Dr. Wilfredo L贸pez-Ojeda has combined a love of physiology with his artistic eye in creating his first textbook and lab manual, 鈥淚ntegrated Human Physiology.鈥� The peer-reviewed book, which was printed in January and published by Hayden McNeil Publishing Company, will also be available as an e-book soon.
The book approaches physiology in an integrated way, just the way the human body works. It features models who work and study at 麻豆映画传媒 and incorporates formatting and colors that help the brain learn best, according to neuroscience.
鈥淢y goal was to re-invent the wheel when it came to a physiology book,鈥� said Dr. L贸pez-Ojeda, an assistant professor at the College of Medicine鈥檚 Burnett School of Biomedical Sciences. 鈥淭here are already too many outstanding human physiology textbooks that include typical presentation methodologies. Physiology is math, chemistry and physics applied to the human body. I wanted to make physiology eye-catching, tangible and easy to understand.鈥�
Illustrations include simple drawings that show tissues next to actual histology micrographs that Dr. L贸pez-Ojeda created to show real human tissues. Students see the simple version first in almost a cartoon form. Then they graduate to a more complicated, real-life histology micrograph. Dr. L贸pez-Ojeda says too many undergraduate students see complicated mechanisms and math equations in physiology books and become overwhelmed. Their first reaction: 鈥淚 don鈥檛 get this. I quit.鈥� The goal of his book, he says, is to illustrate human physiology — integrated with other basic sciences 鈥� in a way that is relevant and attractive to the eye, yet does not demean the science.
The book鈥檚 colors are soothing pastels, not dark, intimidating, depressive hues. Dr. L贸pez-Ojeda has also incorporated his passion for exercise and yoga to illustrate the complex science. One of the 麻豆映画传媒 models, whose photo introduces the chapter on metabolism, is doing yoga鈥檚 Cobra pose, which is believed to improve metabolism by stimulating the circulation of blood and lymphatic fluids in the body.
The book is organized by systems, just like the human body, because 鈥渉uman organs do not work in an isolated manner,鈥� Dr. L贸pez-Ojeda said. 鈥淭he human heart isn鈥檛 just a piece of muscle. Its functions not only interface all body organs, but also support all human systems.鈥�
Lab exercises and activities accompanying each chapter are also simplistic in design. Take neurophysiology, the study of how the nervous system works. Students can鈥檛 see inside their own brains. They can鈥檛 touch neurotransmitters or synapses. But they can see and touch their skin. So Dr. L贸pez-Ojeda integrates the skin to discuss how stimuli like temperature, touch and vibration are perceived by specific cutaneous receptors and interpreted by the brain. 鈥淢y goal is to teach neurophysiology employing a simple concept that students will understand, learn and remember,鈥� he said. 鈥淓veryone knows the skin.鈥�
Dr. L贸pez-Ojeda鈥檚 scientific interests are many. As an undergraduate, he researched the retina 鈥� how certain neurotransmitters convey what we see. As a graduate student he focused on topics including muscular dystrophinopathies, the impact of a prenatal stress on the developing embryo and cocaine addiction among women. More recently he has examined natural and integrative medicine therapies for the treatment of the cocaine-addicted brain. He said that even as a child he was always curious about how the body works.
鈥淚 am a scientist and clinician at heart,鈥� he said. 鈥淚鈥檓 always questioning, 鈥榃hat? How?鈥� It鈥檚 just a part of me. 聽I always need to find out how things work and if the process can be improved.鈥�