Page 13 - BodyWorlds3_TAB_2007.indd

Portland Tribune and Community Newspapers | June 5, 2007 | B O D Y W O R L D S 3 | 13

In her formative years, Dr. Angelina Whalley—the creative designer and conceptual planner of Dr. Gunther von Hagens’ BODYWORLDS exhibitions— wanted to be a surgeon.

“I knew very early in life that I wanted to help sick people, one person at a time, and that medicine was the sphere in which I would be able to do that,” she says.

In 1986, with her medical degree from the University of Heidelberg in hand and a promising surgical career ahead of her, Dr. Whalley met anatomist Dr. Gunther von Hagens, with whom she would forge a bond, both professional and personal, that has lasted for more than two decades. Te couple was mar-ried in 1992.

In 1995, after she assumed her role as managing director of the Institute for Plastination and creative and concep-tual designer of the BODY WORLDS exhibitions, she strived to present the specimens, organs and plastinates in ways that would engage visitors.

“I wanted to further our mission of health education by ennobling the post-

mortal body and without sacrifcing aesthetics. I try to present the body in a dramatic, memorable, beautiful way so that people can learn about anatomy, disease and health,” Dr. Whalley says. Dr. Whalley introduced the principle of comparative anatomy to the exhibi-tions, placing diseased organs next to healthy organs to striking efect.

“Te body is so fragile and vulnerable,

and yet so resilient and forgiving,” she says. “It has a memory so that what we do to it matters, but it also has a dynam-ic consciousness so that giving up un-healthy lifestyles or taking up exercise, even small changes, can make a difer-ence.”

Te arresting sight of the blackened lung of a cigarette smoker next to a healthy lung has prompted countless visitors to

swear of smoking, while the diseased shrunken liver next to its healthy coun-terpart has prompted many to surren-der alcohol.

Now that more than 20 million visi-tors in 35 cities across Europe, Asia and North America have seen the BODY WORLDS exhibitions and have been inspired to change their lifestyles and make a commitment to health, Dr. Whalley rarely regrets abandoning her career as a surgeon.

“It is profoundly moving for me to see women of childbearing age linger at the fetal development section and encoun-ter pre-natal life for the frst time, or see teenagers in leather jackets and blue jeans ditch their cigarette packs because some part of them fnally acknowledged that smoking was no longer cool,” she says.

She also has embraced her unexpected career as an influential public health ad-vocate. “I have been able to educate far more people about health than I ever would have if I had been a surgeon,” she says.

The Art of Science

Dr. Angelina Whalley Adds Art To Science Of Anatomy

SMOker’s Lung

Tar deposits blacken a smoker’s lungs, causing them to appear increasingly black. Smoking 20 cigarettes a day means that five ounces of tar per year will be deposited in the lungs.

NOn-SMOker’s Lung

By contrast, non-smoker’s lungs contain minimal darkening. Together with air, countless fine particles of dirt are also breathed in that settle in the lung tissue and are removed by means of a constant self-cleaning process.

CirrhOsis LiVer

Heavy alcohol consumption can cause permanent damage to the liver which can lead to cirrhosis of the liver. As the disease be-comes more advanced, the func-tions of the liver become increas-ingly more restricted.

HealthY LiVer

Te liver absorbs toxic substances from the blood and converts them to harmless waste products. In addition the liver cells produce 2/3-1 quart of bile per day.

CirrhOsis LiVer

Lungs Liver

BODY WORLDS