Our History
Teaching and researching anatomy and physiology since 1862.
The new Department of Anatomy and Physiology is the result of a merger between the Departments’ of Anatomy and Neuroscience and Physiology in January 2021.
The Department of Anatomy and Neuroscience has a rich history in teaching anatomy, beginning in 1862 with the appointment of the first Professor John Britton Halford as Professor of General Anatomy, Physiology and Pathology.
Teaching in topographic anatomy continues to be a major area of activity in the merged department – enhanced by well-equipped dissection facilities and valuable educational resources of the nearby Harry Brookes Allen Museum of Anatomy and Pathology.
The Department of Physiology was established in the same year as Anatomy and Neuroscience, and has a proud history associated with some of the great names in Australian science.
Over the decades, our research has explored the territory between genes and body function with special relevance to the health and diseases affecting the skeletal muscle, heart and blood vessels, liver and adipose tissue, the brain and nerves, the gastrointestinal system and the processes of intergenerational disease transmission.
Body Donor Program
Introducing one of the longest running donor programs in the country, established over 100 years ago.