Prof Matthew J Mason
MA, PhD, PGCert, SFHEA, FRSB, FAcadMEd, FA
University Physiologist and Professor of Comparative Physiology. Robert Comline Fellow in Physiology at St Catharine’s College.
About me
Matthew Mason is Cambridge’s first and only University Physiologist, with over 20 years of experience teaching physiology to medical, veterinary and natural science students in Cambridge.
Originally trained as a veterinary student in Cambridge before pursuing academia, Matthew completed his PhD and postdoc in the Department of Physiological Science in UCLA, California, before returning to Cambridge.
As Professor of Comparative Physiology, he has a major role in medical physiology teaching, running numerous practical classes and giving lectures and seminars. He has many times been the Senior Examiner for Cambridge’s medical physiology course.
Matthew revolutionised medical education through innovative flipped-classroom teaching and his globally recognised YouTube channel Hippomedics, which has 900,000 views internationally.
As Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, Fellow of the Academy of Medical Educators, and holder of a Postgraduate Certificate in Teaching & Learning in Higher Education, Matthew has been recognised with Cambridge’s Pilkington Prize and the 2025 Otto Hutter Teaching Prize from the Physiological Society. He's been nominated four times for student-led teaching awards and invited to present at Harvard.
Course
Awards
2025 Otto Hutter Teaching Prize, national teaching prize from the Physiological Society (UK)
Pilkington Prize for Excellence in Teaching, from the University of Cambridge
Publications
Mason, M. J. and Jooganah, K. (2024). Online versus live practicals: what were physiology students missing during the pandemic?(Opens in a new window) In T. Betts and P. Oprandi, eds., From Lab to Laptop: Case Studies in Teaching Practical Courses Online. University of Sussex: Open Press.
Burford, C. M., Cornwall, H. L., Farr, M. R. B., Santoni, C. M. and Mason, M. J. (2023). Development and anatomy of the human middle ear(Opens in a new window). In M. V. Goycoolea, S. Selaimen da Costa, C. de Souza and M. M. Paparella, eds., Textbook of Otitis Media. Cham: Springer, pp. 29–48.
Manoharan, S. M., Gray, R., Hamilton, J. and Mason, M. J. (2022). Internal vascular channel architecture in human auditory ossicles(Opens in a new window). Journal of Anatomy,241(2), 245–258.
Mason, M. J. and Gayton, A. M. (2022). Active learning in flipped classroom and tutorials: complementary or redundant?(Opens in a new window) International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 16(2), 1–11.
Mason, M. J. and Gayton, A. M. (2019). Flipping physiology: can we teach physiology in a different way?(Opens in a new window) Physiology News, 116, 31–33.
Mason, M. J. and Wenger, L. M. D. (2019). Mechanisms of vibration detection in mammals(Opens in a new window). In P. S. M. Hill, R. Lakes-Harlan, V. Mazzoni, P. M. Narins, M. Virant-Doberlet and A. Wessel,eds., Biotremology: Studying Vibrational Behavior. Cham: Springer.
Burford, C. M. and Mason, M. J. (2016). Early development of the malleus and incus in humans(Opens in a new window). Journal of Anatomy,229(6), 857–870.
Schwiening, C. J., Mason, M. J. and Thompson, M. (2011). Absolute power, not sex, promotes perspiration(Opens in a new window). Experimental Physiology, 96(5), 556–558.