Academic Title(s)

• Associate Professor of Anatomy and Neurobiology

Administrative Title(s)

• Graduate Faculty, NEOMED
• Graduate Faculty, Biomedical Sciences Program, Kent State University

Bio

Lisa received her undergraduate training in Biology at Montana State University in 1999. After time away from school, she went onto graduate school as a Master’s student in the Department of Evolutionary Biology at San Diego State University. In 2009 she completed her doctoral degree focusing on the evolution and development of dolphin forelimbs from NEOMED and Kent State University. In 2010 she worked as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Illinois and joined the faculty of NEOMED in the Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology. She then focused on the evolutionary and molecular underpinnings supporting the unique skeletons of bats. Her work on bats includes studies of gene expression, matrix composition, and their biomechanical consequences. She studies the skeletal biology of bats with an aging perspective as bats have exceptionally long lives and her research shows they modify gene cell activity to prevent age-related declines in their skeletal system.

Area of Expertise/Research Interests

The Cooper Lab’s research program seeks insights into the interrelationships between molecular signaling and their effects on bone structure and performance within mammals. We explore the molecular and structural basis of the bones of mammals that occupy the seas and skies including bats and whales. These data in form us how mammals modified the skeleton to fly and swim, and also inform us as to the evolutionary origins of unique skeletal attributes associated with life in a fluid habitat.

Educational Background

• Bachelor of Science, Biology, Montana State University, 1999
• Master of Science, Evolutionary Biology, San Diego State University, 2004
• Doctor of Philosophy, Cellular and Molecular Biology, Kent State University, 2009

Courses

• Human Development and Structure

Academic & Professional Activities

• NEOMED, Biomedical Sciences Graduate Program Committee
• NEOMED, Institutional Biosafety Committee
• NEOMED, Musculoskeletal Biology Research Focus Group
• NEOMED, Seminar Series Organizer, Musculoskeletal Biology Research Focus Group

Awards

• 2018 Junior Faculty Award
• National Science Foundation, Collaborative Research: Mechanobiology of a Resilient Bone Extracellular Matrix: A Multiscale Perspective on How Bats Achieve Exceptional Mechanical Properties in their Wing Bones. Engineering, Division of Civil, Mechanical and Manufacturing Innovation

Presentations

• 2018, Team-Based Learning Conference, San Diego, California
• 2017, North American Society for Bat Research Annual Meeting, Knoxville, Tennessee
• 2017, Society of Integrative and Comparative Biology Regional Meeting, Akron, Ohio
• 2017, Ohio Physiological Society Conference

Publications

• Cooper, L.N., Sears K.E., Armfield B.A., Kala B., Hubler M., Thewissen J. G.M. in press. Review and experimental evaluation of the embryonic development and evolutionary history of flipper development and hyperphalangy in dolphins (Cetacea: Mammalia). Genesis: The Journal of Genetics and Development
• Ball HC, Moussa FM, Mimba T, Orman R., Safadi FF, Cooper LN. 2016. Methods and insights from the characterization of osteoprogenitor cells of bats (Mammalia: Chiroptera). Stem Cell Research 17(1): 54-61.
• Cooper L.N., Seiffert E.E., Clementz M., Madar S.I., Bajpai S., Hussain S.T., Thewissen J.G.M. 2014. Anthracobunids from the middle Eocene of India and Pakistan are Perissodactyls. PLoS One 9(10): e109232.
• Cooper, L.N., Cretekos, C.J., and Sears, K.E. 2012. The evolution and development of mammalian flight. WIREs Developmental Biology 1(5):773-779.
• Cooper L.N., N. Sedano, S. Johannson, B. May, J. Brown, C.M. Holliday, and F.E. Fish. 2008. Hydrodynamic performance of the minke whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata) flipper. Journal of Experimental Biology 211: 1859-1867.