New Fresh Frozen Cadaver Facility
29 January 2025
Division of Anatomy Research in 2024:
Dr. Jennifer Hocking leads a research lab studying retinal development and disease using zebrafish as a model system. Vision begins with light detection by photoreceptors and her team uses genetic manipulation, advanced microscopy, and electroretinography to study photoreceptor morphogenesis, function, and maintenance.
2024 publications:
Sharkova M, Aparicio G, Mouzaaber C, Zolessi FR, Hocking JC. (2024) Photoreceptor calyceal processes accompany the developing outer segment, adopting a stable length despite a dynamic core. J Cell Sci. 2024 Apr 1;137(7)
Sagittal section through a juvenile Tg(sws1:GFP) zebrafish retina (ultraviolet-sensitive cones shown in orange), demonstrating the distribution of phalloidin-stained F-actin (cyan) in the photoreceptor layer.
Hatzantonis C, Satkunam L, Rabey KN, Hocking JC, Agur AMR. (2024) Fatty infiltration of gastrocnemius-soleus muscle complex: Considerations for myosteatosis rehabilitation. J Anat. Feb 16. Jul;245(1):50-57.
Dr. Pierre Lemelin studies the convergence of gait and locomotor biomechanics among arboreal mammals, as well as the functional morphology and evolution of the primate hand. His 2024 paper presents data collected at the 海角社区 and Edmonton Valley Zoo for three musteloid species. The comparative study applies a combined kinetic and kinematic approach to compare the locomotor behaviours of these three carnivorans representing varying degrees of arboreal specialization. The research concludes that the three gait characteristics traditionally used to describe arboreal walking in primates can occur independently from one another and not necessarily as a suite of interdependent characteristics, a phenomenon that has been reported for some primates.
2024 Publication:
Cover: Journal of Experimental Biology.
Michael C Granatosky Edwin Dickinson Melody W Young Pierre Lemelin. A coati conundrum: how variation in levels of arboreality influences gait mechanics among three musteloid species
Exp Biol. 2024 Oct 1;227(19):jeb247630. doi: 10.1242/jeb.247630.
Dr. Karyne Rabey’s research consists of interdisciplinary innovations to better understand the mechanics of movement (gait analysis) and exercise with musculoskeletal variation, sex differences and the mechanisms through which these are shaped. Her animal models include rats, mice, snakes, pigs, and humans. She utilises force plate mechanography, motion capture analysis, deep machine learning, micro‐CT, and histology. Her lab directly tests relationships between bony morphology with behaviour, nerve injury, and muscle function.