COMPARATIVE AND DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY OF THE HUMAN PARANASAL SINUSES

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Paranasal sinuses, or air spaces, are a prominent feature of the modern human face. In fact, their presence may be a paleontological marker for our own species, Homo sapiens. The function of the paranasal sinuses remains largely unknown, and theories as to their role vary from that of non-functional byproducts of facial structure to that of structures playing a key role, along with the nasal cavity, in heating and humidification of inspired air. This research will investigate the relationship between the paranasal sinuses and nasal cavity in both humans and a range of non-human primates and other mammals. The research will involve three main components: 1) comparative dissections of the region using postmortem materials in the laboratory of Dr. Jeffrey Laitman at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, including developmental and histological analyses of humans terrestrial and aquatic mammals; 2) craniometric study of external bony landmarks and measurement of internal volumes at the American Museum of Natural History, using both calipers and a three dimensional digitizer; 3) the use of imaging technologies such as computer assisted tomographs (CT-scans) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-scans) which will provide the opportunity to visualize this region in a manner which was unapproachable previously. Three dimensional reconstructions will permit the calculation of volume and mucosal area of paranasal sinuses and nasal cavities as well as to examine developmental series in greater detail. This research will form the core of the doctoral dissertation of Mr. Samuel Marquez, graduate student in the Ph.D. Program in Anthropology of CUNY, whose co-thesis advisors are Professors Eric Delson (Lehman and the American Museum of Natural History) and Jeffrey Laitman (Mount Sinai). The project is an outgrowth of their previous funded research on facial architecture in Old World monkeys and apes, and on development and evolution of the upper respiratory tract in humans and apes, respectively. Mr. Marquez will be trained and mentored by them at their institutions, and his research will be directed through a three-way interaction. In addition, another CUNY graduate student and an upper-level Lehman undergraduate will be provided similar training as well as the opportunity to assist Mr. Marquez in the carrying out of his research project. Both Delson and Laitman have been responsible for the training of numerous graduate students who have gone on to productive careers in anatomical and anthropological aspects of biomedical research.