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Brief Bio

A.B. 1985, Biology, Harvard College
Ph.D. 1991, Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University
1990-1993 Junior Fellow, Harvard Society of Fellows
1994-1999 Assistant Professor, University of Massachusetts Amherst
2000-2005 Associate Professor, University of Massachusetts Amherst
2004 Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science
2005- Professor, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Brown University

Overview

Biomechanics and Evolutionary Morphology
Professor Brainerd and her research group combine anatomical studies of the musculoskeletal system with principles and techniques from engineering to understand the mechanical basis of movement in animals. Current projects include: biomechanics of the temporomandibular joint, biomechanics of segmented axial musculature in fishes and salamanders, pennate muscle architecture, and the functional morphology and physiology of yawning and pandiculation.

On the Web

Brainerd Lab Web Site: People, Projects, Publications, Videos and Links

Research Description/Clinical Interests

These are exciting times in the field of vertebrate morphology. Imaging technologies such as high-resolution CT scanning, MRI, and laser scanning confocal microscopy are opening up vast worlds of cross-sectional and three-dimensional anatomy. In functional morphology and biomechanics, new tools for micrometry, force measurement, 3D flow visualization, 3D motion capture, and mathematical modeling are providing ever more sophisticated understandings of the interactions between morphology and environment. Studies of vertebrate functional morphology, biomechanics, paleontology, and development are poised at the edge of a revolution in our ability to capture and quantify complex morphology and function in 4D (3 spatial dimensions plus time), and to integrate our understandings of function, development, and evolution.

With my colleagues in the vertebrate morphology group at Brown, we are currently developing a 3D x-ray technology for visualizing rapid skeletal movement. This new technology, "CTX Imaging," combines static 3D data from CT scans with skeletal movement data from high-speed x-ray videos. CTX produces highly accurate 3D animations of skeletal elements moving in space. These are more than stick figures--the complete 3D morphology of each bone is present and animated precisely with this technique. CTX imaging makes it possible to study many aspects of skeletal kinematics, such as long axis rotation of bones, putative bending of fine bones in small animals, and the relative 3D motions of the articular surfaces of joints that are inaccessible with other techniques. In addition, CTX provides more accurate data for input into musculoskeletal models, such as joint angles for inverse dynamics and neural control models.

Faculty and students in our group are currently using CTX to study jaw movement and temporomandibular joint function in pigs, joint and muscle forces in jumping frogs, feeding in ducks, and foot ligament strain during locomotion in pigs.

Curriculum Vitae

Download Elizabeth Brainerd's Curriculum Vitae in PDF Format

Honors and Awards

Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science
Chair, Division of Morphology, Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology
CAREER Award, National Science Foundation
Lilly Teaching Fellowship, University of Massachusetts Amherst
Junior Fellowship, Harvard University Society of Fellows

Teaching Experience

Undergraduate course teaching experience: Comparative Anatomy, Comparative Physiology, Human Physiology, Introductory Biology, Biology of Social Issues. Graduate Courses: Muscle Architecture and Biomechanics, Evolution and Development, Microevolution and Macroevolution, Systematics and Tree Thinking. Medical Education: Human Anatomy for first-year medical students. Mentoring: 4 doctoral students and 5 MS students have completed graduate degrees in my research group and in my career I have supervised the independent research projects of over 40 undergraduate students.

Affiliations

Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology
Society for Experimental Biology
International Society of Vertebrate Morphologists
Society of Vertebrate Paleontology
Sigma XI
American Association for the Advancement of Science

Funded Research

2006-2009 National Science Foundation, Instrument Development for Biological Research Program. "Hardware and Software Development for 3D Visualization of Rapid Skeletal Motion in Vertebrate Animals" ($345,486).

2003-2007 National Science Foundation, Ecological and Evolutionary Physiology Program. "Biomechanics of segmented axial musculature in salamanders and fishes" ($382,400)

1999-2005 National Science Foundation, Ecological and Evolutionary Physiology Program. "CAREER: Lung ventilation in lizards and the evolution of amniote respiratory mechanisms" ($350,000)

1999-2003 National Science Foundation, Undergraduate Mentoring in Environmental Biology. "UMEB: Preparing Students for Careers in Environmental Biology, a Massachusetts Partnership." ($256,754; E. Brainerd PI and Executive Director; B. Jakob, F. Juanes and S. Prattis, Co-PIs and Co-Directors)

1997-1998 National Science Foundation, POWRE Program. "How to circumvent a mechanical constraint: gular pump breathing during locomotion in monitor lizards" ($49,776)

1995-1999 National Science Foundation, Ecological and Evolutionary Physiology Program. "Exhalation Mechanics and the Evolution of Aspiration Breathing in Tetrapods" ($152,500)

Courses Taught

Human Morphology for first-year medical students (Biology 181)

Publications

Brainerd, E.L. and E. Azizi. 2005. Muscle fiber angle, segment bulging and architectural gear ratio in segmented musculature. Journal of Experimental Biology, 208: 3249-3261.

Brainerd, E.L. and M.E. Hale. 2005. In vivo and functional imaging in developmental physiology. In New Directions in Developmental Physiology, S. Warburton and W. Burggren, eds. Oxford University Press, pages 21-40.

Jackson, K., N.J. Kley and E.L. Brainerd. 2004. How snakes eat snakes: the biomechanical challenges of ophiophagy for the California kingsnake, Lampropeltis getula californiae (Serpentes: Colubridae). Zoology, 107:191-200.

Landberg, T., J.D. Mailhot and E.L. Brainerd. 2003. Lung ventilation during treadmill locomotion in a terrestrial turtle, Terrapene carolina. Journal of Experimental Biology, 206: 3391-3404.

Brainerd, E.L., S.S. Slutz, E.K. Hall and R. Phillis. 2001. Patterns of genome size evolution in tetraodontiform fishes. Evolution, 55: 2363-2368.

Kley, N.J. and E.L. Brainerd. 1999. Mandibular raking: a novel feeding mechanism in snakes. Nature, 402: 369-370.

Owerkowicz, T., C. Farmer, J.W. Hicks and E.L. Brainerd. 1999. Contribution of gular pumping to lung ventilation in monitor lizards. Science, 284: 1661-1663.

Summers, A.P., T.J. Koob and E.L. Brainerd. 1998. Stingray jaws strut their stuff. Nature, 395: 450-451.

Brainerd, E.L. 1994. Pufferfish inflation: functional morphology of postcranial structures in Diodon holocanthus (Tetraodontiformes). Journal of Morphology, 220: 243-261.

Exclusive

Creepy Video of Pig’s Skull Eating Using CTX Imaging

(PopSci.comexternal link) — For most of us, the phrase “super x-ray vision” conjures a pair of spiral-print cardboard spectacles ordered from the back of a cereal box.

But now an imaging system developed at Brown University delivers the real thing, combining computed-tomography (CT) scanners, x-ray video and computer software to give doctors and researchers a three-dimensional look at bones in motion.

Although several medical-imaging technologies already exist for peering into living things, each one compromises either speed, resolution or depth. CT scans, for instance, offer detailed 3-D views, but scanning is slow and requires the subject to stay completely motionless.

A technique called fluoroscopy can create video by taking multiple x-rays in rapid succession, but it’s limited to producing two-dimensional images and has much lower resolution than CT.

The new process, known as CTX imaging, combines both of these technologies to produce 3-D animations of bones in motion — walking, running, jumping.

Though still in prototype form, the room-size system is already helping researchers to answer tough questions about animal biomechanics, such as how flight evolved in birds. It could also be a valuable tool for orthopedic surgeons, who might use it to plan better treatments for bone-, ligament- and joint-related injuries.

Elizabeth Brainerd, the biomechanics professor at Brown leading the CTX program, says that although the technology won’t fit into a pair of glasses anytime soon, a commercial version of the system that produces real-time video should be ready by 2010.
How it works

CTX imaging combines CT scans with x-ray video to produce 3-D animations. The process starts with a traditional CT scan of a subject — say, an alligator — to create a 3-D model of its bone structure. Then high-speed fluoroscopy records the gator in motion from two different angles.

Researchers feed these two data sets into image-processing software, which merges them to produce an animation of bones in action from any angle. The 3-D view has resolution down to a tenth of a millimeter and captures motion at 1,000 frames per second.