Janna M. Andronowski

Andronowski Lab website

Biography

Dr. Andronowski’s research focuses on the high-resolution 3D imaging of bone microstructure and the related study of bone adaptation, aging, and disease.

As a biological anthropologist, anatomist, and biomedical scientist, Dr. Andronowski’s interests are in skeletal biology from a microscopic (histomorphological) perspective and its application to human anatomy, human health, and forensic anthropology. A significant emphasis of Dr. Andronowski’s research program is the study of cortical bone remodeling through the imaging of cortical porosity. Her research increasingly capitalizes on opportunities afforded by synchrotron radiation at the BioMedical Imaging and Therapy beamlines at the Canadian Light Source (CLS) synchrotron facility. Recent projects have further leveraged imaging techniques ranging from microscopy (brightfield, fluorescence, and confocal laser scanning), X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS), and high-resolution 3D imaging modalities such as desktop micro-CT (mCT) and synchrotron radiation-based micro-Computed Tomography (SRmCT).

Current research in the Andronowski Lab is enabled through the generous support of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, Canadian Institutes of Health Research, National Institutes of Health, Canadian Foundation for Innovation, and the Aging Research Centre – Newfoundland and Labrador.

Dr. Andronowski is the Forensic Anthropologist for the province of Newfoundland and Labrador and has over thirteen years of experience working in forensic science-based laboratories (e.g., the Forensic Anthropology Unit at the Office of Chief Medical Examiner in New York City, Simon Fraser University’s Centre for Forensic Research, and the Forensic Anthropology Center at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville). She has also taught a variety of courses and provided public outreach lectures in aspects of forensic science to a diverse audience including law enforcement, undergraduate and graduate students, death investigators, high school students, and forensic scientists. Dr. Andronowski further provides forensic anthropological consulting and training services for external agencies including law enforcement. Please see the 'Forensic Anthropological Consulting' page on her website for details.

Dr. Andronowski is a Fellow of the Anthropology section of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences (AAFS), the Canadian Association for Biological Anthropology, and The American Society for Bone and Mineral Research. She is also the 2019-2020 recipient of the AAFS Anthropology Section’s Ellis R. Kerley Research Award.

Select Publications

Journal Articles

Hande S, Andronowski JM, Miller EH. Microarchitecture of the Penis Bone (Baculum) of a Seal: A 3D Morphometric Examination using Synchrotron and Laboratory micro-Computed Tomography. 2024. The Anatomical Record. https://doi.org/10.1002/ar.25396

Miszkiewicz JJ, Andronowski JM, Schotsmans E. Osteocyte Lacunae Morphology: Biology First, Taphonomy Second. 2023. Quaternary International. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2023.06.007

Andronowski JM, Cole ME, Davis RA, Tubo GR, Taylor JT, Cooper DML. A Multimodal 3D Imaging Approach of Pore Networks in the Human Femur to Assess Age-Associated Vascular Expansion and Lacuno-Canalicular Reduction. 2023. The Anatomical Record. http://doi.org/10.1002/ar.25089

Andronowski JM, Taylor JT. The Andronowski Skeletal Collection for Histological Research: A Modern Anatomical Contribution. Forensic Sci. 2022, 2, 175-189. https://doi.org/10.3390/forensicsci2010014

Londraville RL, Tuttle M, Liu Q, Andronowski JM. Endospanin is a candidate for regulating leptin sensitivity. 2022. Frontiers in Physiology, Metabolic Physiology. https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2021.786299
 
Andronowski JM, Cole ME, TL Hieronymus, Davis RA, Usher LR, Cooper LN. Intraskeletal Consistency in Patterns of Vascularity within Bat Limb Bones. 2021. The Anatomical Record. https://doi.org/10.1002/ar.24694.

Andronowski JM, Schuller AJ, Cole ME, LaMarca AR, Davis RA, Tubo GR. Rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) as a Model System for Longitudinal Experimental Opioid Treatments: Implications for Orthopedic and Biomedical Research. 2021. Osteology. https://doi.org/10.3390/osteology1040021
 
Andronowski JM, Cole ME. 2020. Current and Emerging Histomorphometric and Imaging Techniques for Assessing Age-at-Death and Cortical Bone Quality. Invited Special Issue Article, Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews (WIREs) Forensic Science. https://doi:10.1002/wfs2.1399
 
Harrison K, Hiebert B, Panahifar A, Andronowski JM, Ashique A, Arnason T, Swekla K, Pivonka P, Cooper DML. 2020. Cortical Bone Porosity in Rabbit Models of Primary and Secondary Osteoporosis. Journal of Bone and Mineral Research. https://doi:10.1002/jbmr.4124
 
Emmons AL, Mundorff AZ, Keenan SW, Davoren J, Andronowski JM, Carter DO, DeBruyn JM. 2020. Characterizing the postmortem human bone microbiome from surface-decomposed remains. PLOS-One 15(7): e0218636. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0218636
 
Andronowski JM, Davis RA, Holyoke III, CW. 2020. A Sectioning, Coring, and Image Processing Guide for High-Throughput Cortical Bone Sample Procurement and Analysis for Synchrotron micro-CT. J. Vis. Exp. (160). https://doi:10.3791/61081.
 
Andronowski JM, Mundorff AZ, Davis RA, Price EW. 2019. Application of X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy to Examine Surface Chemistry of Cancellous Bone and Medullary Contents to Refine Bone Sample Selection for Nuclear DNA Analysis. Journal of Analytical Atomic Spectrometry. https://doi.org/10.1039/c9ja00203k.
 
Andronowski JM, Davis RA, Stephen HE. 2019. Inferring Bone Attribution to Species through Micro-Computed Tomography: A Comparison of Third Metapodials from Homo sapiens and Ursus americanus. Journal of Forensic Radiology and Imaging. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jofri.2019.08.001.
 
Nwotchouang B, Eppelheimer MS, Bishop P, Biswas D, Andronowski JM, Bapuraj JR, Frim D, Labuda R, Amini R, Loth F. 2019. Three-dimensional CT morphometric Image Analysis of the Clivus and Sphenoid Sinus in Chiari Malformation Type I. Annals of Biomedical Engineering. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10439-019-02301-5.
 
Andronowski JM, Crowder C. 2018. Bone Area Histomorphometry. Journal of Forensic Sciences. https://doi.org/10.1111/1556-4029.13815.

Andronowski JM, Crowder C, Soto Martinez M. 2018. Recent Advancements in the Analysis of Bone Microstructure: New Dimensions in Forensic Anthropology. Invited Special Issue Article, Forensic Sciences Research. https://doi.org/10.1080/20961790.2018.1483294.
 
Andronowski JM, Pratt IV, Cooper DML. 2017. Occurrence of Osteon Banding in Adult Human Cortical Bone. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 164(3): 635-642.
 
Andronowski JM, Mundorff AZ, Pratt IV, Davoren JM, Cooper DML. 2017. Evaluating differential nuclear DNA yield rates and osteocyte numbers among human bone tissue types: A synchrotron micro-CT approach. Forensic Science International: Genetics (28): 211-218.
 
Book Chapters

Andronowski JM, Taylor JT, Spatola B, Hardiman R, Simms N. 2023. Skeletal Collections for Histological and Imaging Research. In Crowder C, and Stout SD (Eds), Bone Histology: An Anthropological Perspective (2nd Edition). In Press. CRC Press.

Cooper DMLC, Andronowski JM, Wei X, Taylor JT. 2023. Three-dimensional Microstructural Imaging of Bone: Technological Developments and Anthropological Applications. In Crowder C, and Stout SD (Eds), Bone Histology: An Anthropological Perspective (2nd Edition). In Press. CRC Press.

Andronowski JM, Depp RM. 2022. A Multidisciplinary Perspective on the Role of Marginalization in the Identification of Opioid Users in Medicolegal Investigations. In Byrnes J, and Sandoval-Cervantes (Eds), The Marginalized in Death: A Forensic Anthropology of Intersectional Identity in the Modern Era. Lexington Books.

Crowder C, Pinto DC, Andronowski JM, Dominguez VM. 2018. Theory and Histological Methods. In Boyd C, and Boyd DC (Eds), Forensic Anthropology: Theoretical Framework and Scientific Basis. John Wiley & Sons Ltd. Harvard.
 
Crowder C, Andronowski JM, Dominquez VM. 2017. Bone Histology as an Integrated Tool in the Process of Human Identification. In Latham K, Bartelink E, and Finnegan, M (Eds), New Perspectives in Forensic Human Skeletal Identification. Elsevier.