General Session I
Keynote Address
Wednesday, March 17th
D. Ralph Millard, Jr., MD Lectureship
Sponsored by The Millard Society
Kathleen K. Sulik PhD
Bowles Center for Alcohol Studies, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC
Objective:
Attendees will be able to understand the embryology of normal facial development as it relates to lip and palate especially with regard to orofacial clefting.
Session Chair:
Isaac L. Wornom, III, MD
Session Co-Chair:
Howard M. Saal, MD
Schedule
9:00am
New Views on Normal and Abnormal Facial Morphogenesis
Kathleen K. Sulik, PhD
Dr. Sulik will present an overview of normal facial embryonic development and description of the genesis of both commonly occurring and unusual orofacial clefts, illustrating the complex array of human facial growth centers that are present at early prenatal stages and the positional relationship of these centers to typical and unusual orofacial clefts.
Dr. Sulik will describe her research with colleague, Robert J. Lipinski Ph.D., utilizing mouse models for examination of the genesis of cleft lip and palate following exposure to hedgehog signaling antagonists, and she will illustrate the wide range of clefting subtypes that result from insult occurring during the narrow window of embryonic development that corresponds to the 3rd to 4th weeks of human prenatal development.
Dr. Sulik will also discuss the application of new technologies for examination of concurrent facial and Central Nervous System insult and for identification of face shape alterations in non-cleft, teratogen-exposed subjects.
Kathleen K. Sulik, Ph.D. is a Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology and a member of the Bowles Center for Alcohol Studies at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC. She received her BS from Drake University in 1970, and her PhD in Anatomy from The University of Tennessee in 1976. Her postdoctoral training was in the field of teratology at the University of North Carolina (1976-1978). Research conducted by Dr. Sulik and her students has focused on understanding the cellular mechanisms underlying birth defects, with a major emphasis on the brain and face. Using animal model systems, the majority of work in the Sulik laboratory has been on abnormalities caused by maternal alcohol use. Dr. Sulik has authored over 200 publications. In 1995-6 she served as the president of the Teratology Society and in 2004-5 as President of the Research Society on Alcoholism Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Study Group (FASSG). In 2007 she received the NOFAS Excellence award for her pioneering research and distinguished contributions to the FAS field; and in 2009 she was presented the Henry Rosett award by the FASSG for her career achievements.