Target Audience

Des Moines University faculty, staff, and students.

Purpose

Since the start of her graduate student career, Dr. Butaric has been researching patterns of variation in the nasal cavity and paranasal sinuses among modern humans living in diverse climatic zones. The main purpose of this research is to determine which environmental pressures and/or craniofacial structures affect the size and shape of these internal cavities. After graduating, she has continued this research on the nasal cavity and paranasal sinuses, but switched gears to start looking at the developmental aspects that end up affecting the adult patterns of variation. Dr. Butaric has also begun research on the clinical applications related to sinus form and function, particularly those related to abnormal development.

Learning Objectives

1. Distinguish how (and to a degree why) the nasal cavity and paranasal sinuses vary among diverse human populations.
2. Enable the audience to both identify (and avoid misdiagnosis of) a relatively common sinus pathology in CT/MRI scans.
3. Translate how sinus variation and development can relate to clinical conditions.

Speaker

Lauren Butaric, PhD
Assistant Professor of Anatomy, Des Moines University

Education

• PhD, Anthropology. Texas A&M University
• MA, Anthropology. Florida Atlantic University
• BA, Anthropology. University of Central Florida

Lauren Butaric joined DMU from the University of Missouri, where she was a lecturer and lab instructor in anatomy. Dr. Butaric received her PhD in biological anthropology from Texas A&M University; she also holds a master’s degree from Florida Atlantic University and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Central Florida. Her primary research focuses on craniofacial variation in modern humans, specifically the internal structures of the face. Using computed tomography, she assesses the size and 3D shape of the internal nasal cavity and surrounding paranasal sinuses. By looking at globally distributed populations, Dr. Butaric analyzes which factors, such as diverse environmental pressures and/or overall skull shape, play a role in shaping these structures. Her ultimate goal is to better understand not only how, but why we vary as a species.