International expert on medical imaging to give
Inaugural John Mallard Medical Physics Lecture
The contribution of atoms and electrons to medicine will be the subject of the inaugural John Mallard Medical Physics Lecture given by international expert, Professor Ian Isherwood and due to take place on 9 May 2000. Professor Isherwood will focus on how they have enabled modern medicine to capture images of processes within the body such as blood flow to the brain and muscles and how drugs are distributed through the body.
For over 30 years, thanks to the efforts of the scientific teams in the Department of Biomedical Physics and Bioengineering under the guidance of Professor John Mallard, Aberdeen has been at the cutting edge of medical imaging. It has been a remarkable story and one in which the people of Aberdeen have been closely involved. It is they who have benefited most from having access to the latest in medical technology. In the case of Magnetic Resonance Imaging, John Mallard’s greatest success, Aberdonians were the first people anywhere in the world to receive its benefits. As one patient, expressed it, John Mallard's work has given “images of hope”.
To commemorate this extraordinary work, an annual lecture has been endowed, the John Mallard Medical Physics Lecture. The first lecture will take place on Tuesday 9 May 2000 at 4.30pm in the Medical Auditorium, Foresterhill. It will be given by Professor Ian Isherwood, formerly Professor of Radiology at Manchester and one of the world’s leading authorities on media imaging. The Lecture is entitled: “The Electron and the Atom – Contributions to Medicine”.
Professor Isherwood said: “It has been over 100 years since the discovery of the electron in 1897. I will look at how the electron and the atom have contributed to medicine, not only in imaging, including television, but also in nuclear medicine and magnetic resonance, which were important in Prof Mallard’s career.
“I am very pleased, indeed honoured, to give this lecture in Aberdeen, which has such a strong history in physics, from Tom Clark Maxwell to Professor John Mallard.”
Photocall Details: Professor Isherwood will be available for interview at 11.30am in the PET (Positron Emission Tomography) Centre, Aberdeen Royal Infirmary. Together with Professor Peter Sharp, Professor Mallard’s successor as Head of the Department of Biomedical Physics and Bioengineering at the University of Aberdeen, he will outline the importance of atoms and electrons and demonstrate the role of medical imaging in diagnosis and treatment.
The PET Centre is located at the East Entrance to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, diagonally opposite the University of Aberdeen Medical School (Polwarth Building)