A DUNDEE University professor has received an award in recognition of her attempts to relieve poverty and distress.

Professor of anatomy and forensic anthropology Sue Black has been named recipient of the Lucy Mair Medal for Applied Anthropology from the Royal Anthropological Institute.

The medal honours excellence in the application of anthropology to the relief of poverty and distress, and to the active recognition of human dignity.

“This has come as a huge surprise,” said Professor Black, who is also director of the Centre for Anatomy and Human Identification.

“Forensic anthropology has a developing role to play in the alleviation of suffering, and in the last four years the University of Dundee has really invested and supported this enormously important venture.”

Professor Black’s recent work has included identification of victims of the tsunami in Thailand and in areas of armed conflict.

Her view of her work is informed by an appreciation of human rights and an insight into human suffering.

“Forensic anthropology is best described as the analysis of human remains for the medico-legal purposes of establishing identity,” she said.

“Being able to assign a name to the deceased is critical to achieving psychological closure for families, as well as being core to the successful outcome of all legal investigations.

“In a judicial investigation, one cannot predict which parts of the human body will present for identification and therefore it is vital that every element be examined in an effort to determine the positive identity of the deceased.

“Within the last 10 years, forensic anthropology has come to play an increasingly important role in judicial investigations both within the UK and internationally, being core to issues of repatriation, mass disasters and war crimes.”