Rebecca Messbarger

Rebecca Messbarger is a Professor of Italian and Director of Medical Humanities at Washington University in St. Louis. She holds affiliate professorships in History, Art History, Performing Arts, and Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. Her research focuses on the Italian Enlightenment, particularly the intersection of anatomy, art, and gender. She earned her PhD in Italian from the University of Chicago and has held prestigious fellowships, including the Rome Prize Fellowship (2021) and Mellon New Directions Fellowship (2005–2009).

Her major work, The Lady Anatomist: The Life and Work of Anna Morandi Manzolini (2010), explores the life of an 18th-century anatomist and wax sculptor. She has authored numerous articles, including award-winning pieces on anatomical art and Enlightenment medicine. Her current projects include a book on criminal corpses and the Italian Enlightenment, supported by grants from the Gateway Foundation and others.

Awards: James L. Clifford Prize (2012–2013), Rome Prize Fellowship (2021), and National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship (2000–2001). She directs the Medical Humanities program and has organized interdisciplinary conferences on topics like Vesalius and Enlightenment science. Her teaching emphasizes the humanities' role in medical education.