Keynote & Plenary Speakers

Keynote Speech Chair: TBA

Date & Time : Sept. 6 (Fri), 09:20-09:50
Venue : Multi-Purpose Auditorium (1F)

Imagining the Future of Anatomy Education: Innovation through Collaboration

Claudia Krebs
Professor of Teaching
Cellular and Physiological Sciences
University of British Columbia
Canada

Dr. Claudia Krebs is a Professor of Teaching at the University of British Columbia where she teaches neuroanatomy and gross anatomy. She has a keen interest in working with emerging technologies to leverage their potential for the classroom. In 2017 she created the multidisciplinary HIVE (Hackspace for Innovation and Visualizations in Education). The HIVE has created many xR innovations, including a full VR anatomy lab. Dr. Krebs' impact is global through her websites where she shares all of her team's work as open educational resources including xR resources, games, videos, e-books, and interactive web materials available her websites: www.neuroanatomy.ca and www.clinicalanatomy.ca. In 2021 Dr. Krebs was named a Fellow of the American Association for Anatomy.

Plenary Session 1 Chair: TBA

Date & Time: Sept. 6 (Fri), 10:10-10:40
Venue : Multi-Purpose Auditorium (1F)

Comprehensive Anatomical Research of the Face and Neck: Clinical Implications and Insights

Hee-Jin Kim
Professor, EIC of ACB journal
Division in Anatomy & Development Biology, Department of Oral Biology
Yonsei University College of Dentistry
Korea, Republic of

Dr. Hee-Jin Kim serves as a professor in the Division of Anatomy & Developmental Biology at Yonsei University. A Yonsei alumnus, he secured his DDS from the College of Dentistry in 1991, followed by a PhD in 1996. Dr. Kim's dedication to clinical anatomy over the past three decades is underscored by collaborations with preeminent clinical anatomists and clinicians. As the Director of the BK21 PLUS project at Yonsei, he plays a pivotal role in the academic realm. Additionally, he is the Editor-in-Chief of 'Anatomy and Cell Biology', an Associate Editor for 'Surgical & Radiologic Anatomy', and a key member of the 'Clinical Anatomy' editorial board. His scholarly impact is evident through his prolific output of over 350 peer-reviewed articles and 20 textbooks.

Plenary Session1 Chair: TBA

Date & Time: Sept. 6 (Fri), 10:40-11:10
Venue: Multi-Purpose Auditorium (1F)

Evolution of Vertebrates from Developmental and Anatomical Perspectives

Shigeru Kuratani
Team Leader & Chief Scientist
Laboratory for Evolutionary Morphology
RIKEN Center for Biosystems Dynamics Research
Japan

Born in Osaka, Japan in 1958, Dr. Kuratani received his Ph.D. from Kyoto University. After studying at the Medical College of Georgia and Baylor College of Medicine in the US, he became an Assistant Professor at Kumamoto University in 1994, a Professor at Okayama University in 1997, and engaged in research as a PI at RIKEN CDB, BDR, and CPR from 2002 to 2024. He specializes in the Evolutionary Developmental Biology of vertebrates, focusing on the evolution of head morphology and musculoskeletal system. He is also the Editor-in-Chief of Zoological Letters.

Plenary Session 2 Chair: TBA

Date & Time: Sept. 7 (Sat), 10:10-10:40
Venue : Multi-Purpose Auditorium (1F)

Exploring Cellular Heterogeneity in Adult Human Skin

Fiona M. Watt
EMBO Director
Directors' Unit
EMBL Heidelberg
Germany

Fiona Watt obtained her first degree from Cambridge University and her DPhil, in cell biology, from the University of Oxford. She was a postdoc at MIT, where she first began studying differentiation and tissue organisation in mammalian epidermis. She established her first research group at the Kennedy Institute for Rheumatology in London and then spent 20 years at the CRUK London Research Institute. She helped to establish the CRUK Cambridge Research Institute and the Wellcome Trust Centre for Stem Cell Research and in 2012 she moved to King's College London to found the Centre for Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine. From 2018 to 2022 she was on secondment as Executive Chair of the Medical Research Council. In 2022 she moved to Heidelberg where she runs a lab at EMBL and is EMBO Director.

Plenary Session2 Chair: TBA

Date & Time: Sept. 7 (Sat), 10:40-11:10
Venue: Multi-Purpose Auditorium (1F)

Efferent Projections from Paraventricular Thalamic Nucleus related to Chronic Pain Comorbid with Anxiety and Depression

Yun-Qing Li
Professor
Department of Anatomy, Histology and Embryology & KK Leung Brain Research Centre
The Fourth Military Medical University
China

Yun-Qing Li is the Professor of the Fourth Military Medical University of China, the President of Chinese Society for Anatomical Sciences (CSAS), and the Director of KK Leung Brain Research Centre. Dr. Li received his MD in clinical medicine from his university, China, in 1984, and PhD in neuroanatomy from his university, China, in 1989, and Kyoto University, Japan, in 1990, respectively. Dr. Li's research interests mainly focus on nociceptive sensory information transmission and modulation. His research work has made significant progress in central endogenous pain control system, chronic pain, and new neural pathways that interact with emotion and cognition, providing new anatomic basis for more effective treatment of pain. As a first author or corresponding author, he has published more than 260 peer-reviewed articles in Neuron, JCI, Nature Communications, and so forth.

Plenary Session 3 Chair: TBA

Date & Time: Sept. 8 (Sun), 10:10-10:40
Venue : Multi-Purpose Auditorium (1F)

Teaching Anatomical Sciences through the Digital Platform: Changing Perspectives on
Instructions

Wojciech Pawlina
Professor of Anatomy and Medical Education
Department of Clinical Anatomy
Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science, Rochester, MN
United States

Wojciech Pawlina, M.D., is a Professor of Anatomy and Medical Education at Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science in Rochester, MN, USA. He earned his medical degree from the Copernicus Medical School in Krakow, Poland, where he taught anatomy to medical and dental students and completed his residency in ObGyn. After relocating to US, he was appointed as a Postdoctoral Associate and then as an Assistant Professor of Anatomy and Cell Biology at the University of Florida College of Medicine in Gainesville, FL. Currently at Mayo Clinic he teaches anatomy and histology to medical and health care professions students, as well as residents and fellows. He is an author of several histology and anatomy books and atlases. He is a Founding Co-Editor and past Editor-in-Chief of the Anatomical Sciences Education.