Name:

Clare Elwell

 

 

Profession:

Medical Physicist 

 

 

Area of research:

The Brain - imaging the brain to investigate brain injury and

                    problems, such as autism, malnutrition, malaria,

                    migraines and depression.

                     (check out the clip on the left to find out more about Clare's work)

 

 

About Clare....

Clare Elwell studied Maths, Physics and Chemistry at A’ Level and initially had her sights on a career in medicine but lingering concerns about studying biology, chemistry and writing essays did make her question whether she would actually enjoy medical school. Whilst on a summer school for sixth form science students she attended a lecture on Medical Physics and learnt for the first time about how integral physics and engineering are to so many areas of medicine. This was her “light-bulb” moment and she returned from the summer school with a new career aspiration. Although her school careers advisor had never heard of Medical Physics she found an undergraduate course in Physics with Medical Physics at Exeter University.

 

After finishing her degree she started work as a Clinical Physicist at the local hospital where she also completed a masters degree. She moved to University College London where she completed a PhD and established a career as a research scientist and academic, being promoted to Professor of Medical Physics in 2008.

 

Throughout her career as a medical physicist Clare has worked at the interface of technical development of instrumentation and its clinical application. Her research involves the development and application of novel optical methods for investigating the human brain. She leads a large multidisciplinary research team developing novel optical techniques to image the brain to investigate acute brain injury, autism, malnutrition, malaria, migraine and depression.

 

 

The future for Medical Physics:

Medical physicists have transformed modern healthcare with the development of technologies to monitor, image and treat the human body. Innovations such as X-ray, ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging, cochlear implants, artificial heart valves and radiotherapy techniques are all examples of medical physics. A key feature of the work of medical physicists is their ability to work within multidisciplinary teams, understanding the requirements of clinical users, communicating their science effectively and providing solutions to real life problems.