Profile
Dr. Prufrock's research takes a biomechanical approach to investigate how diet and the demands of food processing shape the mammalian chewing system, both within an animal’s lifetime and over evolutionary time. She uses gross anatomy, muscle fiber architecture, and 3D models generated from microCT scans to explore this relationship.
Academic Information
Lecturer
Office
1 Hospital Drive
M174 Medical Sciences Building
Columbia, MO 65212
United States
P. 573-882-1201
Research Interests
- Craniofacial Biomechanics and Development
- Musculoskeletal Biology
Areas of Expertise
- 3D Imaging and Modeling
- Dissection
- Morphometrics
- Biomechanical Analyses
Education & Training
Post-Graduate School
2020 PhD, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
2014 MSc, University of Toronto
Awards & Honors
- 2018 Shelley Saunders Thesis Research Award for “Ontogeny of the Chewing System in Strepsirrhines", Canadian Association for Physical Anthropology
- 2017 Duke Lemur Center Director’s Fund for “Ontogeny of the Chewing System in Strepsirrhines”, Duke Lemur Center
Publications
- Paddock K, Zeigler L, Harvey B, Prufrock KA, Liptak JM, Ficorilli CM, Hogg RT, Bonar CJ, Evans S, Williams L, Vinyard, CJ, DeLeon VB, Smith TD (2019) Comparative dental anatomy in newborn primates: Cusp mineralization. Anat Rec DOI: 10.1002/ar.24326
- Rose KD, Perry JMG, Kumar K, Prufrock KA, Dunn RE, Rana R, Smith T (2018) New fossils from Tadkeshwar Mine (Gujarat, India) increase primate diversity from the early Eocene Cambay Shale. J Hum Evol 122: 93-107. DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2018.05.006
- Perry JMG, Prufrock KA (2018) Muscle functional morphology in paleobiology—the past, present, and future of “paleomyology”. Anat Rec 301: 538-555. DOI:10.1002/ar.23772