Jean-Pierre Nuel

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Jean-Pierre Nuel (1847-1920) was a Luxembourgian-Belgian ophthalmologist and physiologist who was a native of Tétange. In 1870 he earned his doctorate at Ghent, and became licensed to practice surgery and gynecology in Luxembourg. Subsequently he opened a private practice in the town of Eich (today part of Luxembourg City), while furthering his studies in Vienna, Bonn and Utrecht. During this time his interest shifted to ophthalmology, and was particularly inspired by the work of Franciscus Donders (1818-1889) at Utrecht.

In 1877 Nuel became a professor of ophthalmology in Louvain, and later a professor of physiology in Ghent (1880). In 1885 he attained the chair of ophthalmology and physiology of sensory organs at Liege. Nuel is remembered today for his otological research of the inner ear. He is credited with the discovery of the eponymous space of Nuel, which is an interval in the organ of Corti that is situated between the outer pillar cells on one side and the phalangeal cells and hair cells on the other.