University of Maryland School of Medicine Director of the Anatomical Services Receives Top Award from American Association of Clinical Anatomists

Ronald S. Wade, Director of the Anatomical Services Division, University of Maryland School of Medicine (UM SOM), Director of the Maryland State Anatomy Board Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and Director of the Anatomical Services Division, will be the 2017 recipient of the R. Benton Adkins Jr. Distinguished Service Award from the American Association of Clinical Anatomists (AACA).

Initiated in 2003, the award is given by the AACA periodically to individuals who have promoted advancements in the field of anatomy. Mr. Wade will receive his award in July at the AACA’s annual meeting in Minneapolis in recognition of his lifelong work in managing donor and decedent bodies, developing state-of-the-art training facilities and developing critical preservation techniques used worldwide.

For more than four decades, Mr. Wade has been dedicated to medical education and research, establishing critical protocols and standards leading to UM SOM’’s state-of-the-art anatomical surgical training facility. In his role as director of the Maryland State Anatomy Board, he also manages the state’s repository for donated and unclaimed bodies, which is housed and administered in the school of medicine. Today, under his leadership, the Maryland State Anatomy Board administers one of the largest and most successful donated body programs in the country, with training facilities used by individuals from many disciplines of surgery, trauma and allied health programs in Maryland and elsewhere.

“All of my work is done to promote better public health and to take care of the people of Maryland,” Mr. Wade said. Over the years, Mr. Wade has perfected a technique called “plastination,” which uses polymers to replace the water inside the tissues of an organ. This process permanently preserves specimens for teaching and research. These three-dimensional specimens, which can be held, cross-sectioned and dissected, have served as a critically important teaching tool.

Mr. Wade is also known for his work in1994, when he mummified a human body using the exact tools and techniques of the ancient Egyptians. The mummy was on display at a museum in San Diego, featured in a National Geographic documentary and has been the subject of several other television programs aired on the Discovery Network and elsewhere.

“Ronn Wade’s contributions to the science of anatomy are immeasurable. Through his work over the past four decades, the University of Maryland’s School of Medicine has served as a state-of-the-art facility for anatomy research giving surgeons, emergency responders and trauma specialists invaluable training,” said UM SOM Dean E. Albert Reece, MD, PhD, MBA, who is Vice President for Medical Affairs, University of Maryland, and the John Z. and Akiko K. Bowers Distinguished Professor. “He has also established the highest standards in his role as Director of the Maryland State Anatomy Board.”

About the University of Maryland School of Medicine

Commemorating its 210th Anniversary, the University of Maryland School of Medicine was chartered in 1807 and is the first public medical school in the United States and continues today as an innovative leader in accelerating innovation and discovery in medicine. The School of Medicine is the founding school of the University of Maryland and is an integral part of the 11-campus University System of Maryland. Located on the University of Maryland’s Baltimore campus, the School of Medicine works closely with the University of Maryland Medical Center and Medical System to provide a research-intensive, academic and clinically based education. With 43 academic departments, centers and institutes and a faculty of more than 3,000 physicians and research scientists plus more than $400 million in extramural funding, the School is regarded as one of the leading biomedical research institutions in the U.S. with top-tier faculty and programs in cancer, brain science, surgery and transplantation, trauma and emergency medicine, vaccine development and human genomics, among other centers of excellence. The School is not only concerned with the health of the citizens of Maryland and the nation, but also has a global presence, with research and treatment facilities in more than 35 countries around the world. medschool.umaryland.edu/