Professor Cecilia Brassett
College positions: Fellow, Director of Studies in Medical Sciences (Part IB), College Lecturer in Medicine, Deputy Senior Tutor
University position: Teaching Professor of Human Anatomy, Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience
Subject: Anatomy; Medical Sciences
Group membership: Governing Body; Academic Committee; Tutors and Pastoral Team; Music Committee; Chapel Affairs Committee
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 specialities, 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
Body of work: The silent teacher helping students learn anatomy
KEY PUBLICATIONS
The Secret Language of Anatomy, C. Brassett, E. Evans, and I.H.H. Fay, 2017.
The Tujia Language, C. Brassett, P. Brassett, and M.-Y. Lu, 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.
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, 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, DOI: 10.1111/joa.13274.
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.