xi'an Jiaotong University School of Medicine (formerly known as Xi'an Medical University), Shaanxi, China
• World Health Organization Fellow and postdoctoral training at the Kresge Hearing Research Institute at the University of Michigan

Research Interests

• Mechanisms responsible for the cochlear sensitivity, sharp tuning and nonlinearity
• Wave propagation in the living cochlea:
  
• • How does sound exit the cochlea?
    
  • What is the spatial presentation of sounds in the living cochlea?
    

Major Milestones and Significant Discoveries

• Demonstration of the longitudinal pattern of the basilar membrane vibration in living sensitive cochlea
  
• Cochlea-generated sounds exit the cochlea mainly through the cochlear fluid
  
• Development of a scanning laser interferometer for measuring sub-nanometer vibration in living cochlea

  To access Dr. Ren's  publications,  click here to go to PubMed.

Xiaorui Shi, M.D., Ph.D. - Associate Professor

Xiaorui Shi, M.D., Ph.D., is an Associate Professor with the Oregon Hearing Research Center. Dr. Shi joined the OHSU in 2005. 

Overview

Current appointments:

• Associate Professor in the Department of Otolaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery
  
• Vice Director of the Institute of Microcirculation, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China
  
• Adjunct Professor of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China
  
• Adjunct Professor, Shanghai Hearing Research Center, Shanghai Jiaotong University, Shanghai, China
  

Previous appointments:

• Associate Professor with the Department of Otolaryngology, the General Hospital of the CPAPA, Beijing, China

 Degrees:

•  M.D. degree from Shanghai Second Medical University, Shanghai, China:
  
• • Auditory physiology
  • Cochlear microcirculation physiology and pathology
    
• Ph.D. degree from Henan Medical University, Beijing, China

Research Interests

• Mechanisms of vascular remodeling
• Mechanisms of blood flow autoregulation
• Cellular mechanisms responsible for the myogenic properties of pericytes
• Molecular mechanisms responsible for noise-induced hearing loss
• Cell adhesion and inflammation in the vascular wall
  

Major Milestones and Significant Discoveries

• The fibrocyte-pericyte coupling is in control of the regional cochlear blood flow
• Perivascular resident macrophages were found in the cochlear blood-labyrinth barrier and their renewal via migration of bone-marrow-derived cells
• Pericyte plasticity in response to loud-sound microvessel damage
• Bone-marrow cell recruitment in the acoustically damaged cochlear blood-labyrinth barrier
• Using mass spectroscopy, detected a large number of proteins to be transporters in purified mouse strial capillaries, suggesting the blood-labyrinth barrier is highly energy-dependent and provides needed support for the transport system

To access Dr. Shi's  publications,  click here to go to PubMed.

Peter Steyger, Ph.D. - Associate Professor

Peter Steyger, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor with the Oregon Hearing Research Center.

Overview

Current appointments:

• Associate Professor with the Department of Otolaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery
  

 Degrees:

• Ph.D. degree in cochlear anatomy and ototoxicity from Keele University, United Kingdom
  
• Postdoctoral work with Dr. Michael Wiederhold (development of otoconia in the vestibular system) and Dr. Richard Baird (vestibular hair-cell functional anatomy and regeneration)
  

Research Interests

• Auditory neuroscience
  
• Ototoxicity

Major Milestones and Significant Discoveries

• Active trafficking of aminoglycosides across the blood-labyrinth barrier
• Modulation of aminoglycoside uptake by inflammation and infection
• Fluorescent tagging of clinically relevant ototoxic anti-cancer drugs

  To access Dr. Steyger's publications,  click here to go to PubMed.

Dennis R. Trune, Ph.D., M.B.A., - Professor

Dennis R. Trune, Ph.D., M.B.A., is a Professor in the Oregon Hearing Research Center. He joined OHSU in 1983.

Overview

Current appointments:

• Professor in the Department of Otolaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery
  
• Adjunct Researcher with the National Center for Rehabilitative Auditory Research, Portland VAMC
  

Previous appointments:

• Assistant and Associate Professor in the Department of Otolaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery
  
  

 Degrees:

• B.A. degree in biology from the University of Michigan-Flint
  
• M.S. degree in biology from Northern Arizona University
• M.B.A. degree from Portland State University
  
• Ph.D. degree in anatomy from Louisiana State University Medical School; conducted dissertation research at the Kresge Hearing Research Laboratory
  
• Postdoctoral fellowship with Dr. David Lim in the Otolaryngology Department at Ohio State University
  

Research Interests

• Immune-mediated inner-ear disease and hearing loss
• Intratympanic delivery of steroids for improved recovery of hearing loss
  
• Development of novel treatments for hearing loss
  
• Ion and water transport dysfunction in different forms of hearing loss
  
• Control of inflammatory processes of the middle ear
• Impact on middle-ear inflammation on the inner ear

Major Milestones and Significant Discoveries

• New treatment for sudden and immune-mediated hearing loss
  
• Demonstration that inflammatory processes occur in the inner ear with middle-ear infections
  
• Identification of fluid-clearing mechanisms in the middle-ear compromised during infections, leading to the painful effusions found in otitis media
• Identification of potential gene defects that cause middle-ear infections
  

  To access Dr. Trune's publications,  click here to go to PubMed.

Laurence O. Trussell, Ph.D. - Professor

Laurence "Larry" O. Trussell, Ph.D., is a Professor with the Oregon Hearing Research Center and a Scientist with the Vollum Institute.

Current appointments:

• Professor in the Department of Otolaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery
• Scientist with the Vollum Institute
  

Previous appointments:

• Associate Professor in the Department of Otolaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery
  

 Degrees:

• B.A. degree in biology from University of California-San Diego
  
• Ph.D. degree in biology from University of California-San Diego
  
• Postdoctoral work at UCLA  and Washington University
  

Research Interests

• Brainstem circuits that process acoustic signals
• Synaptic physiology - how do cells and synapses preserve information provided by the ear?
  

Major Milestones and Significant Discoveries

• Neurons that encode timing of acoustic signals are molecularly and biophysically specialized for that function
  
• Cellular/synaptic learning mechanisms occur even at the earliest levels of sensory processing
  
• Corelease of multiple transmitters from neurons act together on the same receptor
  
• Ca²⁺ channels are expressed in axons and control the triggering of complex spike activity.
  

In addition to his appointment with the Oregon Hearing Research Center, Dr. Trussell is a Scientist with the Vollum Institute. To access his publications,  click here to go to PubMed.