Investigator Paul Trainor, PhD, was recently recognized for his expertise in and contributions to the anatomical sciences by being named a Fellow of the American Association of Anatomists.

Trainor focuses his research program on neural crest cells, a migratory population of cells born early during embryonic development. Neural crest cells ultimately generate much of the bone, cartilage, and connective tissue of the head and face as well as neurons and glia in the peripheral nervous system. In fact, neural crest cells contribute to nearly every organ in the body. Abnormalities during the formation, proliferation, migration, or differentiation of neural crest cells can lead to congenital birth defects.

Trainor has been a longtime member of the American Association of Anatomists and currently serves as the editor in chief of the association’s developmental biology journal, Developmental Dynamics.