Seba Chandraraj Retires

After 25 years teaching anatomy at RMIT, Professor Seba Chandraraj is to retire. In the first 5 years of her appointment she did the unheard of, teaching all of gross anatomy single handed. Seba moved with the technology available, providing extensive material online. She moved from the formal use of titles once required, to the first name basis with which she is more comfortable. Her subject material in rapidly evolving areas such as neurophysiology was scrupulously current; her teaching resources drawn from a wide variety of references. While acknowledging that students, particularly of the late 70’s-early 80’s, had a heavy workload, she would not compromise quality. Seba drove herself (and us!) hard, determined that students should get the education that would carry them competently into practice and research.

Since joining Phillip Institue, now RMIT, all but one of Seba Chandraraj’s published papers have been on the spine, predominantly its embryology. Often writing with Professor Chris Briggs of Melbourne University, her papers cover a variety of issues including the role of endplate vascularity in the development of schmorl’s nodes, failure of somite differentiation as a cause of occipitalization, and failure of facet joint development as a cause of congenital blocks. The abstract of her 1995 paper looking at L5 root and DRG compression in adult spines by the lumbosacral ligament appears on p21 in the abstract section of this newsletter. A further paper is in process.

We thank her for what she gave, and the professional example she set.

Liz Baker