Rate My Professor Irina Dedova

Irina Dedova is an Associate Professor (Teaching and Leadership), Senior Lecturer, and Discipline Lead in Anatomy in the Department of Chiropractic at Macquarie University in the Faculty of Medicine, Health and Human Sciences. She earned a Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery equivalent (MBBS) from Yekaterinburg, Russia in 1991, a Doctor of Philosophy in Medicine from the University of Sydney's Department of Anatomy and Histology in 2003, a Graduate Certificate in University Learning and Teaching from UNSW in 2019, and Senior Fellow status (SFHEA) from Advance HE in 2025. With over 20 years of experience designing educational innovations in higher education, Dedova has taught anatomy and physiology at Macquarie University, the University of New South Wales, and Western Sydney University. She has designed, convened, and co-convened units such as ANAT1002 Anatomy of Limbs and Back, ANAT2003 Anatomy of Head, Neck and Trunk, and CHIR6110 and CHIR611 in programs including medicine, medical sciences, clinical sciences, exercise physiology, physiotherapy, biomedical engineering, optometry, and chiropractic.

Dedova's research interests include molecular interactions of muscle proteins, neuroscience, rehabilitation, learner-centric educational practices, and evidence-based instructional design. She has produced 38 peer-reviewed publications, including 'High-Content Imaging of Unbiased Chemical Perturbations to Identify Therapeutic Strategies Targeting Single Cells' with Bryce et al. in Cell Systems (2019), 'A small molecule inhibitor of tropomyosin dissociates actin-tropomyosin filaments in vitro and in vivo' with Bonello et al. in Scientific Reports (2016), contributions to Biophysical Reviews such as 'Tropomyosins in health and disease: toward the regulatory role of tropomyosin' with Janco et al. (2020) and a comment by Dedova and Kekic (2020), and 'Anatomical variations of the obturator externus bursa' with Kyaw et al. in Journal of Medical Imaging and Radiation Oncology (2021). Her commitment to teaching excellence is evidenced by awards including the FMHHS Education Mentor Award (2023), The Lighthouse Program Ambition Award (2024), and nominations for the Vice-Chancellor’s Learning and Teaching Student Nominated Award (2022, 2023) and The Lighthouse Program Innovation Award (2023).