A peek into the unknown

ANNA DHODY first visited the Mutter Museum when she was 7 years old. Today, she is the curator of that world-famous Philadelphia museum of anatomical anomalies, which was recently named one of the "Most Unnerving Spots on Earth" by BuzzFeed.

Dhody, who's also a member of the Vidocq Society of unsolved-crime sleuths and a consultant for the Philadelphia Medical Examiner's Office, chatted with Stephanie Farr about virtual amputations, jars of skin and why an office building was the most unsettling place she's ever visited.

Q What is the most unnerving place you've ever been?

I worked for the United Nations Development Programme in Peru in 2003. I'm a forensic anthropologist. I analyzed skeletal material of people who disappeared 20-plus years ago. It was unnerving because they didn't have top-notch facilities. We were basically kind of in an office building. It was the fact we were in this kind of area that looked so ordinary but it was filled with body bags.

Q What is the most interesting item in your new Civil War exhibit at the museum?

I would have to say our interactive piece. It's a virtual amputation experience, a way for you to virtually experience through your own eyes looking at your own body what it would be like to lose an arm and have a prosthetic. It's really wonderful.

Q The museum hosts weddings. What is a wedding at the Mutter Museum like?

The Mutter Museum is part of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia, which was started in 1787. You can get married in the College of Physicians building, and you can have the museum open for your reception.

We have an absolutely beautiful space and we just had this beautiful veranda put on that is adjacent to our to garden. How many other places can you go to that you'll appeal to so many aesthetics? We have your botanical, cultural, anatomical and historical bases covered.

Q Tell me about the jar of skin you keep on your desk and the person who sent it to you?

It's not a jar, it's jars. There is this individual who has something called dermatillomania. It's part of the obsessive-compulsive spectrum. It's the compulsive need to pick skin off your body. She appears to have a minor case where she's been able to confine her picking to just the calluses of her feet.

She contacted me and said at first she had a "roommate" who left this to her, would I be interested in it? I kind of on a whim said, "Yeah, I would be." How many times are you offered a jar of skin?

It's really important to me because it's easy to show what a brain look likes with a hemorrhage. It's easy to show what a kidney with stones looks like. It's very hard to show what a person with a mental disorder looks like, so to have a physical manifestation of a mental disorder that can be used to educate people is important to me.

Q Has working at the museum changed your definition of beauty?

I would say that you talk about those clichés that beauty is only skin deep - I think beauty goes all the way down. I've been able to look at beautiful hearts and organs. Some things are beautiful in their abnormality or deformity. I have an appreciation of what it means to be human and the many forms it can take.

We represent the bell curve of humanity here, the extremes. When people come here, one of the takeaways we hope they can get is they understand more fully what it means to be human.

Q The museum collects oddities from its own staff, including your 3 mm kidney stone. What's the strangest thing a staffer has offered up for the collection?

We've got the body parts and bits and pieces from at least five staff members or their spouses. You tell me any other museum in Philadelphia that can say that. We have my kidney stone, my husband's gallbladder and parts of other staff members but I'm not sure they want me to say out loud.

Q What does the curator of the Mutter Museum have on her Christmas list?

It's my Christmaskah list. We celebrate Christmas and Hanukkah and Diwali.

We have what I'm pretty sure is the largest human colon on display in the world. We have now a lovely, adorable, anatomically-accurate plushie toy of the mega colon that doubles as a great travel pillow. I'm guessing that's a gift I may have to buy myself.