Anatomy

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Alexander Black

Email Tel: 353 (0)91 492234

Alexander Black has been a Lecturer in Anatomy at the National University of Ireland, Galway (NUI Galway) since 1999. He studied at The Queen’s University of Belfast graduating with an Honours BSc in Anatomy during which time he was awarded the William S. Spear and John James Bell Scholarship, established for the recognition of distinction in anatomical studies; with this award he spent three months as a Research Assistant at the Departments of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology & Emergency Medicine in George Washington University, Washington D.C.under the directorship of Professor Gary Fiskum. He was awarded a Masters of Medical Science degree in Ultrastructural Anatomy and Pathology from The Queen’s University of Belfast and then spent time as a Research Assistant in the Persorption Research Group, Department of Anatomy, The Queen’s University of Belfast prior to coming to Galway. He then spent some months as a Visiting Scientist at the Department of Anatomy, College of Medicine, University of Iowa, Iowa City, USA prior to being appointed Lecturer in Anatomy in Galway. He has held a Licence to Practice Anatomy from the Minister for Health since 2003. In 2001 he was elected President of the Microscopical Society of Ireland and was re-elected to the same post in 2004 thus serving the maximum term as President allowed under the constitution of the Society. He currently serves as a member of the committee.

Research Interests:

The mitral valve in health and disease
Psychological aspects of learning and teaching in Anatomy
The ethics and history of Anatomy
The histological and ultrastructural anatomy of forciples of the order Chilopoda.

Current Collaborations

Hospital for Small Animals. Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies. The University of Edinburgh
RWTH, Aachen, Germany
EvoDevo group, Zoology,– NUI Galway
RCSI Education and Research Centre, Beaumont Hospital Dublin
Centre for Research on Occupational and Life Stress NUI Galway

Representative Grant Awards

Project: The pathophysiology, ultrastructural pathology & echocardiography of equine mitral valve disease

amount: stg£98,500

awarding body: The Home of Rest for Horses, England

Collaborators: Department of Clinical Veterinary Science, University of Edinburgh

Project: Canine Endocardiosis

amount: stg£34, 440

awarding body: The Kennel Club Charitable Trust, London

Collaborators: Department of Clinical Veterinary Science, University of Edinburgh

Project: Study of the ultrastructural pathology of canine mitral valve disease

amount: stg£1,200

Collaborators: Department of Clinical Veterinary Science, University of Edinburgh

awarding body: Cavalier King Charles Spaniel Club, UK

Project: Canine mitral valve disease

amount: stg£21, 087

awarding body: Cavalier King Charles Spaniel Club, UK

Collaborators: Department of Clinical Veterinary Science, University of Edinburgh

Project: Emotional consequences of cadaver dissection – correlates and mediating factors

amount: stg£2000

awarding body: The Higher Education Academy, Centre for Bioscience UK

Collaborators: M. Dempster & DJ Wilson, Departments of Psychology & Anatomy, QUB

Publications:

Culshaw G, French AT, Han, RI, Black A, Pearson GT , Corcoran BM (2010) Innervation of the canine mitral valve and the effects of myxomatous degeneration American Journal of Veterinary Research AJVR, 71(2), 194-202

Han, RI, Black A, Culshaw G, French AT, Corcoran BM (2010) Structural and Cellular Changes in Canine Myxomatous Mitral Valve Disease: An Image Analysis Study The Journal of Heart Valve Disease 19:60-70

Han, RI, Black A, Culshaw G, French AT, Else RW, Corcoran BM (2008) The distribution of myofibroblasts, smooth muscle-like cells, macrophages and mast cells in canine myxomatous mitral valve disease American Journal of Veterinary Research 69(6): 763-769

Flanagan TC, Black A, O’Brien M, Smith TJ, Pandit AS (2006) Reference models for mitral valve tissue engineering based on valve cell phenotype and extracellular matrix analysis. Cells, Tissues, Organs 183(1):12-23

Flanagan TC, Wilkins B, Black A, Jockenhoevel S, Smith TJ, Pandit AS(2006) A collagen-glycosaminoglycan co-culture model for heart valve tissue engineering applications Biomaterials 27(10):2233-2246

Dempster M, Black A, McCorry N, Wilson D (2006) Appraisal and Consequences of Cadaver Dissection Med Educ Online 11:16 http://www.med-ed-online.org/pdf/Res00158.pdf

Hughes BM, Black A (2006) Body esteem as a moderator of cardiovascular stress responses in anatomy students viewing cadaver dissections J. Psychom. Res. 61(4):501-6

Black, A; French, Anne T; Dukes-McEwan, Joanna; Corcoran, BM (2005) Ultrastructural morphologic evaluation of the phenotype of valvular interstitial cells in dogs with myxomatous degeneration of the mitral valve. American Journal of Veterinary Research 66(8):1408-1414

Corcoran BM, Black A, Anderson H, Dukes-McEwan J, French A, Smith P, Devine C (2004) Identification of surface morphologic changes in the mitral valve leaflets and chordae tendineae of dogs with myxomatous degeneration. American Journal of Veterinary Research, 65(2):198-206

Black A (2000) John Cleland 1835-1925 Scottish Medical Journal, 47(6):140-142

Book Chapter: Alexander Black, Brendan M. Corcoran, Ruth Heying, Stefan Jockenhoevel, Thomas C. Flanagan (2009) The Mitral Valve: Development, Structure, Pathology & Tissue Engineering IN: Lukas Schmitt and Timm König (eds), Advances in Cardiovascular Research, Volume 1 Nova Publishers, New York ISBN: 978-1-60741-720-0 [in editorial production]

Membership of professional associations:

Anatomical Society of Great Britain and Ireland
Microscopical Society of Ireland

Department of Anatomy
National University of Ireland, Galway, University Road, Galway, Ireland.
Phone: +353 (0)91 492180; Fax: +353 (0)91 494520
E-mail: Anatomy
This page was last updated Monday, September 12, 2011