Gary B. Gillis

Associate Professor of Biological Sciences

Specialization
Biomechanics; neuromuscular control of locomotion; evolution of vertebrate musculoskeletal systems

Gary Gillis says he was drawn to biology because of a strong interest in "how animals work." Says Gillis, "In this age of genome projects, stem cells, and bioinformatics, it is becoming all too easy to lose sight of the organism in biology. I want students to know that the organism is not only relevant but central to the field of biology and that the study of organismal structure and function remains a dynamic and exciting area of inquiry."

Gillis's research interests focus on how animals use their muscles to generate and coordinate dynamic activities such as locomotion. While current knowledge of how muscles function comes from in vitro work in which muscles or their component fibers are studied outside the context of a living organism, Gillis studies how muscles operate within an animal with the goal of eventually relating in vitro properties with in vivo actions.

In past research projects, Gillis has explored locomotor versatility by examining muscle actions in different physical environments and how body size impacts the ways muscles work during terrestrial locomotion. Current work with students includes a project studying the functional role of antagonistic hindlimb muscles during frog locomotion as
well as experiments assessing the importance of the tail during jumping in lizards.

A frequent contributor to scientific journals, Gillis also regularly writes "popular science" pieces for the Journal of Experimental Biology. In 1998 Gillis received a three-year National Research Award from the National Institutes of Health to study "plasticity of limb muscle function during locomotion." In 2003, he was awarded over $200,000 from the National Science Foundation to study the effects of body size on limb muscle function during locomotion. With money from the college's 2008 Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) award, Gillis will be setting up a "gait analysis" laboratory for use by students in physics and biology.

News Links:

"MHC's Cool Classes," Office of Communications, August 9, 2007

"Senior Symposium '07 Students," Office of Communications, April 17, 2007