photo by Meghan Strell

Postmortem Panel Discussion
on the Art & Ethics of Anatomy

David A.McKay, our host, is the museum coordinator for the Feet First Exhibit at the Dr. William M. Scholl College of Podiatric Medicine at Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science.

HUGH T. MCELWAIN received his doctorate from the Marianum Pontifical Faculty, Collegio Sant’Alessio, Rome, Italy, 1972. He was Professor of Systematic Theology and Academic Dean, Catholic Theological Union, Chicago, IL., 1968-1972. Member of the Institute for Religion and Science, 1969-1973. Professor of Theology at Domincan University (formerly Rosary College), 1973 to the present, and Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, 1994-2002. He has lectured extensively on theology and science, especially in reference to the scientific phenomenology of Teilhard de Chardin, most recently presenting papers at the 2005 Conference “Discovering Fire”, commemorating the 50th anniversary of Teilhard’s death, “Comparing Teilhard de Chardin’s The Human Phenomenon with John Stewart’s Evolution’s Arrow,” and “A Metaphysics of the Future: Science and Theology, Partners in Dialogue” at the 2006 Metanexus Conference in Philadelphia (www.metanexus.net/conference2006/papers.asp). Among his other publications are An Introduction to Teilhard de Chardin, St. Augustine’s Doctrine on the Just War, Theology of Limit and the Limits of Theology, as well as a chapter in Earth Ethics’ Report.

DAVID H. T. HARRISON, Ph.D. – The son of a Chinese Legal History Scholar and a Professor of Clinical Psychology, David was born a Jew (by Jewish law), with an awareness of Jewish religious tradition, although he was brought up in the tradition of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers). David was raised in a suburb of Boston, MA, after which he attended Emory University, where, inspired by the work of Rosalind Franklin, David first studied X-ray crystallography with Dr. Byron Rubin earning, both B.S. and M. S. degrees in Physical Chemistry, in 1983. David subsequently earned an M.Phil.Degree at Yale University in the Molecular Biochemistry and Biophysics Department in 1985. In 1986, David returned to science after working as a software engineer and worked in Eastman Kodak’s Life Sciences Division. In 1987, David returned to Yale to work with Dr. Peter Moore on the neutron scattering of properties of ribosomes and earned his Ph.D. (in 1992). After three years of post-doctoral studies in the laboratories of Drs. Greg Petsko and Dagmar Ringe at Brandeis University, David became an assistant professor of Biochemistry at the Medical College of Wisconsin. In 2003, David moved to RFUMS as a tenured associate professor in the department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and director of the X-ray Facility in the Rosalind Franklin Structural Biology Laboratories.

MARC S. ABEL, PH.D., first encountered gross anatomy while working on his Master’s degree at Wayne State University. He taught anatomy as part of his PhD training in Neuroscience at the University of Texas. After spending nearly 10 years conducting research in the pharmaceutical industry, the desire to return to academia prompted his move to The Chicago Medical School in 1990. In addition to his own NIH-funded research and administrative activities, Dr. Abel has taught gross anatomy to students in all programs at the University, and was course director for several years. He has also been involved in bringing technology to the University and to the Gross Anatomy laboratory. Dr. Abel believes that although technology can be used to great advantage as an adjunct to traditional methods in the teaching of anatomy, the experience of hand’s-on dissection is necessary. This fundamental approach, with its associated feel, sights, sounds, and smell, serves to emphasize the material by making it real. Perhaps more importantly, it provides a powerful reminder to students that they are studying to be healthcare providers for humans.