Decolonial Perspectives in Biomedical Sciences, Anatomical Education and Healthcare Advancing Equity and Global Perspectives

Eiman Abdel Meguid is a medical graduate and a Reader of Anatomy at Queen’s University Belfast (QUB), UK with expertise in human anatomy, embryology, and neuroanatomy. She is the Racial Equality Champion at her university. She is passionate about anatomical sciences education and is keen to actively support the education of her students. Eiman’s areas of professional interest include anatomical variation, multimodal teaching strategies, implementing innovative technology and audience response system in teaching, flipped classrooms, blended and online learning. She is the Sole Academic Lead for the dental anatomy course, the MSc in Clinical Anatomy Programme Lead and a Co-lead for Musculoskeletal Unit 2 for the MB BCh BAO. She has multiple publications in high impact journals and she was an International Visiting Scholar/Guest Speaker at Weill Cornell Medicine, NY.  She has previously acted as a member of the Career Development Committee and the Education Affairs Committee of the American Association of Clinical anatomy and is currently a member of the European Federation of Experimental Morphology (EFEM) Award Committee Award Committee and a member at the Anatomy Collective for Equality. She is a reviewer for the Clinical Anatomy, and the Anatomical Sciences Education Journals and a member of the Editorial Board of the BMC Medical Education. Through her membership of the Risk Management Group Committee at Royal College of Surgeons and previous role at the Research Ethics Committee at QUB, she gained lot of experience in reviewing and generating policies for educational and research-related activities. Having spent many years teaching students as a clinical anatomist, she is well placed to assist in producing resources that would assist the development of student education. The extensive experience she has gained, her international networking, and her interest in tailoring teaching and research have equipped her with the necessary skills.

Leonard Shapiro  is an artist working in the health sciences and advancing art-based programs within the anatomical education curricula. He is honorary lecturer in the Primary Health Care Team, Department of Family, Community and Emergency Care, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, South Africa. Leonard has developed a novel, multi-sensory observation method, that specifically employs the sense of touch (haptics) coupled with the simultaneous act of drawing. It is called the Haptico-visual observation and drawing (HVOD) method. In anatomy education, the benefits of using the HVOD method include i) the enhanced observation of the three-dimensional form of anatomical parts, ii) the cognitive memorization of anatomical parts as a 3D 'mental picture', iii) improved spatial orientation within the volume of anatomical parts, and iv) an ability to draw. The HVOD method is taught to medical students, clinicians and anatomy educators in South Africa and abroad. Leonard also works with anatomy educators to develop tailored art-based exercises to assist medical students in improving their observation and three-dimensional spatial awareness. 

Leonard has taught the HVOD method at the University of Cape Town (South Africa), Newcastle University (UK), The University of British Columbia (Canada), The Gordon Museum of Pathology (UK), University College Cork (Ireland), Weill Cornell Medical College (USA). Leonard contributes to the anatomy education discourse via publications and articles, and by presenting at anatomy conferences. 

Leonard Shapiro, BSocSci, BA Fine Art (Hons).