FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – At their annual meeting in Columbus, Ohio, April 8-9, the Paleopathology Association awarded Jerry Rose of the anthropology department at the University of Arkansas the Eve Cockburn Mentorship Award for 2008. The association is a worldwide organization of scholars who conduct research on ancient human diseases.

The Eve Cockburn Mentorship Award is given to association members for outstanding mentorship activities not only of their own students but also others who are or wish to become paleopathologists. Candidates for the award must have been members of the association for at least 10 years.

Rose is chair of the anthropology department in the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences.

U.S. and Canadian scientists formed the Paleopathology Association in 1973. Meeting in Detroit for a symposium sponsored by the Smithsonian Institution, the Detroit Institute of Arts, and Wayne State University Medical School, the participants performed a controlled, multidisciplinary autopsy on an Egyptian mummy. Believing that human skeletal and mummified remains can yield tremendous information about the past, the participants formed an informal association.

Today, the Paleopathology Association is composed of researchers, scientists and students from many fields, including physical anthropology, medicine, archaeology and Egyptology from around the world. Membership is open to all who are interested, and more information is available at http://www.paleopathology.org/members.html. Members are dedicated to sharing information, ideas and resources.