My Space: Brittney Black

With his iconic arms and legs outstretched, Leonardo da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man occupies the centre of the University’s AMRF Medical Sciences Learning Centre – Whakaaro Pai.

Then, in the style of classical medical lecture theatres, the centre’s shelves span out in circles, collectively containing more than 1,100 pathological specimens that tell the story of human anatomy and disease.

The award-winning centre, with its shelves of fascinating specimens and models, looks very much like a museum. However, this is no visitor attraction. The human tissue it contains is crucial for teaching and research, but also inherently sensitive.

Dr Brittney Black oversees the space, which hosts students from a range of medical and health science programmes across the University, as well as other student and learning groups by appointment. A former researcher at the University’s Centre for Brain Research, she’s worked at the learning centre since 2022 – and she loves it.

How did you come to work here?

I was finishing my PhD, I saw this job advertised, and it needed someone who was used to working with human tissue and enjoyed anatomy. My PhD involved working with donations to the Neurological Foundation Human Brain Bank, so I had that awareness of how to deal with human tissue and a level of comfort around that.

It was a part-time position, but it became full-time due to the specimens and models needing regular maintenance and attention. Also, someone had to be available to teach, and to do inductions for new people coming into the space.

What does your job involve?

I really love it, because it encompasses all the things I like to do. There’s the lab work side of things – taking care of our specimens, getting new specimens in – and I assist with practical teaching in the human anatomy lab.

The other big part is helping people when they’re here. Any users of the space must be inducted, and we prefer to do that face to face because it’s such a special, sensitive collection. We tell them about the space, how to use it, what the rules are, and give them a chance to look around and ask any questions.

The other exciting part is hosting groups. I really like it when the high school groups come in, like those involved with [recruitment programmes] Whakapike Ake and Pacific Health Way Finders. Getting them hopefully invigorated or excited about careers in medicine and health sciences is cool.

We alsohave other groups visit; we had one group of women who were ex-nurses, for example. But while it looks like a museum, it’s not an attraction. You need to have a specific purpose for coming into the space. 

How do you deal with the sensitivities of what’s contained here?

The inductions are important. Also, at the beginning of every year, we have a major whakanoa ceremony, as well as other smaller ceremonies at other times.

This is for lifting tapu, or restrictions, to make it a safe space to learn and work in. It’s also a way of showing respect for those who have donated to the space.
We have kaumātua who conduct the ceremony, and the University chaplain and leaders from other faiths have been involved. And there’s a talk about how we get the specimens through the human body bequest programme, and how we take care of everything, because we are the kaitiaki of these bodies and specimens.

It concludes with a sprinkling of water from our puna wai and sharing of food and drink to complete the transition into a space that is noa.

How does it feel for you to work in this space?

People often ask me, “Do you detach from it?” But for me, it’s not about detachment. I’ve always worked with human specimens, and one thing I make clear to those who come in is that the tissue here was collected under the Human Tissue Act of the time.

Specifically, under the Act of 2008, the individuals themselves chose to donate their bodies, or parts of them, for teaching, learning or research. They wanted to give a gift that would contribute to knowledge for years to come.

To have these specimens and not use them would be disrespectful to why they are here. By carefully maintaining this space and inviting people in to learn from what’s here, we are honouring that precious gift in the best way possible.

This act of respect ensures that their contribution continues to inspire future generations, helps train the next wave of health professionals and researchers, and could even lead to breakthroughs that give back to the community in profound ways.

Caitlin Sykes