About the Translational Hearing Center

Who We Are

We are a unique collaboration between:

We are dedicated to our mission to prevent and treat hearing loss. Learn more below.

Hear From Our Director

The Center is based on the Creighton University campus in downtown Omaha and features research cores in Auditory and Vestibular Technology and Drug Discovery and Delivery. With state-of-the-art equipment, leading faculty from around the world, and the dedication and commitment of three major biomedical research institutions, the Dr. Richard J. Bellucci Translational Hearing Center is the premier hearing research center in the region.

Our Center is based on the vision of Dr. Richard J. Bellucci. Dr. Bellucci was a 1942 graduate of Creighton University School of Medicine who went on to become a leading otologic researcher, surgeon, and teacher. Dr. Bellucci was a pioneer in the stapedectomy, a surgical procedure used to correct a form of deafness and was the inventor of the Bellucci Micro Ear Scissors--which remain a standard instrument for otologic surgeons. The generous support of the Bellucci DePaoli Family Foundation allows us to continue his life’s work and be part of his legacy.

Our work is also based on the core Jesuit value of cura personalis or care for the whole person. Hearing is fundamental to this, allowing us to fully experience everything from music and nature to complex interaction and communication. It helps people live fuller, more enriched lives. Please join us as we pursue our mission to prevent and treat hearing loss.

Thank you,

Peter S. Steyger, PhD
Director
Dr. Richard J. Bellucci Translational Hearing Center

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Auditory and Vestibular Technology Core

Drug Discovery and Delivery Core

Meet Our Faculty, Postdoctoral Fellows and Staff

About Dr Bellucci

Our center is named for Dr. Richard J. Bellucci, a 1942 graduate of Creighton University School of Medicine who became a pioneer in otologic research and surgery and teacher.

After graduating, Dr. Bellucci returned to his native New York City to complete his residency and joined the faculty at the Manhattan Eye, Ear, and Throat Hospital in 1946 and became the chairman in 1963. He retired as a professor emeritus in 1979. He additionally served as a professor and chair at the New York Medical College from 1966 to 1980.

Dr. Bellucci is probably best known for his work on the stapedectomy, a procedure where a prosthesis is inserted in the inner ear to replace a stapes bone damaged by otosclerosis. Writing in the Annals of Otology, Rhinology & Laryngology in 1979, Bellucci said, “stapedectomy has become recognized as the procedure of choice in the surgical treatment of clinical otosclerosis.”

The University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics notes the procedure requires an extremely skilled and experienced surgeon, “not many otolaryngologists perform stapedectomy, which requires extreme surgical skill and years of experience.” While the procedure is being increasingly supplanted by the use of lasers, his work was fundamental to developing the preferred surgical treatment for a common type of hearing loss for decades. He also invented the Bellucci Micro Ear Scissors, which remain a standard instrument for otologic surgeons.

Dr. Bellucci also embodied the Jesuit call for service. He treated veterans of the Second World War who suffered hearing loss in their service. He received the Italian Legion of Merit and served as President of the American Otological Society. Later in his life, he volunteered his services at the Hôpital de Sacre Coeur in Milot, Haiti.