Queen's Anniversary Prize for Higher Education

Published On Wed 26 Feb 2014 by Grant Hill

(NOTE: The presentation takes place from 11am on Thursday. We hope to have pictures from the presentation, provided by the Royal Anniversary Trust, available on Thursday. If you would like us to pass these on, please let us know)

The Queen's Anniversary Prize for Higher Education 2014 will be awarded to the University of Dundee by Her Majesty The Queen at a ceremony at Buckingham Palace on Thursday, February 27th.

It was announced in November that the University of Dundee's Centre for Anatomy and Human Identification (CAHID) had been awarded a prestigious Queen's Anniversary Prize for Higher Education.

Professor Sue Black, Director of the Centre, will join Professor Pete Downes, Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University, in accepting the award on Thursday.

Presented in recognition of 'world class excellence' the Queen's Anniversary Prizes are among the most highly-regarded awards for the UK's universities and colleges.

CAHID is one of the world's foremost institutions for the study and application of human anatomy, forensic human identification, disaster victim identification and forensic and medical art.

'This is a tremendous honour and testament to the hard work of all the staff, and indeed the students, who have worked in the Centre,' said Professor Black. 'Ours is a relatively short history, but in that time we have made great strides forward and the work that comes out of this Centre has significant local, national and international impact.

'We have also been fortunate to enjoy great support both from within the University and from external partners and agencies.'

Professor Downes added, 'The range of CAHID's impact, from the face of Richard III to the victims of the Asian tsunami and to the work to help gain convictions of sex offenders, is truly amazing.

The bold introduction of Thiel embalming of human bodies will revolutionise surgical training and pioneer new surgical techniques. This award is deserved recognition for Sue Black and each and every member of CAHID's staff.'

CAHID is pre-eminent internationally through its work in forensic human identification, where staff have worked on high profile cases both at home and abroad. It has developed new techniques, including identifying perpetrators from images of their hands in photographs, that have led to successful prosecution in a significant number of cases of child sexual abuse.

The Centre has devised and implemented the world's first training programme for police officers and professional experts in Disaster Victim Identification (DVI). This was established in response to major events such as the Asian Tsunami, the London bombings and the Sharm-El-Sheikh bombings. The training programme has helped build a crucial response capability to major disasters. CAHID is also a partner in the creation of the FASTid system that has been adopted by Interpol.

CAHID is recognised as an international leader in craniofacial identification and forensic facial reconstruction for the identification of the living and the dead, the latter more recently including King Richard III.

The Centre's work has also rejuvenated the study of human anatomy and its application in teaching, training and research. For example, the introduction of the Thiel 'soft fix' method of embalming produces lifelike flexible cadavers that facilitate the development of new surgical procedures and approaches, new devices and more realistic training. This is the only centre to adopt this approach in the UK.

For more information on the Queen's Anniversary Prizes for Higher and Further Education, see: www.royalanniversarytrust.org.uk.

The Royal Anniversary Trust is an independent charity - registered number 1,000,000 - concerned with the advancement of education for public benefit. It was set up in 1990 with the object of carrying out a programme of events and activities during 1992, funded and supported from private sources with official endorsement, to mark the 40th anniversary of The Queen's accession and her years of service as Head of State. The Trust currently works to promote world class excellence in UK universities and colleges through The Queen's Anniversary Prizes for Higher and Further Education.

For media enquiries contact:
Grant Hill
Press Officer
University of Dundee
Nethergate, Dundee, DD1 4HN
TEL: 01382 384768
E-MAIL: g.hill@dundee.ac.uk
MOBILE: 07854 953277