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About Me

I am an historian by training, working on histories of medicine, anatomy, race science, and colonialism. I have previous done some consultancy work for medical schools on decolonising the curriculum initiatives.

My doctoral work, looked at the anatomical teaching materials and how young, white, male bodies became the norm in medical education during the nineteenth century. This normalisation has underpinned the use of young, white, male bodies in medical research in the twentieth century.

My textbook, Women in the History of Science: A Sourcebook, came out in 2023 with UCL Press- perfect for History of Science/History of Medicine introduction/101 classes, as well as journalistic researchers.

I co-authored the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine’s Colonial History Report, and continue to teach on institutional imperial histories. I also held a Caird Fellowship at the National Maritime Museum looking at the human remains and photographs collected by the 1872-76 HMS Challenger expedition (currently celebrating its 150th anniversary).

I also have experience working on creating positive and negative workplace cultures within higher education and academic research. I conducted research as part of the Emerging Research Cultures project thinking about how to improve research culture in the biosciences.

I am currently working on the Wellcome-funded Global Health Systems project at LSHTM, looking at the development of Health Systems in colonial Nigeria.

Recent Publications

Martin, R. ‘Putting names to faces’, National Maritime Museum:
Our Stories (in press), shortly to be available via https://www.rmg.co.uk/stories

Wills, H., S. Harrison, E. Jones, F. Lawrence-Mackey, and R. Martin (Eds.), Women in the History of Science: A Sourcebook (UCL Press, March 2023)

Martin, R. ‘Sarah Emily Davies (1830−1921): A letter to Barbara
Leigh Smith Bodichon (1873)’, in H. Wills, S. Harrison, E. Jones, F.
Lawrence-Mackey, and R. Martin (Eds.), Women in the History of
Science: A Sourcebook (UCL Press, March 2023)

Martin, R. ‘Dissent in the archive: the power of peer review’, BSHS
Viewpoint 129 (February 2023), pp. 9-10

Martin, R., N. Nasir, A. Carusi, and W. T. P. P. Community of
Practice, ‘Enhancing research culture through PhD training: a
systems approach to identifying leverage points for policy
formation’, Wellcome Open Research 8:422 (September 2023),
online

Martin, R. ‘Reading between the lines’, Royal Society Blog: History
of Science (28 October 2022), available at
https://royalsociety.org/blog/2022/10/reading-between-thelines/

Carusi, A., R. Martin, N. Nasir, and W. T. P. P. Community of
Practice, ‘From the Directors: A report on Wellcome Trust PhD
Programmes’ Role in Improving Research Culture in PhD Training’, SocArXiv (October 2022), online

Hirsch, L. and R. Martin, ‘LSHTM and Colonialism: A report on the Colonial History of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical
Medicine (1899–c.1960)’, Project Report, London School of
Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London UK (August 2022)

Carusi, A., R. Martin, N. Nasir, and W. T. P. P. Community of
Practice, ‘Talking About Research Culture: A report on discussions
about research culture in Wellcome Trust PhD programmes’,
SocArXiv (June 2022), online

Martin, R. ‘Who was Sir Ronald Ross?: The man behind LSHTM’s
Ronald Ross Medal’, Project Report, London School of Hygiene
and Tropical Medicine, London UK (April 2022)

Martin, R. ‘Diversifying medicine: teaching and practice’, Report
based on consultation with Deans of Kent and Medway Medical
School, SocArXiv (Written Nov 2020: Posted Sept 2022), online

Media Coverage

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2022/aug/11/london-medical-school-benefited-from-colonial-exploitation-report-finds?utm_term=Autofeed&CMP=twt_b-gdnnews&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Twitter#Echobox=1660195758

Social Media

@Rebecca_Martin_

Country Focus

Expertise by Geography

Africa, British Isles, United Kingdom, Western Europe

Expertise by Chronology

19th century, Modern, 20th century

Expertise by Topic

Colonialism, Gender, Indigenous Peoples, Medicine, Race, Science, Women