Andrea Taylor, PhD, FAAAS, FAAA

Biography

I am a Professor in the Department of Basic Science, College of Osteopathic Medicine. I am a biological anthropologist and anatomist by training and I currently direct and teach in the anatomy module of Fundamentals of Osteopathic Medicine as well as contribute to the IS courses. I'm a native Californian, having grown up in southern California and received my BA from the University of California, Berkeley, but I've traveled the country quite a bit and received my master's degree from Northwestern University and my Ph.D. from the University of Pittsburgh. Before coming to Touro in 2016, I spent most of my academic career on the faculty of the Duke University School of Medicine, where I directed anatomy education for the Doctor of Physical Therapy and Physician Assistant programs.

My research program focuses on musculoskeletal biomechanics and the evolution of the feeding system with a particular interest in how the musculoskeletal system models, remodels, and adapts to different behaviors. I have a longstanding commitment to building capacity in the STEM disciplines and am actively engaged in providing mentoring, training, and professional development to women and underrepresented minorities in STEM. I am also actively engaged in my professional associations. Currently, I serve as Chair of the American Association for Biological Anthropologists Harassment Committee for Awareness, Response and Equity, and as the American Association for Anatomists representative on the FASEB Board of Directors. I am also co-editor-in-chief of the Journal of Human Evolution.

Education

• B.A., University of California, Berkeley
• M.A., Northwestern University
• Ph.D., University of Pittsburgh

Honors and Awards

• Fellow, American Association for Anatomy (2020)
• Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science (2018)
• Pi Alpha National Honor Society (2014)
• Master Clinician/Teacher Award, Duke University School of Medicine (2010)

Research

Research projects in my lab focus on three areas: musculoskeletal biomechanics, modeling performance, and the functional and clinical implications of anatomical variation. My lab uses comparative approaches using primates and other model organisms to understand the factors that drive evolutionary changes in the mammalian feeding system. In collaboration with labs at the University of Chicago, University of Southern California, Duke University School of Medicine, the University of Missouri School of Medicine, and Monash University in Australia, we also use experimental and comparative approaches from both lab and field studies to model feeding performance using finite element models.  

Current projects include the use of finite-element models of primate mandibles to study the design and performance of the jaws during chewing and biting in humans, great apes, and fossil hominids; fiber-type phenotypes of the chewing muscles in primates and their relationship with feeding behavior and performance; and age-related changes in feeding behavior and morphology.

Recent Publications

2021    Holmes M, Taylor AB. The influence of jaw-muscle fibre-type phenotypes on estimating maximum muscle and bite forces in primates. Journal of the Royal Society Interface, 11, 20210009.

2021    Smith AL, Robinson C, Taylor AB, Panagiotopoulou O, Davis J, Ward CV, Kimbel WH, Alemseged Z, Ross CF. Comparative biomechanics of the Pan and Macaca mandibles during mastication: finite element modelling of loading, deformation and strain regimes. Journal of the Royal Society Interface 11, 20210031.

2021    Taylor AB, Holmes MA. Fiber-type phenotype of the jaw-closing muscles in Gorilla gorilla, Pan troglodytes and Pan paniscus: a test of the Frequent Recruitment Hypothesis. Journal of Human Evolution, 151, 102938. https://doi.org/10.1016/jhevol.2020.102938

2020    Humphries LS, Reid RR, Ross CF, Taylor AB, Freire AR, Rossi AC, Prado FB. Biomechanical and Morphological Analysis of the Pierre Robin Sequence Mandible: Finite Element and Morphometric Study. The Anatomical Record, 304, 1375-1388. doi: 10.1002/ar.24543

2020    Panagiotopoulou O, Iriarte-Diaz J, Abraha HM, Taylor AB, Wilshin S, Dechow PB, Ross CF. Biomechanics of the mandible of Macaca mulatta during the power stroke of mastication: loading deformation and strain regimes, and the impact of food type. Journal of Human Evolution, doi: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2020.102865

2020    Laird MF, Granatosky MC, Taylor AB, Ross CF. Muscle architecture dynamics modulate performance of the superficial anterior temporalis muscle during chewing in capuchins. Scientific Reports 10:6410 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-63376-y

2019    Abraha HM, Iriarte-Diaz J, Ross CF, Taylor AB, Panagiotopoulou O.  The mechanical effect of the periodontal ligament on bone strain regimes in a validated finite element model of a macaque mandible.  Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology (https://doi.org/10.3389/fbioe.2019.00269)

2019    Taylor AB, Terhune CE, Vinyard CJ.  The influence of masseter and temporalis sarcomere length operating ranges as determined by laser diffraction on architectural estimates of muscle force and excursion.  Archives of Oral Biology, 105, 35-45.

2019    Joshi A, Amrhein TJ, Holmes MA, Talsma J, Shonyo M, Taylor AB.  The source and course of the articular branches to the T4-T8 zygapophysial joints.  Pain Medicine, 20, 2371-2376.

2019    Granatosky MC, McElroy EJ, Laird MF, Iriarte-Diaz J, Reilly SM, Taylor AB, Ross CF.  Joint angular excursions during cyclical behaviors differ between tetrapod feeding and locomotor systems.  Journal of Experimental Biology, 222:jeb200451.

2018    Wall CE, Holmes M, Soderblom E, Taylor AB. Immunohistochemistry and proteomics identify the expression of α-cardiac myosin heavy chain in the jaw-closing muscles of sooty mangabeys (order Primates).  Archives of Oral Biology, 91, 103-108.

2018   Huq E, Taylor AB, Su Z, Wall CE. Fiber type composition of epaxial muscles is geared toward facilitating rapid spinal extension in the leaper, Galago senegalensis. American Journal of Physical Anthropology. 166, 95-106.

2018    Taylor, A.  Skull morphology, primate.  In: The International Encyclopedia of Biological Anthropology, Trevathan W (ed.).  John Wiley and Sons, Inc.

2018    Turner T, Bernstein R, Taylor AB. Participation, representation and shared experiences of women scholars in biological anthropology.  Yearbook of Physical Anthropology 165(S65), 126-157.

2018    Taylor AB, Terhune CE, Toler M, Holmes M, Ross CF, Vinyard CJ. The hard-object feeding sooty mangabey does not have jaw-muscle fiber architecture or leverage that facilitates relatively large bite forces compared to other papionins.  Anatomical Record.  Special Issue:  Behavioral adaptations in muscle functional morphology, 301:325-342.   

2018    Teaford MF, Ungar PS, Taylor AB, Ross CF, Vinyard CJ, 2018.  In vivo rates of dental microwear formation in laboratory primates fed different food items.  Biosurface and Biotribology.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bsbt.2017.11.005

2017    Iriarte-Diaz J, Terhune CE, Taylor AB, Ross C.  Functional correlates of the position of the axis of rotation of the mandible during chewing in nonhuman primates.  Zoology 124:106-118.

2017    Panagiotopoulou O, Iriarte-Diaz J, Wilshin S, Dechow PC, Taylor AB, Abraha HM, Aljunid SF, Ross CF. In vivo bone strain and finite element modeling of a rhesus macaque mandible during mastication.  Zoology 124:13-29.

2017    Ross, CF, Iriarte-Diaz, J, Platts E, Walsh T, Heins L, Gerstner GE, Taylor AB.  Scaling of rotational inertia of primate mandibles.  Journal of Human Evolution 106:119-132

2016    Ross CF, Iriarte-Diaz J, Reed DA, Stewart TA, Taylor AB.  In vivo bone strain in the mandibular corpus of Sapajus during different oral processing behaviors. Journal of Human Evolution 98:36-65.

2016    Coiner-Collier S, Scott RS, Chalk J, Cheyne SM, Constantino P, Dominy NJ, Elgart AA, Glowacka H, Lioyola LC, Ossi-Lupo K, Raguet-Schofield M, Talebi MG, Sala EA, Sieradzy P, Taylor AB, Vinyard CJ, Wright BW, Yamashiuta N, Lucas PW, Vogel ER, 2016. Primate dietary ecology in the context of food mechanical properties. Journal of Human Evolution, 98:103-118.

2016    Antón SC, Taboada H, Middleton ER, Rainwater CW, Taylor AB, Turner TR, Turnquist JE, Weinstein KJ, Williams SA, 2016. Morphological variation in Homo erectus and the origins of developmental plasticity. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, 371: 20150236 (DOI: 1098/rstb.2015.0236).

2015    Taylor AB, Yuan T, Ross C, Vinyard CJ.  Jaw-muscle force and excursion scale with negative allometry in platyrrhine primates.  American Journal of Physical Anthropology 158: 242-256.

2015    Huq E, Wall CE, Taylor AB. Comparative fiber architecture of epaxial muscle in strepsirrhine primate species.  Journal of Anatomy, 227:524-540.

2015    Terhune CE, Hylander WL, Vinyard CJ, Taylor AB.  Jaw-muscle architecture and mandibular morphology influence relative maximum jaw gapes in the sexually dimorphic Macaca fascicularis.  Journal of Human Evolution, 82:145-158.

2015    Goode AP, Reiman MP, Harris L, DeLisa L, Kauffman A, Beltramo D, Ledbetter L, and Taylor AB.  Eccentric training for prevention of hamstring injuries may depend on intervention compliance:  a systematic review and meta-analysis.  British Journal of Sports Medicine. 49:349-356.

Memberships and Affiliations

• American Association for Biological Anthropologists
• American Association for the Advancement of Science
• American Association for Anatomists