From Ice Skates to Innovation: How W. Paul Brown’s Journey Revolutionized Anatomy Education

In 1998, W. Paul Brown, DDS, went on holiday to Sun Valley with his kids. Canadian-born, he embraced the cold and set out for the ice rink. Sadly, the pro-shop was out of his size hockey skates, so he rented figure skates instead. 

Skating lovers are already visualizing what happened next: a toe pick, a hard fall, a dislocated thumb. 

We’ve heard the platitudes: When life gives you lemons, make lemonade! When one door closes, another one opens. In the case of Brown, the silver lining to his cloud was an introduction to former NASA scientists and an NIH grant. 

The Beginnning

“I knew Paul socially through my husband,” said Dr. Amy Ladd, an orthopedic surgeon who operated on Brown’s thumb. “Dislocating his thumb wasn’t as life-changing as what came next. The stars were circling before they were aligned.” 

Around the same time, former Stanford Surgery Chair and then Chief of Anatomy Dr. Robert Chase had started putting together a team of “really smart people,” says Ladd.  Stanford University MultiMedia Information Technologies (or SUMMIT) included Ladd, a few former NASA scientists, and members of the National Biocomputation Center.

“I had a patient with a fractured wrist,” said Ladd. “They took the CT scan and reformatted so we could compare it to my wrist.”

Brown cites seeing the 3D stereo image of Ladd’s wrist as ground-breaking, the moment when he decided anatomy would be the next step in his career.

“I was struck by a simple but powerful thought: anatomy is a three-dimensional world, and we should be teaching it with 3D models,” said Brown. 

After learning that the US government owned the 3D rendering program, Brown pitched his idea to the NIH. Their response was immediate and positive.

“They said it sounded promising and recommended I apply for a Phase I Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant,” said Brown. “I submitted the application, and soon after received an unexpected call—not only did they like the idea, they asked if I would accept more funding than I had even requested.”

That moment launched a decades-long journey with SUMMIT and Stanford’s Division of Clinical Anatomy. Over the next 10 years, Brown submitted 15 NIH grant applications, 11 of which were successfully funded.

The History of Anatomy Libraries

In 2023, Brown celebrated his 25th anniversary at Stanford. To commemorate his time, Anatomy Division Chief Dr. Sakti Srivastava asked Brown to create something that reflected his work.

“Paul has worked tirelessly for many years - truly driven by passion and a love of the subject. His work highlights the broader ramifications of anatomy as a discipline bringing together history, art, learning, technology and so much more,” said Srivastava. 

Brown chose to create an interactive history of anatomy online so that the images and videos he’s amassed over the years could be easily accessible to the public. Digital Media and Technology Specialist Matt Hasel has been helping him realize the project.

“Many medical students around the world have access to almost no anatomical content, so accessibility has been a prime undercurrent in our efforts,” said Hasel. “Concentrating on the work Paul did in assembling things and helping him usher this forward is very satisfying.”

The site includes the Anatomage Virtual Dissection Table, CT scans of an Egyptian child mummy (which Ladd says took eight days to render!), and the Augmented Reality Rodin Hand collection. Brown says he’s most partial to the chapter on the 3D Lab.

“As new technologies emerge, the 3D Lab doesn’t just study them; it integrates them into daily practice,” said Brown. “Watching the technologists (who are really artists in their own right) transform complex images and challenging requests from physicians into clear diagnostic and treatment maps is truly inspiring.”

Next Steps

While the History of Anatomical Libraries site is now available to the public, Brown is clear that it is still a work in progress.

“We are waiting for contributions from Bruce Fogel on 'Art & Anatomy,’ Amy Ladd on 'Fluoroscopic Imaging,' and from Dwayne Arola—a collaborator and friend from the University of Washington—on 'Synchrotron Imaging' for detecting the 'aging changes of bone.'” said Brown. He’s also excited about an addition from Parvati Dev, former PI of SUMMIT, and his own collection of skull CT scans. 

"It’s remarkable to think that just 25 years ago, most of the technology, imaging, and communications tools we now rely on didn’t even exist,” said Brown. “The most important and robust sections are still to come.”

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