Professor Lauren Fisher
Head of Applied Medicine
Professor Lauren Fisher is the Professor of Anatomy and Anatomy Lead: managing the new Anatomy Facility at Chester University to integrate traditional cadaveric teaching with a modern approach in the form of plastinated specimens and offer anatomy teaching across many programmes within the Faculty of Health, Medicine and Society. Her research interests are in clinical anatomy of the foot and ankle joint and pedagogy in Medical Education.
After completing a BSc Anatomy and Human Biology (Hons) at the University of Liverpool, Lauren embarked upon a PhD in skeletal muscle plasticity; evaluating the effects of electrical stimulation on muscle at the molecular and functional level. Alongside this she demonstrated anatomy across a variety of healthcare programmes, sparking a love for teaching and scholarship in anatomy and medical education.
Completion of her PhD led to a Lectureship in Anatomy, fulfilling the role of Anatomy Lead for the MBChB programme and working through curriculum development and delivery across Life Sciences programmes. Taking on the additional role of Director of Student Engagement, she also worked on strategic planning, development and management of all aspects of student engagement.
She moved then to Head of Anatomy, setting up a new Anatomy Facility at Edge Hill University and working through GMC validation for successful approval of a new MBChB programme . This led to her appointment at St Georges University of London in 2020, taking on the Head of Department role and Designated Individual of the HTA licence to manage a large cadaveric-based teaching facility before moving back to the North to join CMS in this new venture.
New in post, her current focus is in developing the new anatomy syllabus for the MBChB programme ready for 2023; a non-modular, longitudinal delivery which covers anatomy of the entire body in just 1 year of academic study.
In addition, she is working through development of a new anatomy syllabus for the established Physicians Associate programme, which is also in the process of revalidation, and exploring how the new facility can be integrated into other established programmes.
Anatomy is a cross faculty subject, and the aim is to deliver anatomy teaching in modules across many different programmes and to identify opportunities for inter-professional anatomy education.
Lauren has two areas of research interests, both linked closely to her specialty area of human anatomy. Her pedagogical research is linked to the need to continuously reflect upon and drive changes in line with the literature surrounding pedagogical practice in healthcare education. With a review of anatomical resources and the strive for innovation to deliver engaging and efficient resources, she has worked on the creation of 3D photogrammetric models for virtual teaching and learning with prosected specimens, delivering at national and international conferences and workshops. Pedagogical review drives changes in curriculum, and re-development of delivery is a continuous process.
The clinical anatomy research is run in Collaboration with Aintree University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, to research functional and clinically relevant anatomy of the foot and ankle joint, findings from which have been presented both nationally and internationally.
Beni, Rebecca & Fisher, Lauren & Longhurst, Georga. (2022). The importance of diverse and accurate descriptions of genital anatomy in textbooks. Anatomical Sciences Education. 15. 10.1002/ase.2200.
Fisher A, Bond A, Philpott MDG, Jayatilaka MLT, Lambert LA, Fisher L, Weigelt L, Myatt D, Molloy A, Mason L. The anatomy of the anterior inferior tibiofibular ligament and its relationship with the Wagstaffe fracture. Foot Ankle Surg. 2021 Jan 7:S1268-7731(21)00003-5. doi: 10.1016/j.fas.2021.01.003. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 33446454.
Jayatilaka MLT, Philpott MDG, Fisher A, Fisher L, Molloy A, Mason L. Anatomy of the Insertion of the Posterior Inferior Tibiofibular Ligament and the Posterior Malleolar Fracture. Foot Ankle Int. 2019 Nov;40(11):1319-1324. doi: 10.1177/1071100719865896. Epub 2019 Aug 8. PMID: 31390895.
Mason L, Jayatilaka MLT, Fisher A, Fisher L, Swanton E, Molloy A. Anatomy of the Lateral Plantar Ligaments of the Transverse Metatarsal Arch. Foot Ankle Int. 2020 Jan;41(1):109-114. doi: 10.1177/1071100719873971. Epub 2019 Sep 10. PMID: 31502882.
Swanton E, Fisher L, Fisher A, Molloy A, Mason L. An Anatomic Study of the Naviculocuneiform Ligament and Its Possible Role Maintaining the Medial Longitudinal Arch. Foot Ankle Int. 2019 Mar;40(3):352-355. doi: 10.1177/1071100718811638. Epub 2018 Nov 22. PMID: 30466312.
BSc Anatomy and Human Biology
PhD Anatomy and Cell Biology
FHEA