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Collaborations

UCL Pathology Museum welcomes collections-based teaching and research collaborations.

Sensitive images

Please note that these pages contain images of human remains. We acknowledge that it is likely that the people represented in our collections did not consent for their remains to be retained.

Collaborations with UCL departments 

Below are two examples of collaborations with the UCL community. To enquire about a potential collaboration with the Museum, please contact the Curator at museums@ucl.ac.uk.


Collaboration: Psychology and object based learning

UCL Pathology Museum has been working with Dr Freya Lygo-Frett and team from the UCL Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience. The project utilises neurology specimens from the museum’s collection for data collection.

The research focuses on objectively measuring how the use of objects and specimens can enhance learning and memory. While subjective feedback from learners indicates that incorporating hands-on sessions with specimens alongside lectures significantly improves engagement, motivation, and curiosity, the specific types of objects that best support learning remain unclear. Additionally, the impact of these methods on long-term memory retention is not yet fully understood. The goal is to investigate these factors to optimise educational practices, ensuring students receive the best possible learning experience, and to hopefully inform future teaching policies.

Psychology student Claire Tan collecting project data at the UCL Pathology Museum.

Find out more

For more information on object based learning using museum collections see the Object Based Learning Laboratory.


Collaboration: Pathogen DNA Analysis

UCL Pathology Museum specimens have been sampled for pathogen DNA by UCL genomics experts Lucy van Dorp, Pooja Swali and Cameron Ferguson.

Dr Lucy van Dorp is a UKRI Future Leaders Fellow leading a group in Microbial Genomics at UCL Genetics Institute. Her work applies computational methods to whole genome sequencing data from pathogens to determine the factors giving rise to the patterns of genetic diversity we observe in infectious disease-causing agents. Her work touches not only on current and emerging epidemics and pandemics, but also diseases of the deep past, leveraging ancient DNA and museomic sequencing techniques to better understand when and why pathogens emerge and become successful.

The Pathology Museum’s Curator and Conservator worked alongside Lucy and her team to carefully select specimens for analysis. The specimens include examples with malaria, human papillomavirus (HPV) and influenza. The pathological specimens are predominantly referenced by healthcare professionals and medical historians for education and research. Projects such as these, which analyse the collection at a microscopic level, add substantial interest and interpretation to this significant and historic museum collection.

Dr Pooja Swali taking a sample of malaria DNA from a UCL Pathology Museum specimen. The photo was taken on a phone camera inside a plastic bag to limit contamination.

Find out more

Read more on Lucy van Dorp's personal website.