Introduction
Founded in 1976 under the School of Medicine, the Department of Anatomy aims to provide human anatomy teaching to medical and paramedical students. In 1988, the Institute of Anatomy was established. By 2007, the full title was changed to the Department and Institute of Anatomy and Cell Biology.
Approximately twenty students are admitted into our master’s program each year.
Mission
The Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology is committed to preparing students for careers in anatomical teaching and for careers in cutting-edge biomedical research including anatomy, neurobiology and cell biology. In addition, we aim at achieving high quality research in the fields of anatomy and cell biology.
Educational Goals
The goals for the anatomy track of our teaching program are as follows:
- To prepare students to become qualified anatomy teachers who are capable of teaching all subjects in the field of anatomy to medical and paramedical students.
- To prepare students for careers in neurobiology or cell biology research.
The goals for the cell biology track are as follows:
- To cultivate students’ knowledge of general anatomy and histology, and to acquire knowledge of cell biology necessary to teach anatomy and cell biology related topics.
- To acquire students’ skills necessary for cell biology research and the ability to integrate research tasks from the tissue, cell and molecular perspectives.
The common educational goals of the Institute are:
- To encourage the potential and creativity of our students, and to help them develop into young scholars with clear thinking, research ability and professional attitude.
- To enhance students’ English language skills while introducing a global perspective.
Curriculum
Students can select a curriculum in either Anatomy or Cell biology according to their interests.
The core curriculum of Anatomy includes Gross Anatomy and Histology. The main curriculum of Cell biology includes Biochemistry & Molecular Cell Biology, Anatomy and Tissue Biology.
In addition, there are several elective courses available, including:
- Biomedicine: Neuroanatomy, Embryology, Special Topic of Neuronal Death, Cell Biology, Methods Techniques in Molecular Biology, Introduction to Diagnosis of Vascular Disease in Nervous System, and Experimental Design & Interpretation on Neurovascular Disease Research.
- Clinical medicine: Clinical Neuroanatomy, Clinical Anatomy and Spinalogy.
The Institute collaborates with the Anatomy Faculty of the Medical Department on teaching programs as a research unit in the university. The Institute is responsible for not only the integrated curriculums of medical 3rd year and dental 2nd year, the medical 5th year anatomy course (Clinical Anatomy, and Grosse Anatomy Dissections), but also the curriculums of medicine related anatomy and experiments including anatomy, histology and embryology etc. Auditorium lectures, lab courses and administrative affairs are involved in teaching programs. To meet the needs of students, the Institute not only offers a curriculum on cadaver dissection practice, but also provides a clinical-oriented anatomy curriculum to correlate structures important in medical practice. In the histology curriculum, microscopic observation for studying the structures of cells and tissue is emphasized. In the neuroanatomy curriculum, a great number of brain models and slides are used to enhance the teaching of brain structures and the nervous system. Neurochemistry topography and clinical neurosurgery are also added to the course for integrating the basic and clinical neuroanatomy.
Faculty and Environment
The Institute has 12 full-time faculty members (1 is joint appointment), 4 full-time teaching assistants, and 3 technicians.
Full-time
10
2 is joint appointment
Teaching assistants
5
Technicians
3
The Institute hosts one departmental office, one student/staff common room, one anatomy lab, one animal behavior room, two graduate student rooms, two experimental animal holding rooms, three meeting rooms, and eleven core facility rooms (2x electron microscopes, 3x cell culture rooms, 1x P2 Lab, 1x ultracut microtome, 1x light microscope, 1x confocal microscope and 1x digital slide scanning system.) In addition, each faculty member is entitled to the space of one office and one research lab.
Equipment
Departmental research core facilities include a light microscope, inverted fluorescent microscope, transmission and scanning electron microscopes, ultracut microtomes, Aperio high-speed digital slide scanner, confocal fluorescence microscopes and 4D image analysis system.
Focus of Research
The research of the Institute focuses on:
-
Cancer research
• Mechanisms of tumorigenesis and metastasis
• Cell-based screening of anti-cancer drugs -
Cell biology
• Molecular mechanisms of ion channel diseases
• Chinese herbs in regenerative medicine -
Neuroscience
• Depression and hippocampal neurogenesis
• Modeling brain development in 3D organoids
• Roles of neurovascular units in human diseases
• Neurodevelopmen -
Stem cell research
• Application of stem cells in regenerative medicine
• Research and application of mesenchymal stem cells
• Stem cell and cell derivative applications in vascular diseases
Graduate Prospect
A graduate can pursue a PhD or be a teacher at a medical college or institute of technology. Careers in the biotechnical industries or medical institutes as well as researchers on research unit are also possible.