Maria A. Patestas is Associate Professor of Anatomy at Des Moines University. She has taught gross anatomy, neuroanatomy, embryology, and histology in various programs, and served as the chief coordinator of the physical therapy program neuroanatomy course from 1995 to 2001. In 2000, Dr Patestas received the Outstanding Teacher Award from the Physical Therapy Program Class.

Leslie P. Gartner is Professor of Anatomy in the Department of Biomedical Sciences at the Dental School of the University of Maryland. He has received numerous teaching awards and is the author of Essentials of Oral Histology and Embryology, 3rd Edition (1999), Oral Histology and Embryology, 2nd Edition (1999) as well as the coauthor of the well-respected Textbook of Head and Neck Anatomy, 3rd Edition, with James L. Hiatt (2001), and coauthor of the Color Textbook of Histology, 2nd Edition (2001) and the Color Atlas of Histology, 4th Edition (2005) also with James L. Hiatt. The atlas, which is used by almost half the US medical schools, has been translated into eight languages. He also coauthored Cell Biology and Histology, 4th Edition (2003) with James L. Hiatt and Judy M. Strum and is the Histology consultant to Stedman’s Medical Dictionary, 28th Edition (2006).