Bellucci Center in the News
Bellucci News
See how the Bellucci Translational Hearing Center’s work is making headlines locally and nationally, expanding awareness and driving innovation in hearing research.
Associate Professor Allison Coffin Interviewed by the Boston Globe
15 June, Associate Professor Allison Coffin, PhD, was quoted in the Boston Globe about the use of AI in biomedical research.
“Coffin … who studies hearing loss, including that caused by certain medicines. She uses mostly zebra fish in her work, but also rodents. She says her lab is working on AI tools to help identify potential toxins in order to conduct more targeted research. But, she said, AI would always be used as an idea generator for testing in animals, not to replace them.
“'That’s an excellent case for AI, because AI can rapidly assess millions of potential drug structures. But you would still want to test their efficacy for new therapies in an animal,” Coffin said. “I would never want to take a medication that hadn’t been given to a living creature before, and I would think most people wouldn’t. Do we want to be the first to take medication because a computer model says that it’s safe?’”
Associate Professor Allison Coffin’s Research Featured on WOWT
16 June, Associate Professor Allison Coffin, PhD, research on zebrafish was featured on Omaha’s WOWT News. “We can treat fish with different perspective medications that either might damage or prevent damage and preserve hearing,” Coffin said. “We can treat the fish with noise and also study the adult fish as they age; Then, especially with these larvae we can put them under the microscope and see the cells.”
Center Director Peter Steyger Interviewed in The Transmitter
17 June, Center Director Peter S. Steyger, PhD, was quoted in The Transmitter, an online magazine that covers neuroscience, on cuts to neuroscience research grants at the NIH. “’These cuts are really working at cross purposes to what NIH wants to do,’ says Peter Steyger, professor of biomedical sciences at Creighton University, who had a training grant canceled.”
The Bellucci Symposium Discussed at Hearing Health and Technology Matters
Hearing Science communicator, advocate, and Bellucci Symposium speaker Shari Ebberts wrote of her experience speaking at the 2025 Bellucci Symposium at Hearing Health & Technology Matters and the importance of including patients’ voices at hearing science meetings.
Assistant Professor Kelsey Anbuhl, PhD, and Center Faculty Member Gabrielle Merchant, AuD, PhD, Featured in the New York Times
10 July: Assistant Professor Kelsey Anbuhl, PhD, and Center Affiliated Faulty Member Gabrielle Merchant, AuD, PhD, from Boys Town National Research Hospital were featured in a New York Times article on the cuts to diversity programs.
Assistant Professor Kelsey Anbuhl, PhD’s, Research Featured in the Omaha World Herald
30 August, Center Assistant Professor Kelsey Anbuhl, PhD’s, research on listening effort in teens with hearing disorders was featured in the Omaha World-Hearld. Graduate student Alyssa Price and Center Director Peter Steyger, PhD, were also featured in the article.
