Assistant Professor
Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine
Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine
Jickssa Gemechu is an assistant professor of Anatomy & Embryology at the Department of Foundational Medical Studies, Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine. He teaches Anatomy, Embryology & Neuroanatomy sessions to M1-M2 students and is involved in course leadership as a co-course director for the Anatomical foundation of clinical practice.
Dr. Gemechu received his Ph.D. in Neuroscience from the University of Verona, Italy, and his B.Sc. in Biology and M.Sc. in Anatomy from Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia. He attended health profession education courses at the University of Maastricht, Netherlands.
Dr. Gemechu’s research interest focuses on neuroinflammation, brain aging, & aging-related neurodegenerative diseases. He also studied the dopaminergic system mechanism in the parkin knock-out rat model, and the findings of these research projects were published in peer-reviewed journals including Scientific Reports/Nature. While gaining training in various medical education skills, in collaboration with Beaumont health colleagues, Dr. Gemechu established an Embark student research project on anatomical considerations during Surgical procedures of the neck with several publications coming out of it. Dr. Gemechu also established collaboration on an international medical education research project to investigate the perception, emotional experiences, and cultural attachments of medical students during human cadaver dissection and how emotional experiences and the attendant coping strategies utilized by the students are affected by cultural attachment and ethnicity.
Dr. Gemechu is a member of several professional organizations including the International Brain Research Organization (IBRO), the Society for Neuroscience (SfN), the American Association of Anatomists (AAA), and the International Association of Medical Science Educators (IAMSE).
