AAA Honors 21 Scientists Advancing Education and Discovery in Anatomical Sciences, Healthcare, and Related Fields
January 27, 2022
ROCKVILLE, MD—Twenty-one academics, researchers, and scientists are being recognized for their significant contributions to the anatomical sciences and the future of anatomy education and research by the U.S.-based international society representing 2,300 members in anatomy and anatomy-related disciplines. Through these awards, grants, and scholarships, the American Association for Anatomy (AAA) continues to elevate, celebrate, and advance—even in a pandemic—the foundational science of anatomy and its application in healthcare, allied health, and beyond.
In the major categories already awarded, this year’s esteemed honorees are:
A.J. Ladman Exemplary Service Award
Philip Brauer, PhD, FAAA, is currently Professor and Chair in the Department of Pathology and Anatomical Sciences, Kansas City University College of Medicine in Joplin, MO. He earned his BS in Biology from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point in 1977 and earned his Ph.D. in 1985 from the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee, WI. He did a postdoctoral fellowship in the Department of Biological Chemistry and Structure at the University of Health Sciences/The Chicago Medical School in North Chicago, IL and then later served as an Instructor in the Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology. He joined the Department of Biomedical Sciences at Creighton University 1990 and was promoted to Professor in 2008. In 2017, he joined Kansas City University of Medicine and Bioscience in Joplin, Missouri as Chair of Anatomy.
Dr. Brauer has received research grants from agencies including the National Institutes of Health, American Heart Association-National, and the Health Futures Foundation. He has served as a co-investigator on several National Science Foundation and National Institutes of Health grants. He has organized symposia for professional organizations, published his research in peer-reviewed journals, served as a peer reviewer for National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, the American Heart Association, and several science journals. He also served on the Editorial Board and Board of Reviewers for the journals, Developmental Dynamics and Anatomical Record.
Dr. Brauer teaches gross anatomy, histology, human embryology and developmental biology to nursing, pre-professional health care students, and medical students. His research interests are in the area cell-cell and cell-substrate interactions during embryonic development particularly as related to neural crest cells and their role in craniofacial and cardiac development. He has authored a review textbook on human embryology and is co-author of Larsen's Human Embryology textbook.
Dr. Brauer is a long-standing member of the American Association for Anatomy, has served as a Board member, President, and Past-President. He was named a Fellow of the AAA in 2015. He has also served on many committees.
Henry Gray Distinguished Educator Award
David Morton, PhD, FAAA, is a Professor in the Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy at the University of Utah School of Medicine (UofU SOM). His research interests include the creation and incorporation of flipped classroom and active learning activities as well as the use of cadavers in medical education. Dr. Morton serves as a Fellow on the Academy of Medical Science Educators at the UofU SOM and is the recipient of the Jarcho Distinguished teaching award. He was the University of Utah’s Outstanding Allied Health Teacher of the Year from 2018- 2021. He was named Fellow of the American Association for Anatomy in 2021.
He has regularly taught throughout Ghana: in the University of Ghana, Accra; as part of the Public Health: Ghana Project; as Visiting Professor at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Kumasi, the University for Development Studies in Tamale, and the University of Health and Allied Sciences in Ho.
Dr. Morton has an extensive record of mentoring, ranging from University of Utah undergraduates, medical students, graduate-level students, allied health students, Fellows and junior faculty. A 20-year + member of AAA, he served on the Board of Directors 2014-2017.
Henry Gray Scientific Achievement Award
Katherine Yutzey, PhD, FAAA, is a Professor at the Children's Hospital Medical Center, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine. Her research program’s goals delve into examining and manipulating molecular regulatory mechanisms in heart development and disease. Several years of her lab's research work shows that regulatory hierarchies necessary for development of cardiac muscle, valves and fibroblasts also play a part in heart disease. Dr. Yutzey and colleagues have put forward great effort and devotion toward analyzing the molecular and cellular mechanisms of valve development, muscle cell maturation and fibroblast lineages in normal and diseased hearts.
One of Dr. Yutzey's main tasks as a principal research scientist is to mentor the trainees in her lab. Over the past 20 years, she has trained over 20 pre-doctoral and post-doctoral trainees to develop their research and careers. These trainees have gone on to become senior scientists in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries and gain faculty positions in academic research. She has served on grant review panels, editorial boards, and has served as board member, and Scientific Affairs Committee member and Chair. For her diligent work, Katherine received the “Top Reviewer” award from Circulation Research, one of the top journals in the cardiovascular field.
Dr. Yutzey has been a member since 2009 and was named a Fellow of the American Association for Anatomy in 2019.
Fellows
The rank of Fellow of the American Association for Anatomy (FAAA) honors distinguished members who have demonstrated excellence in science and in their overall contributions to the anatomical sciences. Since 2008, 105 members have been recognized as Fellows. This year, we add five – meet this year’s esteemed Class of Fellows.
A member since 2007, Anne Burrows, Ph.D. is a professor of Anatomy in the Department of Physical Therapy at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, PA. She currently serves on the Board of Directors. Her research focuses on primate feeding biomechanics, non-vocal communication, and primate facial expression and its evolution.
Valerie DeLeon, J.D., Ph.D. is an Associate Professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Florida and current President of AAA. Her lab investigates sources of anatomical variation in humans and other primates using 3D virtual morphology. She has been a member since 2006.
A member since 2005, Martine Dunnwald, Pharm.D., Ph.D., is a Research Associate Professor of Anatomy and Cell Biology at the University of Iowa. She is currently serving as President-Elect of AAA. Her research focuses on epidermal development and regeneration and orofacial clefts.
Ralph Marcucio, Ph.D., is a Professor in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and the Director of the Laboratory for Skeletal Regeneration at the Orthopaedic Trauma Institute (OTI) at the University of California, San Francisco. His research focuses on craniofacial development and during embryogenesis, and bone fracture healing in adults using avian and rodent models. Dr. Marcucio has been a member since 2007. He currently serves on the Board of Directors as Program Co-Chair.
Timothy Smith, Ph.D. is a professor in the Department of Physical Therapy at Slippery Rock University in Slippery Rock, PA. He has been a member since 1998 and currently serves as a member of the Scientific Affairs Committee. His research interests focus on craniofacial and muscular skeletal growth and development.
Basmajian Award
Rachel Menegaz, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor at the Center for Anatomical Sciences at the University of North Texas Health Science Center. She has been a member since 2013. Her research investigates the associations among the mechanical properties of diet, phenotypic plasticity, and ontogeny/aging in masticatory tissues. She is also the director of the Summer Opportunities in Anatomy Research (SOAR) Program.
Early-Career Investigators
These awards recognize investigators in the early stages of their careers who have made important contributions to biomedical science through their research.
C.J. Herrick Award in Neuroanatomy
Michael Yartsev, Ph.D., completed his B.Sc. and M.Sc. in Biomedical engineering at the Ben-Gurion University in 2007, and received his Ph.D. in Neuroscience from the Weizmann institute in the laboratory of Nachum Ulanovsky. He was subsequently a C.V. Starr fellow in neuroscience in the Princeton Neuroscience Institute where he completed a post-doc in the laboratory of Carlos Brody. Since 2015 he has been an Assistant Professor at UC Berkeley with a joint appointment in the department of Bioengineering and the Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute. Research in his laboratory utilizes the bat as model system to study the neural mechanisms of complex spatial, social and acoustic behaviors, with focus on the neural computations underlying spatial navigation, group sociality and vocal communication/learning.
H.W. Mossman Award in Developmental Biology
Yan Jing, DMD, PhD, is clinician scientist who is trained in both basic and clinical sciences directly linked to mandibular biology and orthodontics. Her main researches focus on the key roles of chondrocyte-derived bone cells in condylar development and remodeling. As a joined trained Ph.D. student and then postdoctoral fellow, she spent over three years in Dr. Jian Q. Feng’s lab (Dallas, TX) on learning in vivo gene knockout studies, cell lineage tracing, Laser capture, and different histological imaging techniques. Since then, Dr. Jing was promoted to Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Orthodontics in Texas A&M University College of Dentistry.
R.R. Bensley Award in Cell Biology
Patricia Ward, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Cell Biology at the Emory University School of Medicine. She received her M.S. and Ph.D. in Anatomical Sciences and Neurobiology from University of Louisville. Her research focuses on how activity-based therapies enhance axon regeneration after injury.
W.M. Cobb Award in Morphological Sciences
Akinobu Watanabe, Ph.D., received his Ph.D. in Comparative Biology from Richard Gilder Graduate School at the American Museum of Natural History in 2016, an M.Sc. in Biological Science from Florida State University in 2012, and a B.A. in Biological Sciences and Geophysical Sciences, as well as a Minor in Music from University of Chicago in 2009. His non-academic interests include playing the violin, running, and tennis.
Excellence in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Gary J. Farkas, Ph.D. is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. Dr. Farkas received a B.S. in kinesiology from the University of Illinois at Chicago and a Ph.D. in anatomy from Penn State College of Medicine. His research has primarily studied causes for and dietary and exercise interventions on neurogenic obesity and cardiometabolic disease after longstanding spinal cord injury. Dr. Farkas has published over 3 dozen scholarly papers in peer-reviewed journals and presented at national and international conferences. He has also taught anatomy to graduate, medical, physician assistant, physical and occupational therapy, and pharmacy students, as well as physical therapy residents and resident physicians. As a proud LGBTQ+ individual, he is an avid champion of diversity, equity, and inclusion, as well as accessibility and health promotion for persons with disabilities.
Outstanding Mentor
Paul Trainor, Ph.D. is a professor in the Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology of University of Kansas School of Medicine and faculty at the Graduate School of the Stowers Institute for Medical Research. He received his BSc in Genetics and Biochemistry from the University of Sydney, Australia and his Ph.D. in Developmental Biology at the Children’s Medical Research Institute in Sydney, Australia. His research focuses on craniofacial, neural crest cell, and developmental biology. Dr. Trainor encourages his team members to follow his example and take frequent breaks from the lab. He currently serves as the editor of our journal, Developmental Dynamics.
Fellows Grant Award Program (FGAP)
This Program supports research proposals submitted to major funding agencies that, although well reviewed, did not receive funding. FGAP aims to help researchers revise grant applications in anticipation of resubmission for approval. This year, FGAP will fund two projects:
Walid Fakhouri, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Diagnostic and Biomedical Sciences at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. Dr. Fakhouri's research focuses on genetic and epigenetic factors that lead to craniofacial birth defects. In 2019, he was awarded the Early-Career Anatomist Publication Award. He has been a member since 2018.
Philippe Campeau, Ph.D. is a Clinical Associate Professor in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Montreal. His lab investigates genetic and epigenetic causes of neurodevelopmental disorders and skeletal dysplasias. He has been a member since 2019.
Postdoctoral Fellowships
This award provides salary support to postdoctoral trainees working in any aspect of biology relevant to the anatomical sciences, including both basic science research and education research.
Faye McGechie, Ph.D., University of Chicago
Carrie Leonard, Ph.D., University of Maryland
Yasmeen Mezil, Ph.D., Brock University
Education Research Scholarship
Colleen Cheverko, Anatomical Sciences Lab Supervisor, Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine
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