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Lawrence Witmer, Ph.D.
The
OU-COM gross anatomy experience begins with what’s referred
to simply as “the immersion” (officially, the Osteopathic
Clinical Anatomy Orientation).
“In
August, when students first arrive and learn about the
musculoskeletal system, they spend at least three hours a
day in the gross anatomy lab,” says Witmer. According to
Witmer, this intensive month of locomotor-system study is
enhanced by regular visits to osteopathic manipulative
medicine labs, where students identify muscles and bones on
one another in an osteopathic clinical context.
If
you’re a Discovery Channel or National Geographic Channel
junkie, you may know Witmer as the prime-time “mega-beast”
expert. Witmer, who also holds the position of Chang Ying-Chien
Professor of Paleontology, appears often on television shows
and documentaries as a dinosaur expert. He’s also a trusted
source for science journalists, who eagerly follow his
research discoveries and often call on him to comment on the
work of others in the field.
The
public attention results from Witmer’s innovative approach
to prehistoric anatomy. His research lab was among the first
to utilize CT scanning and computer visualization in
paleontological research. Using 3-D images of bone cavities,
Witmer attempts to “fill in” the missing soft tissue, a
process he calls “fleshing out” fossils.
His
latest research, funded by a $180,000 grant by the National
Science Foundation, examines brain evolution in dinosaurs.
The grant marks his latest in a series of NSF-sponsored
research projects, each of which has focused on a different
anatomical system. These studies have yielded revelations
about brain size, temperature regulation in prehistoric
animals and dinosaur communication.
But
for OU-COM students, Witmer makes an indelible impression by
giving the first lecture of their registered medical
coursework during the August immersion. In addition to
Witmer, six or seven instructors supervise these August
labs, including graduate student assistants and two other
faculty members, Joseph Eastman, Ph.D., professor of
anatomy, and Robert Staron, Ph.D., associate
professor of anatomy.
Robert Staron, Ph.D
[1][2]
[3] [4]
[5] [6]
[7] [8]
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