Three faculty from the medical school’s Department of Pathology who are developing a protocol and database for estimating the age of skull fractures were recently recognized for their work during an Excellence in Discovery Luncheon at Western Michigan University.
Carolyn V. Isaac, PhD, Jered B. Cornelison, PhD, and Joseph A. Prahlow, MD, were among more than 80 faculty faculty and staff from WMU, WMed and WMU-Cooley Law School who were honored during the luncheon, which was held on Friday, February 23, 2018, at WMU’s Fetzer Center as a part of the university’s Spring Convocation.
“Your activities and those of your colleagues and students send a clarion message that research and discovery are at the very core of who we are,” WMU President Dr. Edward Montgomery said during the event.
In September 2017, Drs. Isaac, Cornelison and Prahlow were awarded a two-year $576,000 grant from the National Institute of Justice for their project “Investigations on the Cellular and Morphologic Characteristics of Cranial Vault Fracture Research and Development of a Time Since Fracture Protocol and Database.”
The impetus for the study stemmed from cases previously analyzed by the doctors, especially potential child abuse case, where there was evidence of skull fractures in different stages of healing. The big questions the doctors were often left with was ‘When did the skull fractures happen?’ and does the information corroborate the information given from caregivers.
In an effort to answer those questions, the research being done by Drs. Isaac, Cornelison and Prahlow is centering on the creation of a database of decedents with skull fractures of known injury dates with additional information on the cause of the fractures, co-morbidities and photographic, radiologic and histological documentation of the injuries. The research is also focusing on the histological evaluation of skull fracture healing to determine the cellular and tissue progression at different anatomic zones within the fracture sites and establish stages of fracture healing with specific tissue and cellular characteristics.
The team is hopeful that the two-year project will lead to a better understanding of how skull fractures heal and become a national model for the sampling, analysis and evaluation of healing skull fractures. They also are trying to set the stage for further study a way to scientifically determine the age of healing skull fractures.
Drs. Isaac, Cornelison and Prahlow were not able to attend the February 23 luncheon at WMU. Drs. Elizabeth Douglas and Wendy Lackey-Cornelison from WMed’s Department of Pathology and Biomedical Sciences, respectively, attended the luncheon and accepted the awards on their colleagues’ behalf.
Dale Vandré, PhD, the medical school’s associate dean for Research, said he was appreciative of the recognition that the Excellence in Discovery Luncheon provided for WMed faculty.
“I think it’s really nice,” Dr. Vandré said. “It shows how we can work closely together and collaborate on research endeavors in the future.”