Kerin Claeson
Professor of Anatomy, Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine (PCOM).
I have been a member of SVP attending the annual meetings since 2002, and I am delighted to be nominated to serve as Member-at-Large for the Executive Committee. During my membership, I first served as the grad student representative to the Development Committee and then the Chair of the Student and Postdoctoral Liaison Committee. Later I joined the Program Committee as a student and then as a regular member. For several years I served on the SVP Education and Outreach Committee as both a regular member and a chair. I also served as a Dawson Award committee member for 11 years, and I have been Chair of the Graff Award (former the Scientists from Economically Developing Nations Award) since 2017. Finally, I served as a panel member for the JVP memoirs committee and most recently an associate editor for JVP.
My educational background includes a BS from Stony Brook University in Geological Sciences, an MS from University of Massachusetts at Amherst in Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, a PhD from the University of Texas at Austin in Vertebrate Paleontology, and a postdoc at Ohio University.
My research combines the disciplines of comparative anatomy, development, and paleontology to formulate and test phylogenetic hypotheses that consider variability’s impact on vertebrate evolution across ontogeny and over deep time using fishes as a model. I developed longstanding collaborative relationships for collections- and field-based research with an international group of colleagues. I have published this work extensively and make it a point to provide talks to the public on my research at places such as the Philadelphia Public School systems.
Since becoming a faculty member in 2012, I am fortunate to have mentored a diverse group of students at PCOM, within greater Philadelphia, the United States, and internationally, who have all gone on to successful careers. I also served as the director and then as the Assistant Dean of Policy, Assessment, and Evaluation during a major curricular overhaul at the college from 2019-2023. Since 2022 I have worked with Student Affairs and the School of Psychology to develop actionable programming for PCOM’s Mental Health Task Force, as well as served on the Academic Counseling Teams and Clinical Mentorship Co-advising Teams.
As the SVP grows and takes on new challenges, I would like to remain an active part of the operational process, filling in the needs for the society. I hope you’ll consider me for Member-at-Large.