Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology

About the Department

The Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology is dedicated to the mission of OSU through teaching, research and service.

We support the continued success of the Department of Biomedical Sciences by offering core courses for the medical program and courses for the Biomedical Sciences Graduate Program, including the Anatomy and Vertebrate Paleontology Track.

Our faculty members are extensively involved in the teaching program for osteopathic medical students and graduate students. Each faculty member is involved in some aspect of state, university, college, and/or community service.

All faculty are members of the OSU graduate faculty and click here to read more about their areas of research

• Using large sample osteohistology to assess growth dynamics, individual variability, and survivorship in dinosaurs and other extinct vertebrates, while utilizing the bone microstructure of extant vertebrates to provide a framework for paleo histologic inferences.
• Growth, variation, reproduction, comparative anatomy, and evolution of dinosaurs (including birds) and other fossil and extant vertebrates.
• Systematics, biostratigraphy of Neogene small mammals. Photogrammetric scanning of microfossils. 3D scanning and 3D printing in anatomical education and public outreach.
• DiceCT imaging; feeding biomechanics and neurological evolution in crocodilians, dinosaurs, and birds.
• Role of glutamate metabolism during chronic pain and spinal injury.
• Evolution and functional morphology of thermoregulatory cranial vasculature and neurophysiological structures; 3D anatomical modeling; and multivariate analytical methods.
• Evolution, systematics, biogeography, functional and comparative anatomy of fossil and recent mammals.
• Musculoskeletal function, dynamics, and structural mechanics of behavior in dinosaurs and mammals; phase-contrast synchrotron imaging and quantification of bone growth mechanisms.
• Adolescent drug exposure effects in brain function and biology. Multigenerational and transgenerational effects of paternal exposure to drugs of abuse on behavioral and neural function.
• Jurassic fauna of Oklahoma, Evolution of mammalian lineages and faunas across the K-Pg boundary; Biotic recovery from mass extinction events.
• Role of primary cilia in neuropsychiatric and neurodevelopmental disorders; identification of signaling pathways that regulate the assembly state of cilia.