Departments & Divisions
Laura Johnson, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Department of Cell Systems and Anatomy
Currently seeking M.S. students
Dr. Johnson is an enthusiastic teacher of anatomy to students in the healthcare professions. Joining the faculty in Cell Systems and Anatomy she teaches gross anatomy to first-year medical and dental students. Her research training began in evolutionary functional morphology, but as her love of teaching grew her research interests changed. Her research program investigates the best practices to support the operations of whole-body donation programs. Whole-body donors are critical to the educational mission of those in the healthcare professions. As culture and technology change over time, work must be pursued to ensure treatment is ethical and dignified. This includes factoring in the perspectives of multiple stakeholders, including donors, the family, anatomists, students, researchers, educators, and the community at large. Currently, her work focuses on consent and consensus of donors gifting their body to academic programs.
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Professional Background
Education
- 2012 - Ph.D. - Biological Anthropology and Anatom - Duke University
- 2007 - B.A. - Anthropology - University of California, Santa Cruz
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Instruction & Training
- 08/2022 - Present, CIRC 5003 Language of Medicine, UT Health - SA
- 9/2022 - Present, DHHD 5002 Craniofacial Complex, UT Health - SA
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Service
Service to the Profession
Organizer and Chair, 2nd Regional Midwest Body Donation Program Consortium. Columbia, MO.
National
American Association for Anatomy
Professional Development Committee: Member, 2018-2020; Vice-Chair, 2020; Chair, 2021-2022
Program Committee: Member, 2021-2022
Human Body Donor Task Force: Member, 2020-Present
Human Body Donor Advocacy Task Force: Member, 2019-2020
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Publications
- Analysis of Statements in Documents of Gift for Academic Body Donation Programs in the United States, and Recommendations
- Flexible, short-duration outreach sessions in the human anatomy laboratory provide authentic, humanistic experiences
- Pitch control and speed limitation during overground deceleration in lemurid primates
- Limb phase flexibility in walking: a test case in the squirrel monkey, Saimiri scireus.
- Single-limb force data for two lemur species while vertically clinging