Integrated Pathology Learning Centre

In 2025, the IPLC is commemorating 100 years of the collection. Visit and become part of our history.

The First Graduating Class in Pathology, 1938, Marks-Hirschfeld Museum of Medical History

The Integrated Pathology Learning Centre (IPLC) is dedicated to maintaining and developing The University of Queensland’s human pathology collection, ensuring its ongoing use in the study of disease, and promoting an understanding of health and disease. This furthers the mission of UQ to positively influence society through the transfer and application of knowledge.

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Visiting the IPLC

The IPLC is open to timetabled teaching activities or by appointment only. To make a booking, please follow the link: https://survey.app.uq.edu.au/Contact-the-IPLC.
Photography/filming and food/drink (except water) are not permitted in the IPLC. Students are permitted to bring their personal devices, such as laptops and tablets, for study.

Location: The IPLC is located on Level 6 of the UQ Health Sciences Building (Cnr of Central Drive and Fig Tree Crescent) in the Herston/Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital campus. We are directly opposite the UQ Centre for Clinical Research and Cafe Dose.

School bookings

The Integrated Pathology Learning Centre (IPLC) offers two insightful learning experiences that provide a rare opportunity for students to come face-to-face with a variety of diseases. During their visit, students will participate in workshops that cover a wide range of issues, exploring the pathology underlying health problems and disease prevention. This includes investigating the effects of behavioural and environmental factors on health and thinking critically about personal and peer attitudes to contemporary health issues.

Human Body & Disease

This program is designed for students in Years 9 - 12 studying a range of subjects. It has been designed to support the Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority senior subject Biology and Health syllabuses and the Australian Curriculum Science syllabus. Topics covered include brain stem injuries, diphtheria, smoking, polio, alcoholic cirrhosis, syphilis, genetic polycystic disease, heart attacks, and melanoma.

A visit to the IPLC begins as a guided experience with an introduction to the collection by a staff facilitator. Students then engage in peer-to-peer object/specimen-based learning viewing healthy organs before comparing and contrasting them to ones affected by infectious or non-infectious diseases. Students then have the opportunity to explore the Museum.

Psychology

This program is designed for students in Years 11 and 12 studying psychology. It has been designed to support the Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority senior subject Psychology syllabus and the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme Psychology subject. Topics covered include Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, brain stem injuries, the lobes of the brain and affiliated diseases/injuries, lobotomies, institutionalisation in Queensland and broader mental health issues such as addiction and stress.

Booking Forms

Request IPLC visit Request Virtual IPLC visit

History

1900 - 1920

The foundation of a pathology museum in Queensland was first raised as early as 1900 at the scientific meetings of the Queensland Branch of the British Medical Association. In 1920, Dr James Vincent Duhig was appointed custodian of the collection.

1925

The oldest specimen in the collection was acquired in 1925. It is a segment of liver from a young female with tuberculosis. The accompanying archival records reveal how this disease developed at a time when no drug treatment was available.

1936 - 1947

The University of Queensland (UQ) established the School of Medicine in 1936. Dr Duhig was appointed Honorary Professor of Pathology (1937-1947) and transferred all specimens to the University. The first pathology class was held in 1938 for third year medical students. Dr Harry Wilson, a student in that cohort, recalled that the first practical pathology session, microscopic slide interpretation, was held in the nurses’ cooking room at the Brisbane General Hospital. Pathology teaching transferred to more appropriate accommodation at the Medical School at Herston when construction was completed in 1938.

Museum circa 1950s, Source: Marks-Hirschfeld Museum of Medical History

1948 - 1963

The collection continued to grow under Professor A.J. Canny, the first full-time Professor of Pathology (1947 - 1963), Dr T.H. Vickers and Dr J.A. Inglis. Dr Vickers' work on the pathogenesis of thalidomide-induced defects was of world standard and many of his dissections remain in the collection today. In 1950, the collection was named the J.V. Duhig Museum of Pathology.

1974 - 1993

Professor John Kerr joined the UQ Pathology Department in 1965 and served as Professor of Pathology from 1974 until his retirement in 1995. While to the world John Kerr is known for his ground-breaking research on apoptosis, in Queensland he is also renowned for his contribution to medical education, having inspired a generation of medical students. He made enormous contributions to the Pathology Museum aiming to create a world class collection illustrating as many manifestations of the common diseases as possible. He was assisted by Museum Technical Curator Mr Alexander (Sandy) Powell, who prepared the specimens for display and provided specimens for the Professorial Departments of Medicine and Surgery.

1994 - 2001

By the early 1990s, active specimen collecting had declined as surgical and autopsy practices changed. Use of the collection was greatly reduced under Professor Jeremy Jass who served as Head of Pathology between 1996 and 2001. Digital resources and images were favoured and the museum space was reallocated for other purposes, a phenomenon which was occurring at other sites around the world.

2006

When the collection seemed in danger of becoming obsolete, enormous efforts were made by pathologists, educators, clinicians and the Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia to ensure its survival. In 2006, shortly after Professor Sunil Lakhani’s appointment as Head of the School of Medicine’s Discipline of Molecular and Cellular Pathology, a proposal to develop a centre of excellence for pathology education was put forward. The Integrated Pathology Learning Centre (IPLC) is the culmination of that effort.

Medical Staff and Students, Source: The University of Queensland

2010 - Today

The IPLC opened in 2010 in the recently refurbished Health Sciences Building. It has fulfiled the vision of creating a 21^st century facility where the latest technologies can be used alongside a world class specimen collection. With each year, the IPLC continues to grow, welcoming old and new audiences to be inspired by our collection.

Today, the collection includes just over 5 000 specimens. They are displayed alongside objects from UQ’s Marks-Hirschfeld Museum of Medical History and the RBWH Museum of Nursing History.