Dr. Pratt joined Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine faculty in January 2018 as a tenured professor in the Department of Foundational Medical Studies teaching anatomy. Dr. Pratt joined OUWB from Michigan State University College of Osteopathic Medicine (MSUCOM), where she was a professor of Anatomy, Embryology, Neuroanatomy, Physiology and Histology for seven years. Before that, Dr. Pratt was an associate professor of Anatomy and the Director of Histology at the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine in Lewisburg, WV for four years. Prior to that, Dr. Pratt worked as an assistant professor at Grand Valley State University and as a post-doc at Purdue University.
Currently, Dr. Pratt serves as the newly elected President of the International Fascia Research Society. She has also served a 3-year term as a Board Member of the American Association of Anatomy (AAA) and the American Association of Clinical Anatomy (AACA). Dr. Pratt has been Chair of the Educational Affairs Committee, Professional Development Committee and Committee for Early Career Anatomists within AAA. Highlights of her academic career include receiving the Basmajian Award (AAA) for outstanding research, leadership and teaching in the field of anatomy and the Keith and Marion Moore Award (AAA) for her manuscript on histology education. Dr. Pratt has also been the recipient of numerous teaching awards including five consecutive Golden Apples at MSUCOM and a Golden Apple at OUWB. She has been an invited speaker for the International Association of Medical Science Educators in St. Andrews, Scotland and Leiden, Netherlands. Currently, Dr. Pratt also serves the medical community as a Visiting Anatomy Professor at Weill Cornell School of Medicine and St. George University School of Medicine. Dr. Pratt has been published in and peer-reviewed manuscripts for leading journals such as Clinical Anatomy, Anatomical Sciences Education, Journal of the American Osteopathic Association and Cell Biology. She has also published on fascia in both Women and Men’s Health as well as NIKE magazines.
Dr. Pratt received her dual B.S. in Zoology and Botany/Plant Pathology at Michigan State University and her Ph.D. in Cell Biology at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, where she pursued biochemical oncology research with an emphasis on tyrosine kinase signaling in breast cancer cells in the laboratory of Dr. Michael Kinch. At Michigan State University School of Osteopathic Medicine, she was the Lab Director for a number of courses, including clinical anatomy, neuroanatomy, genitourinary, cardiology and respiratory. She also served the university as a member of MSUCOM Admissions, as the MSUCOM Chair of the Student Retention and Promotion Committee and on the MSU Faculty Senate and University Council. She currently serves OUWB as a member and past Chair of Admissions and as a member of the Student Promotion and Retention Committee as well as the faculty advisor for the Docapellas.
Contact Information:
Office: 418 O’Dowd Hall
Phone: 248-370-4060
Email: [email protected]
Specialties:
Clinical anatomy, radiology, histology, embryology
Education:
Ph.D., Cell Biology and Oncology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN
B.S., Double Major, Zoology and Botany and Plant Pathology; Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI
Research Interests:
Dr. Pratt is a leader in whole body health as it relates to the Fascial System; specifically looking at fascial continuities anatomically and how it aids in muscle attachments, relays somatic pain and regulates our body’s biochemical communications. Dr. Pratt currently serves the international field of fascial scientists as President of the Fascia Research Society. She was integral in the planning of the scientific congress for fascia science in Montreal in September of 2022 as well as a speaker. She is currently overseeing plans for the inaugural Women's Clinical Health Summit in Fascia to be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brasil in May 2024. In 2025 the society will host another congress in New Orleans, LA highlighting the rapidly growing body of work in fascial system anatomy. Dr. Pratt has studied with and taught fascia alongside Dr. Carla Stecco at the University of Padova, Italy and was selected to participate in Gunther von Hagens' BodyWorlds Fascial Net Plastination Project in Guben, Germany. Her piece was selected and plastinated as part of the global traveling specimen set on fascial anatomy. In the classroom, Dr. Pratt focuses on bringing radiology into all aspects of the anatomy medical curriculum to teach foundational anatomy and surgical anatomy while always working towards an evidence-based medical education for students. She has a keen interest in how generational data shapes educational behaviors in both the classroom and clinical settings.
