Anatomy & Physiology: Current Research
Open Access

Dorothy A Frenz

Biography

She received her doctorate in Anatomy in 1988 from New York Medical College, Valhalla, New York, and began her research studies as a postdoctoral fellow in the field of inner ear development at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York. In 1991, she was appointed Assistant Professor of Otolaryngology at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and in 1993 as Assistant Professor in the Department of Anatomy Structural Biology. She became Associate Professor in these departments at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in 1997. She currently hold appointments at Albert Einstein College of Medicine as Professor of Otorhinolaryngology Head Neck Surgery and of Anatomy Structural Biology since 2003, and as Research Professor in Cell Biology Anatomy and in Otolaryngology at New York Medical College since 2010. She has served as Director of Otorhinolaryngology Research at Albert Einstein College of Medicine 20012010, and teaches Clinical Developmental Anatomy 2001present and Histology 2009present laboratories at Einstein.

Research Interest

A primary focus of her research is the inner ear, which originates from a simple otic vesicle that ultimately gives rise to the complex organs of hearing and balance. Periotic mesenchyme surrounds the otic vesicle, giving origin to the cartilaginous otic capsule, which presages the formation of the endochondral bony capsule of the mature inner ear. Her research interests lie in the inductive tissue interactions that govern otic capsule morphogenesis, focusing on where in the embryonic inner ear molecular signals act, how they act, and the consequences of their inactivation. In addition, a recent interest focuses on the generation of brown adipose tissue from ectopic lineages in the mouse embryo.