About us
Anatomical Variability: a resource on the non-pathological differences of the human body.
What it is
The portal documents human anatomical variation: the non-pathological differences in the shape, course and number of the structures of the body. Every entry carries the Latin terminology, the bibliographic references and, when the content is not original, the work it comes from.
It began because no organic resource on this subject was available in Italian: the reference literature is almost entirely in English, and those who study or work in Italian met it translated in fragments, or not at all. Anatomical variants have no nationality, though, and the portal is bilingual: every entry exists in both Italian and English.
How far along it is
Under construction. The archive counts more than eight hundred and fifty published entries, largely translated from somebody else’s work and declared as such, plus the research group’s own papers. There is no constituted scientific board yet: when there is one, it will appear here with names and affiliations.
We publish no statistics, no lists of collaborators and no announcements of sponsorship until they exist. A page that anticipates them asks for trust on the basis of something the reader cannot check, which is precisely what this project tries to avoid.
How we work
- Every article declares the scrutiny it received, and the levels are not equivalent: an editorial check is not peer review, and the two badges say different things.
- Anything that is not original is declared as such, with work, authors, licence and the changes made.
- Corrections and retractions stay visible: a retracted article does not vanish, because others may have cited it.
Independence
The project is editorially independent and is not affiliated with or endorsed by any pre-existing work on anatomical variation. The translations published here are permitted by the public licence of the source works, not by any relationship with those who wrote them.
Who runs the portal
The two responsibilities are distinct and worth naming separately: whoever answers for scientific merit and whoever builds and operates the infrastructure do not answer for each other’s work.
Scientific direction
Ferdinando Paternostro is a physician and associate professor of Human Anatomy at the University of Florence, Department of Experimental and Clinical Medicine, Anatomy and Histology Section, qualified as full professor since 2023. He is editor-in-chief of the Italian Journal of Anatomy and Embryology, journal of the Italian Society of Anatomy and Histology, and scientific director of cadaver anatomy courses.
His research deals continuously with anatomical variation and its clinical and surgical relevance: aortic arch, renal arteries, thyroid vascularisation, accessory pulmonary fissures and lobes, the relationship between the sciatic nerve and the piriformis muscle, the facial artery, the cuneiform bones. In 2013 he founded the public-engagement project “Anatomia per Tutti”.
His publications, each with a verifiable DOI or PMID, are listed on his profile. He holds that anatomical variants are not errors of nature but an expression of developmental plasticity, and that no standard anatomy is valid for everyone: this is the premise on which the portal is built.
Immacolata Belviso is associate professor of Human Anatomy at UniCamillus — Saint Camillus International University of Health Sciences, Rome, having previously been a researcher in Human Anatomy at the University of Naples Federico II and associate professor at Pegaso University. Her research concerns cardiac regenerative medicine — myocardial extracellular matrix as a biological scaffold, cardiac progenitor cells, fibroblast reprogramming — and the role of fibroblasts in the tumour microenvironment.
In recent years she has combined these subjects with macroscopic, clinical and historical-iconographic anatomy, working with the Florence and Siena groups: her 2026 work includes the description of a rare early trifurcation of the facial artery with a dedicated buccinator branch, and a study of the petrotympanic canal.
Built and operated by
The portal is built and operated by PCS di Ambrosio Espedito, Via Luigi Maradei 15, 87026 Mormanno (CS), Italy, P. IVA 03272650783 — C.F. MBRSDT76D23F735S, which is responsible for development, infrastructure, security and maintenance.
Technical operation carries no role in editorial decisions: what gets published, with which review badge and under which licence, is decided by the scientific direction and the editorial team.
Contributing
The portal welcomes contributions from healthcare professionals and researchers. Proposing an article requires an account and a professional profile verified by the editorial team: it underpins what every entry declares about its own reliability.
