Skeletal Biology Research Laboratory

The Skeletal Biology Research Lab (SBRL), under the direction of Dr. Amanda Agnew, investigates the human skeleton using a multidisciplinary approach. Combining anthropological analyses with engineering principles, the SBRL explores bone biomechanics, fracture risk, and assesses patterns of injury in the context of skeletal health. Researchers also explore many topics in forensics and bioarchaeology. Methods of inquiry include experimental techniques, macroscopic and microscopic (histological) approaches, as well as the use of different imaging modalities.

 

SBRL Project Examples

  • Characterizing the material and structural properties of human ribs across the age spectrum
  • The influence of microstructure variability on the mechanical properties of ribs
  • Understanding the response of the human rib to frontal impact through computational modeling
  • Inter- and intra- individual variation in cross-sectional rib geometry and the effects on structural properties
  • Microfracture accumulations at dental implant sites and their potential effect on implant success
  • Mapping spatial patterns of skeletal remodeling at the femoral midshaft
  • Quantifying osteocytic lacunae as an indicator of skeletal integrity
  • Understanding age-associated bone loss through intracortical porosity
  • The effects of stress during development on the skeleton in a medieval Polish sample

Downloadable Versions of SBRL Posters

Agnew_A Revised Approach to Evaluating Osteoporosis in Human Ribs

Agnew_Microfractures in Elderly Ribs: Contributions to Bone Quality

GochaDominguezAgnew_Human v. Non-Human: An Anthropologist's Cross to Bear

HunterAgnew_Vertebral Morphometric Evaluation of Stress in Modern Pediatric Patients

DominguezAgnew_Patterns in Resorptive Spaces in Elderly Rib Cortices

GochaAgnew_Regional Variation in Osteon Population Density at the Femoral Midshaft - Implications for the Asymptote

HunterAgnew_Nonuniform Osteocytic Lacunae Distribution across the Femoral Cortex

MurachAgnew_Geometric Properties of the Human Rib: Application in injury biomechanics research

Agnew_Patterns of Violent and Non-Violent Trauma in a Medieval Population from Giecz, Poland

Agnew_A Comparison of Traumatic Injury Patterns Between a Rural and an Urban Population from Medieval Poland

Agnew_Developmental Dysplasia of the Hip in a Child from Medieval Poland

Agnew_The Relationship Between Microstructure and Material Properties of Pediatric Ribs

Agnew_Determining the Relationship Between Material Properties and Microstructure of Human Pediatric Ribs

Agnew_A Medieval Polish Skeleton Exhibiting an Unusual Pattern of Cranial and Post-Cranial Lesions

Agnew_Osteochondritis Dissecans as Evidence of a Labor Intensive Adolescence?

Hunter_A Differential Diagnosis of a Diffuse Idiopathic Skeletal Hyperostosis (DISH) in a Gorilla gorilla gorilla Specimen

Rose_Defining Patterns in Human Bone Microstructure Through the Application of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Software

GochaAgnew_Mapping Spatial Patterns in Cortical Bone Histology from the Femoral Midshaft using Geographic Information Systems Software

Messer_Analysis of Human Rib Fracture Mode

Murach_Robusticity in the Axial Skeleton: An example of the rib

DominguezAgnew_Potential Influences on Rib Osteon Area

GochaAgnew_Regional Variation in Osteon Size at the Femoral Midshaft

HunterAgnew_Intracortical Porosity of the Distal Radius: Association with Evidence of Systemic Remodeling