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.
Click below to view more photographs of our museum:
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.
Secondary School Visits
The Integrated Pathology Learning Centre (IPLC) offers two secondary school programs 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
Designed for students in Years 9 - 12
Supports 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.
Psychology
Designed for students in Years 11 - 12
Supports 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.
As well as supporting the Doctor of Medicine program, the IPLC engages with a diversity of undergraduate and postgraduate courses. The IPLC can enhance and support your teaching, whether through a formal course visit or an optional extracurricular tour or learning opportunity. For more information, please contact the Curator.
For some inspiration, we have asked a couple of our academic collaborators to summarise how they have integrated the IPLC into their teaching.
DEVB2000: Stem Cells, Development and Developmental Disorders
DEVB2000 explores the basic principles of how embryos develop the complex array of cells, tissues and organs that contribute to a healthy human. We further apply those principles to understanding how disturbances in developmental programs contribute to abnormalities and disorders in adulthood. Integrating a visit to the IPLC in our course has allowed our students to connect with the real-world consequences of aberrant developmental processes and to identify pathologies with developmental origins from real human specimens. The IPLC has an excellent collection that engages our students, enhances their learning, and motivates them to delve deeper into the course content. Student enthusiasm was evidenced by our end of the year student surveys, where many students indicated the IPLC site visit to be a highlight of their semester and an experience that reaffirmed their passion for medicine and developmental biology. Moreover, the IPLC is supported by excellent staff that make bringing our classes on site smooth and effortless.
- Dr David Simmons
BIOM3015: Integrative Physiology and Pathophysiology
As part of the course Integrated Physiology and Pathophysiology (BIOM3015, 3rd year Biomedical Sciences course), students took part in a hands-on activity at the Integrated Pathology Learning Centre (IPLC), which they identified as a highlight of the course and thoroughly enjoyed. During their visit, they observed, sketched, and described three matched sets of organs—each including a healthy reference and a diseased specimen. This interactive experience allowed students to explore real anatomical changes associated with disease. Following the session, they selected one disease (different from their presentation topic) and completed a short assessment linking the observed anatomical changes to disease pathophysiology. This activity deepened their understanding of pathology and provided a memorable, engaging opportunity to apply their learning in a real-world context.
- Dr Melissa Reichelt
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 21st 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.
Donations
Pathology Specimens
The IPLC continues to accept donations to the collection. For more information, please contact the museum's curator.
All donated specimens are treated with utmost respect and are used for educational purposes only.
The video below highlights the story of a donor and her reasons for donation.
