Catherine J. Llera Martin, PhD
Assistant Professor of Anatomy
College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific
Join year: March 2023
PhD, Functional Anatomy and Evolution, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, 2023
BA, Anthropology, summa cum laude, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, 2017
BS, Biology, cum laude, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, 2017
Laboratory Instructor, Scientific Foundations of Medicine: Human Anatomy, Johns Hopkins University, 2018-2021
Laboratory Instructor, Introduction to the Human Body, Johns Hopkins University, 2018-2019
ISAC, FOM 1, FOM 2, FOM 3, FOM 4
Broadly, I am interested in 1) understanding how genetic and epigenetic factors (including mechanical loading) influence post-cranial bone morphology, and 2) leveraging these relationships to interpret skeletal variation, make phylogenetic inferences that shape current theories on primate evolution, and understand mechanisms of bone processes such as aging and disease. I use microCT scans, bone microstructural analyses, innovative shape quantification methods, and biomechanical analyses to provide insight into how behavioral and genetic factors affect bony morphology.
National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship ($138,000), 2019
National Science Foundation IRES Fellowship ($3000), 2016
AAA-AABA Anatomy in Anthropology Student Presentation Award, 2022
American Association for Anatomy Student Travel Award, 2020
Langman Award Podium Presentation Finalist, 2019
Hispanic Scholarship Fund Scholar, 2016
American Association for Anatomy
American Association of Biological Anthropologists
Publications
- Llera Martín C. J., Howden D., Subedar, Z.-S., Miwalian R., Shankar T., Azizi F., Principe R. C., Maher Y., Taylor E., & Fricano E. (2025). Entirely Right-Sided Colon: A Case Report. Cureus, 17. https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.99553
- Fricano, E.E.I, Nguyen, J., Hallal, R., & Llera Martín, C.J. (2025). Under the Surface: Correlates with Maxillary Sinus Shape. Journal of Anatomy. PMID:40415665. PMCID:PMC12497543(available on2027-05-26) DOI:10.1111/joa.14283
- McGovern-Lind BR, Proffitt KA, King SEE, Rader HM, Violi DA, Llera Martin CJ, Searight K, Kehrer M, Yeropoli BA, Young JW, Vinyard CJ, DeLeon VB, Smith TD. Developmental milestones in captive Galago moholi. Am J Primatol. (2024) May 7:e23634. doi: 10.1002/ajp.23634. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 38715226.
- Llera Martín, C. J., & Ruff, C. B. (2023). Changes in diaphyseal cross-sectional properties with age in macaques. American Journal of Biological Anthropology, 183(2), e24857.
- Cerio, D. G., Llera Martín, C. J., Hogan, A. V. C., Balanoff, A. M., Watanabe, A., & Bever, G. S. (2023). Differential growth of the adductor muscles, eyeball, and brain in the chick Gallus galluswith comments on the fossil record of stem-group birds. Journal of Morphology, 284(9), e21622.
- Llera Martín, C. J., Rose, K. D., Sylvester, A.D. (2022). A morphometric analysis of Early Eocene Euprimate tarsals from Gujarat, India. Journal of Human Evolution, 164, 103141.
- Smith, T. D., McMahon, M. J., Millen, M. E., Llera, C., Engel, S. M., Li, L., Bhatnagar, K., Burrows, A., Zumpano, M., DeLeon, V. B. (2017). Growth and development at the sphenoethmoidal junction in perinatal primates. The Anatomical Record, 300(12), 2115-2137.
- Abstracts
- Mendoza M., Peterson, A., & Llera Martín, C. J.(2024). Exploring Plantaris Diversity: An Investigation into the Variability and Prevalence of the Plantaris Tendon in the Human Population. The FASEB Journal (Accepted).
- Llera Martín, C. J., Uluutku, A., & Arney (2024). Movement in the Miocene: A SPHARM analysis of fossil catarrhine tali to infer locomotor behavior. American Journal of Physical Anthropology(Accepted).
- Llera Martín, C. J., & Sims, Z.R. (2022). Humeral morphology and locomotion: Discerning functional signals using weighted spherical harmonics. American Journal of Physical Anthropology,177(S73), 108-108.
- Sims, Z.R., & Llera Martín, C. J. (2022). Using weighted spherical harmonics to detect functional locomotor signals at the distal femoral articulation. American Journal of Physical Anthropology,177(S73), 169-169.
- Llera, C. J., Rose, K. D., & Sylvester, A. D. (2020). Morphometric analysis of Eocene primate astragali from India. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 171(S69), 163-164.
- Llera, C. J., Rose, K. D., & Sylvester, A. D. (2020). A Morphometric Analysis of Early Eocene Euprimate Calcanei from Gujarat, India. The FASEB Journal, 34(S1), 1–1.
- Llera, C. J., & Bever, G. S. (2019). Evolutionary Ontogeny of the Avian Adductor Musculature-Endocranial Relationship: Evidence from the Chick. The FASEB Journal, 33(S1), 77.4-77.4. [Podium]
- Llera, C., Benitez, L., Biernat, M., Braun, D., Hammond, A., Patterson, D., & Barr, W.A. (2017). Subregion scale heterogeneity in bovid abundance in the Koobi Fora Formation (Pleistocene, Northern Kenya). American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 162(S64), 265-265.