Dr Kat Sanders

PhD, SFHEA

Senior Lecturer in Clinical Anatomy

Role at Hull York Medical School

Kat delivers anatomy teaching for the MBBS and MSc programmes in Clinical Anatomy, Clinical Anatomy and Education, Physician Associate Studies and Health Professions Education. She has an interest in developing novel anatomy teaching techniques and how these can be incorporated to supplement traditional anatomy curricula. She is also passionate about science communication and aims to make the study of human anatomy accessible to as many people as possible by making it fun and interesting.

Alongside her anatomy teaching role, Kat is the co-Chair of the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion committee at Hull York Medical School.

Biography

Before joining Hull York Medical School in 2016, Kat lived and studied in Australia. Her PhD was on the epigenetic modifications of progressive multiple sclerosis. Kat started working as an anatomy demonstrator in 2009 and has been teaching anatomy ever since.

During her PhD, she taught at Bond University and the University of Newcastle, Australia to a variety of student cohorts including trainee surgeons, medicine, physiotherapy, biomedicine, forensic science and speech pathology. Throughout her PhD, Kat was involved in public outreach events, including a position as city coordinator for the first Pint of Science festival in Newcastle, NSW in 2015.

In 2017, Kat competed in the UK final of FameLab at the Science Museum in London and this sparked a portfolio of science communication events. She has made appearances at TEDxHull 2018, Pint of Science, Soapbox Science in Hull, British Science Festival 2018, Hull Science Festival 2018, Shambala Festival 2018, Northern Ireland Science Festival 2019, Culture Cure at the Museum of Science and Industry, Manchester 2019. Occasionally she appears on BBC Radio Humberside to answer a kid's question on science or to read news highlights.

In 2018, Kat co-founded Anatomy Nights, an event format that brings the fundamental practice of dissection (non-human) into the public sphere and gives audiences a chance to hear from anatomy experts in casual spaces such as bars and pubs. Since its inception, Anatomy Nights has reached venues around the world including Australia, Canada, Europe and the USA.

Research

Kat has supervised projects on anatomy and medical education topics.

Teaching

Module lead:              

  • Clinical Anatomy of the Head, Neck and Brain
  • Anatomy Pedagogy 
Publications
Postgraduate research supervision

Co-supervising an MD student, project title - An anatomical study of the submental island perforator flap and its potential use in clinical head and neck reconstruction.

Honours and awards

2019 - Excellence in External Engagement, University of Hull Employee Excellence Awards