Frank H. Willard, PhD

Dr. Willard is currently Professor and Chair of the Department of Anatomy at the University of New England, College of Osteopathic Medicine. Dr. Willard’s expertise is in the area of pain mechanisms, spine pain, cervical and lumbosacral spine anatomy, and problem-oriented learning in the medical school curriculum. He received his PhD in anatomy and neurobiology from the University of Vermont, College of Medicine in 1981. His research interests include the neurovascular anatomy of the cervical and lumbosacral spine and developing problem-oriented learning paradigms for training medical students. His current research or scholarship areas are how the use of transforaminal injections to address chronic pain syndromes has resulted in numerous catastrophic accidents involving iatrogenic paralysis and death following inadvertent injection of the spinal cord blood supply. He has been investigating the size and distribution of spinal medullary arteries to help physicians better protect against injuring their patients.