Dr Lakshmi Selvaratnam is an associate professor at Jeffrey Cheah School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Monash University Malaysia, specialising in clinical anatomy. She has served as an enthusiastic clinical anatomist, academic and researcher in UK and Malaysian universities. From 2006 to 2013, she was appointed as the foundation Anatomy Coordinator for the new medical school at Monash University Malaysia establishing a non-dissection based, clinically focused anatomy curriculum. She was instrumental in creating a futuristic technology-enhanced lab, the Medical Anatomy & Pathology E-Learning (MAPEL) Lab (with Associate Professor Arkendu Sen) – integrated with an award-winning networked ecosystem of teacher and student multi-touch tabletop computers (Smart Tables).

Previously, in the Medical Faculty at the University of Malaya (as Lecturer/ Associate Professor of Anatomy [1995-2006]), she helped set up the Tissue Engineering Group (now NOCERAL), based on her PhD expertise in stem cell & tissue regeneration (University of London, 1995). Her research interests have focused primarily on tissue engineering including differentiation and regeneration of skeletal and epithelial tissues, funded through national and institutional level grants and with publication, IP and award outcomes.

Her current R&D centres on designing and evaluating education technologies for anatomy, histology & pathology including 3D, AR and VR imaging applications, collaborative active learning systems, integrated audience response systems and remote skills e-training. This work has been recognised through many education awards (joint with Associate Professor Arkendu Sen) including the IMU-Ron Harden Innovation in Medical Education (IMU-RHIME) Award (2015, 2011), OLT Citation-Australian Awards for University Teaching (2012) and an ITEX Innovation Award (2018). As a keen proponent of university educator training and continuous professional development, she completed the Graduate Certificate in Higher Education at Monash and also published a popular textbook / workbook series on anatomy for allied health sciences with Oxford University Press. She is also regularly involved in healthcare educator development and postgraduate surgical training in Malaysia. Dr Lakshmi is a strong advocate for collaborative active learning supported by education technologies as the way forward for advancing STEAM & health education at the national and regional platforms.

Tissue engineering research

Regeneration of cartilage/bone/ tendon tissues, mesenchymal stem cell lineage differentiation; in vitro muco-cutaneous tissue differentiation

Medical education research

Active learning, collaborative practical skills learning, technology-enhanced learning environments, mixed reality (AR/VR) education technologies