Dr Stephen J Maclean

Dr Stephen Maclean

Senior Anatomy Lecturer

• Anatomy@Edinburgh
• Edinburgh Medical School: Biomedical Sciences
• University of Edinburgh

Contact details

• Work: +44 (0)131 650 2924
• Email: s.j.maclean@ed.ac.uk

Address

Doorway 3
Medical School
Teviot Place
Edinburgh
EH8 9AG

Prior to becoming an Anatomy educator, Stephen trained as a Forensic Anthropologist at the University of Dundee, completing his BSc (Hons) Forensic Anthropology in 2012. Following this, Stephen was awarded a Greenhouse Teaching Fellowship to complete a PhD in Anatomy and Forensic Anthropology at the Centre for Anatomy and Human Identification, University of Dundee. His research advanced techniques for the analysis of sub-adult bone structure, using x-ray radiography and micro-computed tomography to examine developmental changes in the human pelvis during early childhood. He successfully defended his PhD thesis in May 2017.

In May 2017, shortly after completing his PhD, Stephen took up his first post at the University of Edinburgh as a Lecturer in Anatomy, in a teaching track position with the College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine. He was promoted to Senior Lecturer in Anatomy in August 2024. Stephen is a Member of the Anatomical Society, and Fellow of the Higher Education Academy / AdvanceHE (FHEA).

In addition to his educatoional roles Stephen continues to be a certified forensic anthropologist, Level III, with the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland (RAI), under the mentorship of Ms. Gaille MacKinnon. He is a member of the British Association of Biological Anthropology and Osteoarchaeology (BABAO).

Teaching

Stephen teaches across the breadth of programmes and courses delivered by Anatomy@Edinburgh, including MBChB, HCP-Med, PGDip Anatomical Sciences BSc Biomedical Sciences and MSc Human Anatomy and Clinical Anatomy. While Stephen contributes across all anatomical subject areas, he considers his specialist areas include musculoskeletal anatomy and medical imaging.

Stephen is the Course Organiser and creator of the Year 4 BSc elective course Applied Human Osteology, which explores the human skeleton and field of physical anthropology. He is also the Course Organiser on the core PGDip Course Advanced Human Anatomy 1, and the Year 3 BSc elective course Anatomy and Development 3.

Alongside these teaching roles, Stephen is responsible for the development and maintenance of the digital learning tools used in the Anatomy Teaching Laboratory, having previously established a platform for digital medical imaging teaching in collaboration with the Royal Hospital for Sick Children. He is currently pursuing digital learning tools for histology and microscopy in Anatomy.

Research

As a member of the ATLAS Facility research team, Stephen has an active student research portfolio, led primarily by Year 4 BSc and MSc research projects. These include the use of digital imaging and visualisation technologies and their use in both forensic anthropology and anatomy education. This includes extensive work looking at the accuracy, repeatability, and reliability of structured light scanning for creating 3D models for use in forensic casework.

Publications

Jones R, Mortimer JW, Thompson C, Clark-Stewart S, Hogg G, Keni S, McCulloch V, Alashkham A, Dhumale S, Maclean SJ, Vella M, Findlater GS, Sinclair DW, Yalamarthi S and Gillingwater TH (2021). Improving surgical training: Establishing a surgical anatomy programme in Scotland. International Journal of Surgery (open access) 96: 106172

Maclean SJ, Black SM and Cunningham CA (2014). The developing juvenile ischium: macro-radiographic insights. Clinical Anatomy 27(6): 906 – 914.

Maclean, S.J. (2018). Identified Skeletal Collections: The Testing Ground of Anthropology (Book Review). Journal of Anatomy (early access) DOI: 10.1111/joa.12879

Maclean, S.J., Cunningham C.A. and Black, S.M. (2018). S35 Constructive regression in the juvenile human ischium: a qualitative analysis. IN: Solving Clinical Problems with Anatomical Solutions: Winter meeting of the Anatomical Society 2017. Journal of Anatomy 232 (6): 1048

Maclean, S.J., Cunningham C.A. and Black, S.M. (2018). P42 Constructive regression in the juvenile human ischium: a quantitative analysis. IN: Solving Clinical Problems with Anatomical Solutions: Winter meeting of the Anatomical Society 2017. Journal of Anatomy 232 (6): 1063

Maclean, S.J., O’Malley, A.S., Cunningham, C.A. and Black, S.M. (2015). Extensive bone remodeling in the Juvenile Girdles: A new phase of development In: Abstracts presented at the Summer Meeting of the British Association of Clinical Anatomists on 3rd July 2014 at the Plymouth Univeristy, Peninsula Schools of Medicine and Dentistry, Portland Square Building, Plymouth, United Kingdom. Clinical Anatomy 28 (3): 416

Maclean, S.J., Cunningham, C.A., Black, S.M. (2014). The macro-radiographic development of the juvenile ischium In: Abstracts presented at the Winter Meeting of the British Association of Clinical Anatomists on 18th December 2013 at the Stopford Building, University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom. Clinical Anatomy 27 (8): 1342

Professional Membership

• Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA)
• Fellow of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland (RAI)
• Early Career Member of the Anatomical Society
• Member of the British Association of Biological Anthropology and Osteoarchaeology
• Member of the British Association of Human Identification (BAHID)
• Member of the British Association of Forensic Anthropologists (BAFA)