Dr. Nuttall received a B.S. degree in electrical engineering from Lowell Technological Institute, Lowell, MA, in 1965, two M.S. degrees in bioengineering and electrical engineering and a Ph.D. degree in bioengineering from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, in 1968, 1969, and 1972, respectively. His postdoctoral work was completed at Kresge Hearing Research Institute, Department of Otolaryngology, University of Michigan, where he became an Assistant Professor in 1976, a Professor in 1987, and a Professor-Emeritus in 1996. Thereafter, he joined Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, where he is currently a Professor of Otolaryngology, and Vice Chair for Research and Jack Vernon Endowed Professor in Hearing Research at Oregon Health & Science University. He stepped down as the Director of the Oregon Hearing Research Center (OHRC) in 2024.  He is the author or coauthor of over 200 peer-reviewed articles on cochlear mechanics and cochlear blood flow.

Research Interest:

Hearing function and hearing loss Cochlear physiology, with particular 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

Summary of Research Interests

Dr. Nuttall's research focuses on hearing function and hearing loss. The Nuttall lab is interested in how loud sounds causes hearing loss and how the sensory cells of the organ of Corti amplify and discriminate complex sounds.

Dr. Nuttall's research interests in cochlear physiology are divided into two major areas:

Dr. Nuttall's research focuses on hearing function and hearing loss. The Nuttall lab is interested in how loud sounds causes hearing loss and how the sensory cells of the organ of Corti amplify and discriminate complex sounds.Dr. Nuttall's research interests in cochlear physiology are divided into two major areas:

1) Mechanical processing of acoustic energy and function of the sensory cells,

2) The control of inner ear blood flow and the pathophysiology of cochlear blood circulation including the cellular and molecular mechanisms of noise-induced hearing loss in the vascular tissue, lateral wall and in the sensory cells of the organ of Corti.

The measurement of physiological variables for cochlear mechanics and blood flow is accomplished with the use of state of the art approaches. For example, laser interferometry is used to determine the motion of cellular structures in the organ of hearing, the organ of Corti, and Doppler optical microangiography is used to make direct observations of blood flow responses to loud sound in capillaries within the cochlea. Loud sound induced hearing loss elicits a multitude of deleterious responses including hypoxia/ischemia, inflammation, increased metabolic stress and vascular permeability, all which increase reactive oxygen species and may result in cell death. Dr. Nuttall's lab is studying the mechanisms by which loud sound-induced signal transduction pathways which contribute to hearing loss.