About the Event

The National Undergraduate Neuroanatomy Competition (NUNC) this year, in partnership with Medics.Academy, is a yearly competition aimed to provide an educational and intellectually stimulating event where students can enhance their neuroanatomy knowledge, strengthen their CVs and meet like- minded people. NUNC provides the opportunity for students to demonstrate their commitment to the fields of neurology and neurosurgery and provide evidence of their achievement. 

The day is divided into a morning of examinations comprising a 60-question SBA paper and a 31-station spotter examination, all based on gross neuroanatomy and its clinical application. The afternoon comprises a workshop and various talks from experts in the fields, ranging from their career paths to interesting case studies and research. Both pre-clinical and clinical undergraduate students with a strong anatomical component in their degrees are welcome and encouraged to participate.

The competition has now been running for the past 12 years, the first 10 of which were spent at the University of Southampton. NUNC relocated to the University of Glasgow in Spring of 2022, following Professor Border’s appointment as Glasgow University’s Head of Anatomy. NUNC has attracted a total of 371 students from 29 of 33 UK medical schools, and it has become increasingly popular with each subsequent competition.

We are pleased to host the 13th annual NUNC on the 3rd of May 2025 at the University of Glasgow and are looking forward to meeting you all.


WORDS FROM SOME OF OUR DISSECTORS 

“Hey I’m Nikan Hoorijani a 2nd year medical student at UofG and a dissector with NUNC. I do  enjoy learning about anatomy and practicing dissection skills to become a surgeon and to help  deliver the National Neuroanatomy Competition!” 

“Hey everyone! I'm Laiba, and I'm one of the dissectors for NUNC this year. I have an incredible  passion for human anatomy, and getting to explore it hands-on has been a fascinating journey.  Dissection has not only deepened my understanding but also created an amazing space for  peer learning. Working with my team in such a stimulating environment has been both  educational and a lot of fun!” 


WORDS FROM OUR SBA WRITERS 

“My name is Ginevra Bubani,I am a fourth-year medical student at the University of Glasgow  with a strong interest in neurology and neurosurgery. I am the Education Officer for the National  Neuroanatomy Competition, where I collaborate to develop MCQs to make neuroanatomy  accessible and engaging for students. I am especially passionate about neuroanatomy for its  complexity and the endless opportunities it offers for both discovery and clinical application”.

Instructor(s)

Scott Border

Co-founder and director of NUNC, Head of Anatomy, University of Glasgow

Professor Scott Border is currently chair of the education committee for the Anatomical Society where he selects and works with a national committee to deliver anatomical education strategies. An elected council member of the Anatomical Society and a Fellow of The Society, he has been an assessor for the Anatomical Society’s Anatomy Training Programme (ATP) for over four years, which is a scheme aimed at training future anatomy educators in the US and UK.

A selected reviewer for Anatomical Sciences Education, Professor Border has also reviewed numerous times for Medical Sciences Educator, BMC Medical Education, Clinical Anatomy, The Journal of Anatomy, Medical Education Online and The European Journal of Anatomy. Between 2015-2018, he was an external examiner at St Georges for the pre-clinical years of their four-year MBBS degree programme and is currently external examiner at Oxford University.

Manon Gervais

President of NUNC

Hi, my name is Manon, I am a 4th year medical student at the University of Glasgow and a BSc Anatomy graduate. I am the current president for the National Undergraduate Neuroanatomy Competition.

I have been involved with the competition for the past 3 years, once as a participant, as Vice President and now as President. It is an honour to lead such an enthusiastic team of fellow neuroanatomy lovers this year. I have nurtured an interest in the fields of neurology and neurosurgery from an early age. Both captivate me because they blend problem solving with a necessary deep understanding of anatomy, allowing to connect structure to function in pursuit of accurate diagnoses. I am drawn to the precision required in both diagnosis and treatment, where every decision can profoundly impact a patient’s life. These fields fuel my curiosity and passion for unravelling the complexities of the brain while applying scientific knowledge to real world medical challenges. When I am not doing medicine, I enjoy going to my dancing classes, painting and the occasional pottery class.

I hope anyone who is interested in neuroanatomy decides to partake in the competition as it is a wonderful networking and humanely rich experience, I am looking forward to meeting you all.

Thomas (Tom) Gillingwater

Professor of Anatomy at The University of Edinburgh

Tom graduated from the University of Leeds with an Honours degree in Human Biology [Anatomy] in 1998 and was awarded a PhD in Neuroscience from the University of Edinburgh in 2001. He was appointed to a Lectureship in Anatomy at the University of Edinburgh in 2004, promoted to a personal chair in 2010, and became the 15th Professor of Anatomy in 2015 (the Chair of Anatomy was founded in 1705).

Tom’s research combines high-resolution imaging with molecular profiling to explore the nervous system in health and during disease, with a particular interest in motor neuron diseases (including SMA and ALS). He has secured more than £11 million in research funding and has published >190 papers in a variety of leading journals. Tom has supervised or co-supervised more than 40 PhD and MSc students. He served as Editor-in-Chief at the Journal of Anatomy from 2011 to 2022.

Tom graduated from Edinburgh University Business School with an MBA in 2006, is an elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Royal Society of Biology and the Royal Microscopical Society, and an Honorary Fellow of the Anatomical Society.

Mr. Parameswaran S. Bhattathiri

Mr. Parameswaran S. Bhattathiri completed his M.B.B.S. at Government Medical College, Trivandrum, India, followed by postgraduate training in General Surgery and Neurosurgery at the Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology, earning an MCh in Neurosurgery. He was appointed Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery at the same institution.

He then moved to Newcastle upon Tyne, UK, where he joined the STICH International Trial Team, obtained a Neurosurgery Fellowship, and became a Consultant after completing Neuro-Oncology training with Dr. Guha (late) at Western General Hospital, Toronto, Canada. After a brief tenure as a Consultant Neurosurgeon at the American Hospital, Dubai, U.A.E., he joined the Institute of Neurosciences at Queen Elizabeth University Hospital, Glasgow, as a Consultant Neurosurgeon. Currently, he is one of the Senior Neurosurgery Consultants at the Institute of Neurosciences, Glasgow, and serves as Chairman of the Department, specialising in Complex Skull Base Pathologies.

Mr. Bhattathiri holds an MBA from Strathclyde Business School and has held several leadership roles, including Chairman of the National Implementation Group for Terminal Illness Disability Assistance (Scottish Government), Specialty Advisor for the Chief Medical Officer of Scotland, and Clinical Lead for the Department of Neurosurgery in Glasgow.

Dr. Thomas Butts

External Examiner for NUNC 2025

I am a developmental neurobiologist interested in how the brain develops and how this development has evolved over the last 500 or so million years. I teach embryology, neuroanatomy, neuroscience, and evolutionary biology across the medical curriculum.

After reading Cell Biology at Durham, my PhD explored the evolution of the homeobox genes in animals, which are crucial in building animal embryos, under the supervision of Dr David Ferrier (now in St Andrews) and Prof Peter Holland at Oxford, where I was also a college lecturer at St Catherine's College. From there, I moved to work as a postdoctoral researcher with Prof Richard Wingate, Prof Andrew Lumsden, and Prof Anthony Graham at King's College London on the development and evolution of the hindbrain.

My first teaching post was as a lecturer in neurobiology on the Nanchang Joint Programme at QMUL, and before moving to Sunderland I was the programme director for the BSc Anatomy degree at the University of Liverpool.

I am a Senior Lecturer in Neuroscience in the School of Medicine, and the theme lead for Neuroscience. In addition to this, I am Deputy Phase 1 Lead, and the School's Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion lead, and a personal tutor.

I teach molecular biology, genetics, genomics, embryology, neuroanatomy, neuroscience, and evolutionary biology across the medical curriculum.

Organisation(s)

National Undergraduate Neuroanatomy Competition

The National Undergraduate Neuroanatomy Competition (NUNC) is a yearly competition aimed to provide an educational and intellectually stimulating event where students can enhance their neuroanatomy knowledge, strengthen their CVs and meet like-minded people. NUNC provides the opportunity for students to demonstrate their commitment to the fields of neurology and neurosurgery and provide evidence of their achievement.

The day is divided into a morning of examinations comprising a 60-question SBA paper and a 31-station spotter examination, all based on gross neuroanatomy and its clinical application. The afternoon comprises a workshop and various talks from experts in the fields, ranging from their career paths to interesting case studies and research. Both pre-clinical and clinical undergraduate students with a strong anatomical component in their degrees are welcome and encouraged to participate.

Medics Academy

Medics.Academy is a revolutionary online education platform enabling healthcare professionals and students to learn in new and innovative ways. Medics.Academy has understood the need to provide high-quality, blended learning digital healthcare programmes. The digital components can be accessed anywhere and on any device. These programmes are sustainable, scalable, quality assured and will drive improvements in skills, knowledge and patient safety. Founded in 2016 by people passionate about innovation in healthcare, we empower health professionals across the globe through innovative education and continued professional development. Our team of doctors, engineers, artists, and film-makers create engaging content as well as full education programmes up to and including masters and postgraduate levels, delivering the highest quality education to an international audience.

The Healthcare Leadership Academy

The Healthcare Leadership Academy formed in response to demand from young clinicians and medical students to learn about leadership. Founded by Dr Johann Malawana (Course Director), former leader of the Junior Doctor Dispute, and a team of like-minded professionals (Our Faculty and Assistant Course Directors) the Healthcare Leadership Academy launched on 20th December 2016. HLA houses an exciting faculty from across the health sector and beyond. Their shared aim is to inspire the next generation of healthcare professionals and develop their understanding of leadership. Too often in healthcare, leadership is confused with management. Through a combination of mentoring, Socratic discussion, and philosophical exploration, HLA aims to inspire our scholars to change the world of healthcare, one small step at a time. At a time when the world seems an ever more worrying place, it is important that the next generation of healthcare professionals truly understand how to motivate the people they work with in order to best look after the populations they serve.