The Centre for Anatomy and Human Identification is one of the few places where students still do dissection of human cadavers, and the only facility in the UK to use Thiel soft fix cadavers in teaching, surgical training and research. A new mortuary is under construction to facilitate Thiel embalming and so enhance and widen opportunities for surgical training, research and product evaluation. Exciting developments are the use of Thiel cadavers in a range of research projects, as well as product development and validation; the establishment of national training workshops to enhance surgical skills training; and the establishment of a clinical anatomy research lab with a national and international reputation.

Our research covers a number of areas including:

• Analysis of bone growth and development by looking at the trabecular organisation of the developing sacrum and scapula.
• Analysis of superficial vein patterns.
• Arterial supply of the sciatic nerve, including the pattern of vasculature in the pelvis, gluteal region and thigh.
• Morphology of the glenoid and acetabular fossae, including the labra.
• The morphology of the coracoacromial ligament.
• The effect of Thiel embalming on tissue structure.
• The validation of Thiel cadavers as a model for training and research in areas such as ultrasound guided regional anaesthetics and interventional radiology

Some of our work is presented in Axis, our online journal for postgraduate and undergraduate student research in the fields of anatomy, forensic anthropology, forensic and medical art, and human identification.

We have research collaborations with Prof O Oguz at the Cukurova University Balcali-Adana in Turkey to study Skull morphology, with the Institute for Medical Science and Technology at the University of Dundee involving the use of Thiel cadavers in medical device development and interventional radiology research and training, and with the Institute for Academic Anaesthesia and Medical Physics in Ninewells Hospital to research the use of Thiel cadavers in Ultrasound-guided Regional Anaestesia. We work with the Applied Computing Department in our vein pattern research.

Anatomy contributes to forensic case work in a number of ways. Our comparative Osteology collection and our adult and juvenile skeletal collections are resources for identifying bones as either human or non-human. We are strengthening the link between anatomy and human identification through research projects that explore exciting new methods of identification such as the use of vein patterns and finger creases.

Recently, a new level 3 and 4 undergraduate anatomy degree programme was developed (for students on the BSc Anatomical Sciences and BSc Anatomical Sciences & Physiology) to provide a solid basis for our graduates to progress into anatomy teaching and research.

We contribute anatomy teaching to the undergraduate MBChB and BDS programmes (medical and dental students), in which students dissect human cadavers - in the case of dental students this concentrates on the head and neck. Science students (BSc Anatomical Sciences, BSc Anatomical Sciences & Physiology, BSc Forensic Anthropology, BMSc students) do a two semester anatomy module in which they dissect all regions of a human cadavers, usually in groups of four students per cadaver.

We also provide postgraduate anatomy training in our MSc Human Anatomy. This is aimed at (but not limited to) overseas students from countries where dissection of human cadavers is not possible. Some of these students stay on to do a PhD at CAHID.