The Laboratory for Evolutionary Anatomy is directed by Nathan Young, PhD.

Dr. Young is an evolutionary biologist with a background in biological anthropology, anatomy and embryology, and developmental biology.

The Young Laboratory addresses biomedical basic research through the lens of evolution, utilizing functional compromise and historical constraint as fundamental explanatory principles. When combined with mechanistic insights from experimental systems, this approach yields significant insights into the generation of individual phenotypes, both normal and abnormal.
The lab research program combines classical embryology, modern experimental and genetic tools, and advanced methods for quantifying and comparing phenotypes at a range of scales. This approach has significance for understanding not only the processes that contribute to and constrain evolutionary diversity, but also the individual phenotypic differences found within species and among individuals, including dysmorphologies associated with human disease states. Research includes the study of normal mechanisms of development as well as the etiology of congenital developmental defects, and is strongly relevant to longstanding goals of providing personalized and predictive medicine.