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Magdalene College Cambridge

Professor Cecilia Brassett

Professor Cecilia Brassett is the Teaching Professor of Human Anatomy and organises anatomy teaching for second year medical students. She runs an anatomy module for third year students and supervises anatomical research projects.

At Magdalene she is Director of Studies for Part 1B (the second year) of the Medical Sciences tripos. She is also an Undergraduate Tutor and Deputy Senior Tutor.

In the Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience, she is a member of the Teaching Committee and of the Academic Staff Committee. She sits on the Medical and Veterinary Sciences Tripos Part I Committee in the Faculty of Biology and is a member of the Cambridge University Medical Education Network.

Research Interests

Clinically applied research in topographical anatomy, in collaboration with consultants in different specialties, including gastroenterology, orthopaedics, plastic surgery and oral maxillofacial surgery.

She has recently completed a 3-year collaborative Erasmus+ project entitled “The LEANbody Project” with colleagues from the University of Pécs (Hungary), Masaryk University (Brno, Czech Republic), University of Zagreb (Croatia), and Karolinska Institutet (Sweden).

Qualifications

  • MB
  • BChir
  • MA
  • MChir
  • FRCS
  • FAS
  • SFHEA

Professional Affiliations

  • Fellow and MRCS Examiner, Royal College of Surgeons of England
  • Councillor and Deputy Honorary Secretary, The Anatomical Society
  • Councillor and Membership Secretary, British Association of Clinical Anatomists
  • Vice President, Institute of Anatomical Sciences

Selected Publications

C. Brassett, E. Evans, and I.H.H. Fay, The Secret Language of Anatomy (2017)

C. Brassett, P. Brassett, and M.-Y. Lu, The Tujia Language (2006)

Impact of anatomical research projects for medical students: A cross-sectional survey of academic and professional skills, clinical aspirations and appreciation of anatomy.
Sinha A, Thirunavukarasu AJ, Bonshahi A & Brassett C.
Clin Anat. 2025 Jan; doi: 10.1002/ca.24259. Online ahead of print.

A national survey on the use of ultrasound as an educational tool to complement anatomy teaching at UK medical schools.
Tandon A, Moneim J, Hector L, Fletcher P, Moonga I, Fawcett S, Taylor H & Brassett C.
Clin Anat, 2025 Jan: 38(1): 90-96; doi: 10.1002/ca.24229

Ultrasonographic visualization of anatomical variations of the supraclavicular nerves.
Bridgwater H, Hector LR, Xiang P, Sardesai N, Brassett C & Sardesai A.
Clin Anat, 2024 Nov 37(8): 834-839, doi: 10.1002/ca.24099.

Anatomical dissection continues to be a uniquely valuable teaching tool for the future plastic surgeon.
Tullie S, Moneim J, Wong KY & Brassett C.
J Plast Reconstr Aesthet Surg. 2024 Nov 98: 337-338, doi: 10.1016/j.bjps.2024.09.045

Terminologia Anatomica 2nd edition: Perspectives from anatomy educators in the United Kingdom.
Adds PJ, Longhurst G, Brassett C, Clancy J, Sulaiman S, Ashwood N & Hamilton DL.
Anat Sci Int. 2024 Sep 99(4): 366-377, doi: 10.1007/s12565-024-00784-4.

The cadaveric research model for calcaneus fractures: A scoping review of biomechanical, anatomical, radiographic and fracture fixation studies.
Pang J, Hussain A, Yan M, Kapur K, Solomou G, Brassett C, Pasapula C & Norrish AR.
Foot (Edinb). 2024 Jun; 59:102085; doi: 10.1016/j.foot.2024.102085

Incomplete partition Type II cochlear malformations: Delineating the three-dimensional structure from digitized human histopathological specimens.
words C, Geerardyn A, Zhu M, O’Malley JT, Wu P, Arenberg JG, Podury A, Brassett C, Bance M & Quesnel AM.
Otol Neurotol. 2023, 44(9): 881-889.

Examining medical student volunteering during the COVID-19 pandemic as a prosocial behaviour during an emergency.
Byrne MHV, Ashcroft J, Wan JCM, Alexander L, Harvey A, Arora A, Schindler N, Brown MEL & Brassett C.
Postgrad Med J. 2023 Jul 21: 99(1174): 883-893, doi: 10.1093/postmj/qgad015.

Maintaining cadaveric dissection in the COVID era: New perspectives in anatomy teaching and medical education.
Brassett C, Chilvers N, Lloyd R, Fletcher P, Fay I, Spear M & Taylor H.
Eur J Anat. 2022 May 25:107-116.

COVID-19 and anatomy: Stimulus and initial response.
Brassett C, Cosker T, Davies DC, Dockery P, Gillingwater TH, Lee TC, Milz S, Parson SH, Quondomatteo F & Wilkinson T.
J Anat. 2020 Sep 237(3): 393-403, doi: 10.1111/joa.13274