Jeffrey Laitman
Encyclopedia
Jeffrey Todd Laitman, Ph.D.
Ph.D.
A Ph.D. is a Doctor of Philosophy, an academic degree.Ph.D. may also refer to:* Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*Piled Higher and Deeper, a web comic strip*PhD: Phantasy Degree, a Korean comic series* PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...

 (b. October 13, 1951) is an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 anatomist and physical anthropologist whose science has combined experimental, comparative, and paleontological studies to understand the development and evolution
Evolution
Evolution is any change across successive generations in the heritable characteristics of biological populations. Evolutionary processes give rise to diversity at every level of biological organisation, including species, individual organisms and molecules such as DNA and proteins.Life on Earth...

 of the human upper respiratory
Upper respiratory tract
The upper respiratory tract or upper airway primarily refers to the parts of the respiratory system lying outside of the thorax or above the sternal angle. Another definition commomly used in medicine is the airway above the glottis or vocal cords...

 and vocal tract
Vocal tract
The vocal tract is the cavity in human beings and in animals where sound that is produced at the sound source is filtered....

 regions. He is Distinguished Professor of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine
Mount Sinai School of Medicine
Mount Sinai School of Medicine is an American medical school in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, currently ranked among the top 20 medical schools in the United States. It was chartered by Mount Sinai Hospital in 1963....

 in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

 where he holds other positions, including: Professor and Director of the Center for Anatomy and Functional Morphology, Professor of Otolaryngology and Professor of Medical Education.

Scientific Research

Laitman’s laboratory at Mount Sinai explores both basic biological aspects of developmental change in a range of mammals – from rodents to nonhuman primates to whales - and how these systems have changed through time. In the area of development, Laitman and colleagues have made considerable strides in investigating change in the breathing, swallowing and vocalizing patterns of human infants. This work has had considerable implications for understanding both basic human anatomy
Human anatomy
Human anatomy is primarily the scientific study of the morphology of the human body. Anatomy is subdivided into gross anatomy and microscopic anatomy. Gross anatomy is the study of anatomical structures that can be seen by the naked eye...

 as well as certain clinical disorders such as Sudden Infant Death Syndrome
Sudden infant death syndrome
Sudden infant death syndrome is marked by the sudden death of an infant that is unexpected by medical history, and remains unexplained after a thorough forensic autopsy and a detailed death scene investigation. An infant is at the highest risk for SIDS during sleep, which is why it is sometimes...

, also known as Crib Death.

Laitman's research on the evolution of the aerodigestive tract has helped to usher in a new methodology that enables the use of fossil
Fossil
Fossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals , plants, and other organisms from the remote past...

 remains as a guide to reconstructing the vocal tract of human ancestors. His work in this area has shed light on the distinguishing features of the human respiratory system, and has had particular implications for understanding the origins of human speech and language
Language
Language may refer either to the specifically human capacity for acquiring and using complex systems of communication, or to a specific instance of such a system of complex communication...

. Laitman’s studies have frequently been the source of much discussion on how living humans may differ from other groups, such as Neanderthals. His work has frequently been covered in the lay and scientific press, and he has often appeared in television documentaries on human origins and the evolution of speech and language both in the United States and abroad, such as the award-winning Miracle Planet
Miracle Planet
Miracle Planet is a six-part documentary series, co-produced by Japan's NHK and the National Film Board of Canada , narrated by Christopher Plummer , which tells the 4.6-billion-year-old story of how life has evolved from its humble beginnings to the diversity of living creatures today.Filmed...

Series, the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

 Documentary, “The Day We Learned to Think,” and The History Channel documentary, "Clash of the Cavemen."

Education and Teaching

Laitman is widely regarded as an outstanding teacher, creative educator, and supportive mentor to students and faculty alike. He has been a leader in incorporating many state-of-the-art advances in imaging and visualization technology into the teaching of anatomy and fostering multidisciplinary approaches to teaching. He has introduced the use of laparoscopes and robots into first-year anatomy education, and collaborated with medical students to teach musculoskeletal anatomy through yoga and Pilates, the latter innovation having received national awards and recognitions. Laitman and colleagues have also pioneered new approaches to introducing “team-work,” “team-responsibility” and “team-teaching,” that bring these essential components of physician development early into the medical school curriculum. He has been particularly successful in mentoring faculty, many of whom have won educational awards both from Mount Sinai and international societies. Laitman has created Teaching Assistant programs for advanced medical and graduate students that allow them to learn how to teach while gaining an even greater knowledge of anatomy. He has been the recipient of many recognitions for teaching and mentorship both within Mount Sinai and from societies around the world.

Biography

Laitman took his Bachelors degree at Brooklyn College
Brooklyn College
Brooklyn College is a senior college of the City University of New York, located in Brooklyn, New York, United States.Established in 1930 by the New York City Board of Higher Education, the College had its beginnings as the Downtown Brooklyn branches of Hunter College and the City College of New...

 of the City University of New York
City University of New York
The City University of New York is the public university system of New York City, with its administrative offices in Yorkville in Manhattan. It is the largest urban university in the United States, consisting of 23 institutions: 11 senior colleges, six community colleges, the William E...

, from which he graduated Summa Cum Laude with honors in Physical Anthropology and History in 1973. Upon graduation from Brooklyn College, he undertook graduate study in Physical Anthropology and Anatomy at Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...

 where he received his M.Phil. in 1975 and Ph.D. in 1977. At Yale Laitman studied under noted anatomist Edmund S. Crelin
Edmund S. Crelin, Jr.
Edmund Slocum Crelin, Jr., Ph.D., D.Sc, b.1923, d.2004 was Professor Emeritus of Anatomy at Yale University.He was born in Red Bank, New Jersey on April 26, 1923, oldest son of Agatha Bublin Crelin and Edmund S. Crelin, Sr. He was valedictorian of the 1942 senior class at Red Bank High School...

 of the Yale School of Medicine
Yale School of Medicine
The Yale School of Medicine at Yale University is a private medical school located in New Haven, Connecticut, U.S. It was founded in 1810 as The Medical Institution of Yale College, and formally opened its doors in 1813....

, paleoanthropologist David R. Pilbeam
David Pilbeam
David Pilbeam is the Henry Ford II Professor of the Social Sciences at Harvard University and curator of paleoanthropology at the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences. He received his Ph.D...

, paleontologist Elwyn Simons, and primate biologists Alison Richard
Alison Richard
Dame Alison Fettes Richard, DBE, DL was the 344th Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge. She was the first female Vice-Chancellor of Cambridge since the post became full-time...

 and Robert D. Martin. He also studied under the famous French paleanthropologist Yves Coppens
Yves Coppens
Yves Coppens is a French anthropologist. He graduated from the University of Rennes. He has studied ancient hominids and has had multiple published works on this topic, and has also produced a film....

 at the Musée de l'Homme
Musée de l'Homme
The Musée de l'Homme was created in 1937 by Paul Rivet for the 1937 Exposition Internationale des Arts et Techniques dans la Vie Moderne. It is the descendant of the Musée d'Ethnographie du Trocadéro, founded in 1878...

and Collège de France
Collège de France
The Collège de France is a higher education and research establishment located in Paris, France, in the 5th arrondissement, or Latin Quarter, across the street from the historical campus of La Sorbonne at the intersection of Rue Saint-Jacques and Rue des Écoles...

, both as a student and during many subsequent research visits to Paris. In 1976, while still a graduate student, he was appointed Lecturer in Anatomy at the Yale University School of Medicine and, in 1977, chosen a Research Fellow of the Human Growth and Development Study Unit at Yale University School of Medicine.

In 1977, Laitman joined the faculty of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine as Instructor in Anatomy. He is currently Distinguished Professor of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, Professor and Director of Anatomy and Functional Morphology, Professor of Otolaryngology, Professor of Medical Education and Director of Gross Anatomy at Mount Sinai; and Professor in the Graduate Faculties of Biomedical Sciences of Mount Sinai and of Anthropology of the City University of New York. Laitman is also a Research Associate at the American Museum of Natural History
American Museum of Natural History
The American Museum of Natural History , located on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City, United States, is one of the largest and most celebrated museums in the world...

, and member of the faculty of the New York Consortium in Evolutionary Primatology (NYCEP), a research-training program supported by the National Science Foundation
National Science Foundation
The National Science Foundation is a United States government agency that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National Institutes of Health...

.

Mentoring, Students, and Collaborators

Laitman has been the research advisor and mentor for many medical and graduate-level students that have gone on to prominent careers in medicine, science, and medical education. Notable amongst these are: comparative anatomists, Joy Reidenberg, Ph.D and Samuel Marquez, Ph.D.; neurobiologist Patrick J. Gannon, Ph.D.; otologist/neurobiologist, David R. Friedland, M.D., Ph.D; anthropologists Douglas Broadfield, Ph.D. and Anthony Pagano, M.Phil.; developmental anatomist Armand Balboni, Ph.D; head and neck cancer surgeon, Eric Genden, M.D.; and health and exercise specialists, Carrie McCulloch, M.D. and Stephanie Pieczenik Marango, M.D.. He has mentored many students in research and taught over 4,500 medical students over his career. Laitman has also mentored many young scientists from around the world, many of whom have come to work in his Laboratory at Mount Sinai. He collaborates frequently with colleagues both in the United States and abroad on a range of scientific and educational projects.

Activities in Scientific and Scholarly Societies

Laitman is an active member in a number of scientific and scholarly societies, most notably the American Association of Anatomists
American Association of Anatomists
The American Association of Anatomists, based in Bethesda, MD, was founded in Washington, D.C. in 1888 for the "advancement of anatomical science." AAA is the professional home for an international community of biomedical researchers and educators focusing on anatomical form and function.In...

 (AAA), one of the premier scientific and educational societies in the world. He has held many positions in the AAA, including being elected a Member of the Board of Directors from 2006-2009. In 2009 Laitman was elected President of the Association and will serve as President-Elect from 2009–2011, President from 2011–13, and Past-President from 2013-2015. In 2009 he was elected Vice President of The Mount Sinai Alumni, Inc., and in 2011 elected President of that organization. In 2009 he was also elected Vice-Chair of the Anatomical Committee of the Associated Medical Schools of New York (ASMSNY). Laitman also serves as Associate Editor and Editor for Functional and Evolutionary Morphology for The Anatomical Record, and in that role has overseen many special issues of that journal, such as recent ones on aquatic mammals, paranasal sinuses, dinosaurs and primate anatomy.

Notable Awards and Recognitions

  • Fellow, American Anthropological Association
    American Anthropological Association
    The American Anthropological Association is a professional organization of scholars and practitioners in the field of anthropology. With 11,000 members, the Arlington, Virginia based association includes archaeologists, cultural anthropologists, biological anthropologists, linguistic...

  • Medal of the Collège de France
  • Honorary Fellow, Associazione Per L'Amicizia Fra I Popoli di Italia
  • Basmajian/Williams & Wilkins Award of The American Association of Anatomists
  • Guest of Honor, 1st Int'l Laryngotracheal Reconstruction Symposium
  • 61st James Arthur Lecturer, American Museum of Natural History
  • Karl Storz Award, American Society for Pediatric Otolaryngology
  • Distinguished Professor of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine
  • Daniel C. Baker Award, American Laryngological Association
  • Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
  • Abraham Jacobi Medallion. The Mount Sinai Alumni
  • Fellow, American Association of Anatomists
  • Award for Achievement in Medical Education, The Mount Sinai Alumni
  • Alfonso Bovero Award, Brazilian Society of Anatomy
  • Corresponding Member, Brazilian Society of Anatomy
  • The Leakey Foundation Lecturer on Human Origins
  • Chinese Society of Anatomical Sciences, Annual Meeting Plenary Lecture on Advances in Anatomy Education
  • Chevalier Jackson Lecturer, American Bronchoesophageal Association

Representative Publications

  • Laitman, J.T., Heimbuch, R.C., and Crelin, E.S. (1978) Developmental change in a basicranial line and its relationship to the upper respiratory system in living primates. Am. J. Anat. 51:15-34
  • Laitman, J.T., Heimbuch, R.C. and Crelin, E.C. (1979) The basicranium of fossil hominids as an indicator of their upper respiratory systems. Am J. Phys Anthropol 51:15-34.
  • Laitman, J.T., and Heimbuch, R.C. (1982) The basicranium of Plio-Pleistocene hominids as an indicator of their upper respiratory systems. Am. J. Phys. Anthropol. 59:323-343.
  • Laitman, J.T. (1984) The anatomy of human speech. Natural History 93:20-27.
  • Laitman, J.T. (1986) L’origine du langage articule. La Recherche 17:1164-1173.
  • Magriples, U., and Laitman, J.T. (1987) Developmental change in the position of the fetal human larynx. Am. J. Phys. Anthropol. 72:463-472.
  • Laitman, J.T. and Reidenberg, J.S. (1988) Advances in understanding the relationship between the skull base and larynx, with comments on the origins of speech. Human Evol. 3:99-109.
  • Gannon, P. J. Laitman, J.T. and Eden, A.R. (1988) The subarcuate fossa and cerebellum in extant primates: Comparative study of a skull-brain interface. Am. J. Phys. Anthropol. 77:142-163.
  • Lieberman, P. Laitman, J.T., Reidenberg, J.S., Landahl, K, Gannon, P.J. (1989) Folk physiology and talking hyoid bones. Nature 342:486-487.
  • Eden, A.R., Laitman, J.T., Gannon, P.J. (1990) Mechanisms of middle ear aeration: Anatomic and physiologic evidence in primates. Laryngoscope 100:67-75.
  • Wolfson, V.P. and Laitman, J.T. (1990) Ultrasound investigation of fetal human upper respiratory anatomy. Anat. Rec. 227:363-372.
  • Reidenberg, J.S. and Laitman, J.T. (1991) Effect of basicranial flexion on larynx and hyoid position in rats: An experimental study of skull and soft-tissue interactions. Anat. Rec. 230:557-69.
  • Lieberman, P, Laitman, J.T., Reidenberg, J.S., Gannon, P.J. (1992) The anatomy, physiology, acoustics and perception of speech: Essential elements in analysis of the evolution of speech. J Hum Evol 23:447-467.
  • Laitman, J.T. and Reidenberg, J.S. (1993) Specializations of the human upper respiratory and upper digestive tract as seen through comparative and developmental anatomy. Dysphagia 8:318-325.
  • Reidenberg, J.S. and Laitman, J.T. (1994) Anatomy of the hyoid apparatus in Odontoceti: Specializations of their skeleton and musculature as compared with those of terrestrial mammals. Anat. Rec. 240: 598-624.
  • Friedland, D.R., Eden, A.R., and Laitman, J.T. (1995) Naturally occurring motoneuron cell death in rat upper respiratory tract motor nuclei: A histological, fast DiI and immunocytochemical study in the nucleus ambiguus. J. Neurobiol., 26:563-578.
  • Laitman, J.T. Reidenberg, J.S., Marquez, S. and Gannon, P.J. (1996) What the nose knows: New understandings of neanderthal upper respiratory tract specializations. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 93:10543-45.
  • Friedland, D.R., Eden A.R. and. Laitman J.T (1996) Use of the novel carbocyanine tracer fast-DiI for investigating upper respiratory tract cranial nerves in prenatal rats. Lab. Animal Sci. 46 (2): 220-225.
  • Laitman, J.T. and Reidenberg, J.S. (1997) The human aerodigestive tract and gastroesophageal reflux: An evolutionary perspective. Am. J. Med. 103 (Suppl 5A): 3-11.
  • Schwartz, J.H., Tattersall, I, Laitman, J.T. (1999) New thoughts on Neanderthal behavior: Evidence from nasal morphology. In: Hominid Evolution-Lifestyles and Survival Strategies, Ullrich, H. ed Gelsenkirchen, Edition Archaea, 166-186.
  • Laitman, J.T. and Tattersall, I (2001) Homo erectus newyorkensis: An Indonesian fossil rediscovered in Manhattan sheds light on the middle phase of human evolution. Anat Rec 262:341-343.
  • Márquez S, Lawson W, Schaefer S.D., Laitman J.T. (2002) Anatomy of the nasal accessory sinuses. In: Wackym P.A., Rice D.H., Schaefer S.D., eds. Minimally Invasive Surgery of the Head, Neck, and Cranial Base. Philadelphia, Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins, 153-183.
  • Balboni, A.L., Estenson, T.L., Reidenberg, J.S., Bergemann, A.D., and Laitman, J.T. (2005) Assessing Age Related Ossification of the Petrooccipital Fissure: Laying the foundation for understanding clinicopathologies of the cranial base. Anat. Rec. 282A:38-48.
  • Laitman, J.T., Noden, D.M., Van De Water, T.R. (2006) Formation of the larynx: from homeobox genes to critical periods. In: Rubin,J.S.(ed.) Diagnosis & Treatment Voice Disorders Plural, San Diego, pp. 3–20.
  • Lipan, M, Reidenberg, J.S and Laitman, J.T. (2006) The anatomy of reflux: A growing health problem affecting structures of the head and neck. Anat Rec., Part B: New Anatomist: 289B:261-270.
  • Reidenberg, J.S. and Laitman. J.T. (2007) Discovery of a low frequency sound source in mysticeti (Baleen Whales): Anatomical establishment of vocal fold homologues. Anat. Rec. 290:745-760.
  • Balboni, A.L., Bergemann, A.D., Reidenberg, J.S. and Laitman, J.T. (2008) Tuberculosis induced changes to the osseous cranial base and potential effects on hearing. Anat. Rec. 291:488-490
  • Márquez, S. Laitman, JT (2008) Climatic effects on the nasal Complex: A CT imaging, comparative anatomical and morphometric investigation of Macaca mulatta and Macaca fascicularis. Anat Rec 291:1420-1445.
  • Laitman, J.T. (2009) The real Jurassic Park: Joseph Leidy's heirs reconstruct the anatomy of dinosaurs. Anat. Rec. 292:1237-1239.
  • Laitman, J.T. and Reidenberg, J.S. (2009) The evolution of the human larynx: Nature’s great experiment. In: Fried M.P., Ferlito, A. eds. The Larynx, 3rd ed., Plural, San Diego, 19-38.
  • Laitman, J.T. (2010) The magic of the monkey house: New insights into the anatomy that makes primates primates. Anat Rec293:541-543.
  • Reidenberg, J.S. and J.T. Laitman. (2010) Generation of sounds in marine mammals. In: Handbook of Mammalian Vocalization: A Neuroscience Approach. S. Brudzynski, Ed. Elsevier, Philadelphia, PA, 451-468.
  • McCulloch, C., Marango, S.M., Friedman, E.S., and Laitman, J.T. (2010) Living AnatoME: Teaching and learning musculoskeletal anatomy through yoga and Pilates. Anat. Sci. Educ. 3:279-286.

External links

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