No one will know their names – strange for two who are so important to the campus community,
That’s because they are deceased: anonymous specimens in the FRCC cadaver lab in Larimer campus’ Sunlight Peak building.
Behind two heavy doors in a temperature-controlled storage locker they reside.
The room smells faintly of rubbing alcohol and latex gloves. Fluorescent overhead lights bare down on the white walls and stainless-steel shelves.
The director of the lab, Dr. Nina Kharina, said the cadavers “are our friends, our teachers, our heroes.”
For the past 13 years, the program has served students in anatomy and physiology classes. Students in this program “flourish” at the advanced academic opportunity, she said.
The lab is made possible through its partnership with the University of Utah, which prepares the cadavers — people who have donated their bodies to science. FRCC hosts two per semester. They are kept for one year before being returned for cremation.
Johnathan exemplifies the importance of cadaver dissection to teach students. Students were able to identify several medical diagnoses that were previously unknown in his medical history.
The lab is open to the public for tours. To schedule one, contact Dr. Kharina.
