Announcing AAPA Career Development Panel – Friday noon-2 pm "Adversity, Strategy and Success"

Come, share, listen and discuss with our panelists whose very different life experiences will help you navigate your own path to success whether it be in an alternate or traditional job.

The panelists include: Dr. Kristina Aldridge is an Associate Professor in the Department of Pathology and Anatomical Sciences at the University of Missouri School of Medicine. Her background is in biological anthropology, anatomy, craniofacial development, and neuroanatomy. Her research focuses on the complex interrelationships between development, structure, and function of the human brain. She received her doctorate in Cell Biology and Anatomy from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, followed by postdoctoral positions at Pennsylvania State University and at Washington University School of Medicine. Her career was thrown off-track by two years of treatment for cancer, diagnosed mid-way on her path to promotion and tenure. The support of her colleagues and creative strategies to remain productive allowed her to come back to academia with a renewed passion for research and teaching, and with a healthy approach toward work-home balance.

Dr. Rebecca Ferrell is a biological anthropologist with a background in skeletal biology, dental microstructure and development, paleodemography, and reproductive aging. Her overarching research interests include the reconstruction of health, stress, and mortality patterns in past human populations, and evolutionary adaptations in humans. Since receipt of her doctorate in Biological Anthropology from The Pennsylvania State University she has been a postdoctoral fellow at Georgetown University's Center for Population and Health, a member of the anthropology faculty at Howard University, and a Scientific Review Officer at the National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health. Currently she is on detail to the National Science Foundation, serving as Program Director for the Biological Anthropology program, and is also a Research Associate at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History.

Dr. Kat Willmore is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology at the University of Western Ontario. Her research is largely focused on questions addressing the mechanisms that generate and structure phenotypic variation in mammalian skulls. Following a positive and productive postdoctoral experience at Pennsylvania State University, Kat chose to leave academia and move to a small town in Canada where her husband had secured a job. To fulfill her passion for learning, research and teaching, she took up writing science for a general audience. Science writing gave Kat an opportunity to continue to use, and to build upon her research experience, as well as a chance to practice clear communication of science. Additionally, science writing allowed her to stay up-to-date in her field and to maintain contacts in academia. Ultimately, Kat’s interest in first-hand research lured her back to academics, but her experience as a writer has positively impacted her career and approach to research and teaching.