About the Department

The Department of Anatomy started functioning from 1st July 1977. Dr. A. Krishnamurti was the founder professor and head of the department. The seed for the formation of the department was sown by Dr. Lakshmi Chataur the then Vice Chancellor in the year 1976. In the UGC 5th Plan period, the following posts were filled-up which were sanctioned by UGC.

• Professor HOD -Dr. A. Krishnamurti (Designated in October 1976 and Joined in July 1977)
• Reader: Dr. K.M.Marimuthu (Joined on 15th November 1976)
• Assistant Professor : Mr. R.Muthusamy (Joined on 17th November 1976)
• Assistant Professor : Ms. K. Kamakshi ( Joined on 1st July 1977)

Objective

Mission

Faculties and staff are committed to sustain and further promote the department as a premier training center for teaching Anatomy and Neuroscience thereby creating better teachers and researchers of tomorrow. The Department of Anatomy will be intensifying research in the following 3 areas

• I. Credentials of adult tissue derived stem cells for spinal cord injury repair research. Globally much expected embryonic stem cell applications may turn out to be futile due to social reasons like ethical and legal complications involved in their usage and scientific findings like tumerogenic nature of these cells. As an alternative, scientists are focusing on alternate sources of stem cells. Thus adult tissue derived stem cells are considered as potential candidates for therapeutic intervention; however this requires proper scientific validation. Dr.V. Sankar of the department is aiming to explore the potential of these cells in treating spinal cord injuries; one of the devastating conditions crippling thousands of people all over the world every year.  
• II. Herbal derivatives and their role in treating male sexual disorders Reproductive system disorders is a growing health problem due to altered life style compounded by stress and pollution of present day conditions. It has been estimated that one out of six couples is affected with fertility-sterility related problems. The reproductive system related disorders have tremendous impact on the quality of life and therefore research conducted in this arena shall be a society reaching research. Dr. S.Prakash, Assistant Professor is committed to find ways of rectifying diabetes induced problems in male sexual life using novel approaches which includes remedies from our traditional medical systems like siddha.  
• III. Herbal derivatives and their role in treating cerebral stroke Cerebral stroke is a condition prevalent worldwide and known for the difficulty in its treatment. One of the major obstacles in stroke research is producing a valid and reproducible animal model to test the hypotheses and screen potential therapies. Dr.R.Ramesh Kumar, Assistant Professor has successfully standardized the most difficult animal model of stroke viz. middle cerebral artery occlusion model and started screening for potential methods of treatment. He has identified certain herbal formulations that could be useful. It is his vision to develop a successful treatment regime for cerebral stroke which shall be a boon for our country where incidences of stroke victims are on rise every year.

1. M.Sc. Anatomy - Duration 3 years 2. M.S. Neuroscience - Duration 2 years - Offered under Self-Supportive Mode For details of eligibility to these courses, please refer the University of Madras's admission notification published every year before the commencement of every academic year. Department of Anatomy is also involved in short-term training in human anatomy to students of other institutions such as Spastics Society of Tamilnadu. Apart from postgraduate programs, Ph.D. program is also offered to students of Anatomy and Neuroscience under faculty of medicine as well as to students of faculty of science under interdisciplinary mode. Presently, Dr.V. Sankar and Dr.S. Prakash, Assistant Professors of the department are the recognized research supervisors. Their research interests include cell transplantations for spinal cord injury, dissection of molecular pathways of neuronal death, herbal products in the treatment of erectile dysfunction due to diabetes etc.

1. Surgical theatre to perform experimental animal surgeries 2. Cell culture laboratory 3. Microscopy system for light and fluorescent photomicrography 4. Cryosectioning and vibrotome sectioning of tissues for histochemistry 5. Ultra-thin paraffin sectioning of tissues for staining 6. Histological and histochemical staining and analysis facility