Profile – Medical Physics Zone

Education:

University of Limerick, Ireland 2000-2006. Linkoping University Hospital, Sweden 2006-2008. University of Surrey, UK 2008-2010
Qualifications:

Masters degree in Medical Physics and also a PhD in Physics
Work History:

I’ve worked in Washington DC, also in a hospital in Sweden, also in Ireland and now St Thomas’ Hospital in London
Current Job:

Research into finding and curing cancer using radioactive drugs

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I work in a very small are of the hospital called the PET Department. And no, before you ask I don’t work in a vet! We use radioactive drugs which are targeted to certain cancer tumours so we can show them up under a special scanner and find out where they are in the body and how big (or small) they’ve gotten. We can then give these patients another type of targeted radioactive drug which destroys the cancer cells.
Its a very exciting area to be working in, and this research is proving lots of new stuff every day. And of course the people are very clever (a lot more than me!)
My Typical Day:

have tea, research new drugs, have more tea, review patient scans, have more tea and have some project meetings
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I’m lucky enough that I don’t have a “typical” day – it depends what kind of research studies we have running on that day. I normally have to talk to our doctors and technicians about certain scans and also work on new drugs, how they find certain types of tumours and how the drugs might affect the patient.

Like any job, there are some boring bits like checking that the scanners are working OK but luckily there is a lot more of the interesting stuff!
What I'd do with the prize money:

Organise a Science Speak competition for scientists to explain what they do to other people in the public

Jim O Doherty