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About Justin
Justin W. Adams is an Associate Professor in the Department of Anatomy and Developmental Biology at Monash University and a core member of the Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute. He serves as Senior Lecturer and Deputy Director of the Centre for Human Anatomy Education in the same department, and as Head of the Integrated Morphology and Palaeontology Laboratory. Adams earned his PhD in 2006 from Washington University in St. Louis, USA, and his first degree in Anthropology with Distinction in 1999 from the University of Washington, Seattle, USA. He joined Monash University around 2003, where he contributes to anatomy instruction across multiple courses, including coordination of the anatomy program for the graduate-entry medical program of the School of Rural Health. Since January 2017, he has held a Research Associate position at the University of Johannesburg. Adams has led palaeontological fieldwork and faunal analysis at sites within the Cradle of Humankind UNESCO World Heritage Site, including Gondolin, Luleche, Hoogland, Haasgat, and Drimolen.
Adams' academic interests and research specializations include Neogene and Quaternary mammal palaeontology and evolution, Australian marsupial anatomy and evolution, South African faunal palaeoecology and taphonomy, human and comparative anatomy, comparative methods, imaging studies, and biochronology. His laboratory reconstructs functional anatomy of living and extinct mammals using CT, MRI, surface scans, synchrotron analyses, and morphometric techniques, while pioneering 3D printing and visualisation for human anatomy education and clinical training tools. As Chief Investigator, he oversees projects such as "The origins of our direct ancestor Homo erectus and its contemporaries" (2025-2029), "Marsupial development on a megafaunal scale: seasonal and developmental records in the teeth of wombats and diprotodons" (2020), "Evolving landscapes of our early South African ancestors" (2017-2020), and "Revealing the Biology of Fossil Megafauna using Tooth XFM Imaging" (2017). Adams has received the ePoster Prize Winner (2015), Monash BDI Awards for Outstanding Achievement (2019, shared with Luca Fiorenza), and Poster Presentation Award (September 2017, shared with H. Richards and A. Evans). His publication record includes over 60 articles, 3 book chapters, 3 comments/debates, and 3 letters. Key works are "Functional optimality underpins the repeated evolution of the extreme ‘saber-tooth’ morphology" (Current Biology, 2025), "Synchrotron X-ray Fluorescence Microscopy Reveals Trace Elemental Indicators of Life History in Marsupial Teeth" (Biological Trace Element Research, 2025), "Applying 3D surface scanning technology to create photorealistic three-dimensional printed replicas of human anatomy" (Future Science OA, 2024), and "Evergrowing incisors of diprotodont marsupials record age and life history" (Archives of Oral Biology, 2024). His contributions extend to media coverage on topics like early human breastfeeding practices.
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