MPBE Student Awards

Sidney Russ (1879-1963) was appointed as physicist to the Middlesex Hospital in 1913. In 1920, he was appointed to the newly instituted Joel Chair of Physics Applied to Medicine at the Middlesex Hospital Medical School. This was the first Chair of Medical Physics in the world. He was awarded the CBE in 1931 for services to radium work and was an original member of the King Edward's Hospital Fund radium committee which kept a supply of radium at the Middlesex Hospital for use throughout London during the Second World War. He retired in 1946, after pioneering a new scientific approach to precision measurement in radiology. An article describing the role of Prof. Russ in the early days of Medical Physics, written by W. Alan Jennings, is available here.

Our department was created in 1987, when the Middlesex Hospital Medical School Department of Physics Applied to Medicine merged with the UCL's Department of Medical Physics. We now award a prize in Prof Russ' name to our most outstanding final year undergraduate. The prize has been endowed thanks to very kind and generous gifts made by Dr. Dorothy Collins and Mr. John Russ, the daughter and son of Prof. Sidney Russ.

2024

• Urvi Dudeja, BSc Physics with Medical Physics

2023

• Talha Atcha, iBSc Medical Sciences with Medical Physics and Bioengineering
• Andrea Ripa, MEng in Biomedical Engineering

2022

• Emma Prevot, BSc Physics with Medical Physics 

2021

• Holly Arumainayagam, BEng Biomedical Engineering
• Gabriel Ide, iBSc Medical Sciences with Medical Physics and Bioengineering

2020

• Steen Grover

2019

• Preena Patel

2018

• Adam Doherty

2017 

• Martin Tan

2016

• Nicola Wolff

2015

• Simrun Virdee

2014

• Phong Thanh Phan

2013

• Anna Zamir

2012

• Matthew Elameer

2011

• Michael Whitewood

2010

• Amanda Barton

2009

• Sundeep Patel

2008

• Reena Aggarwal

John Clifton was head of department from 1962-1992. He oversaw the growth of the Department from its first PhD student to an internationally leading research and clinical department. The department changed a great deal during his time as head, formally becoming part of UCL (rather than UCH) in 1981 and merging with the Academic Department of Medical Physics of the Middlesex Hospital Medical School in 1987. Prof Clifton graduated from the University of Southampton in 1955 and moved to the Department of Medical Physics of UCH and UCH Medical School in 1957 before becoming head of department in 1962. He was President of the Hospital Physicists’ Association (1976-8) and Honorary Editor of Physics in Medicine and Biology (1979-83). He introduced one of the UK's first rotating cobalt units for radiotherapy to UCH in 1962 and one of the first computers used for radiotherapy treatment planning in 1964. He started work on measuring tissue oxygenation in the mid 1960s, work which is still ongoing. He was the fourth Joel Professor of Physics Applied to Medicine from 1990-1992. A student prize named in his honour is awarded annually for the most outstanding performance by a non-final-year undergraduate. 

John Clifton was head of department from 1962-1992. He oversaw the growth of the Department from its first PhD student to an internationally leading research and clinical department. The department changed a great deal during his time as head, formally becoming part of UCL (rather than UCH) in 1981 and merging with the Academic Department of Medical Physics of the Middlesex Hospital Medical School in 1987.

Prof Clifton graduated from the University of Southampton in 1955 and moved to the Department of Medical Physics of UCH and UCH Medical School in 1957 before becoming head of department in 1962. He was President of the Hospital Physicists’ Association (1976-8) and Honorary Editor of Physics in Medicine and Biology (1979-83).

He introduced one of the UK's first rotating cobalt units for radiotherapy to UCH in 1962 and one of the first computers used for radiotherapy treatment planning in 1964. He started work on measuring tissue oxygenation in the mid 1960s, work which is still ongoing. He was the fourth Joel Professor of Physics Applied to Medicine from 1990-1992. A student prize named in his honour is awarded annually for the most outstanding performance by a non-final-year undergraduate. 

2024

• Anson Nicolas, BSc Physics with Medical Physics

2023

• Ksenia Odintsova, MSci Medical Physics 

2022

• Valeria Dosso, MEng Biomedical Engineering

2021

• Emman Prevot, BSc Physics with Medical Physics
• Andrea Ripa, MEng in Biomedical Engineering

2020

• Cristina Ghica

2019

• Asta Olafsdottir

2018

• Regina Vivian Barli

2017

• Oriana Arsenov and Cyrus Tanade

2016

• Yui Chun Leung

2015

• Edward James

2014

• Sam Searles-Bryant

2013

• Geraldine Chee

2012

• Marta Caballero

2011

• Anna Zamir

Nuclear physicist Joseph Rotblat left his native Poland in 1939 to work at Liverpool University, and soon became involved in the Manhattan Project at Los Alamos to develop the atomic bomb. He was the only physicist to leave the Project for ethical reasons when it became clear that Germany was not going to develop a similar device. Deeply concerned about the morality of nuclear weapons, he was a founder member of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, launched in 1958, and co-founded the annual series of Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs in 1957 as a vehicle for scientists to promote the causes of peace and disarmament. Rotblat was determined that his research should have only peaceful ends, and so became interested in the medical and biological uses of radiation. During 1950-1976, Joseph Rotblat was Professor of Physics at St. Bartholomew’s Hospital, London, where his career was devoted to the application of radiation physics to medicine. In 1995, he and the Pugwash Conferences organisation he created were jointly awarded theNobel peace prize.

The MSc in Radiation Physics was started in 1958 by Joseph Rotblat at St Bartholomew’s Medical College and Eric Roberts at the Middlesex Hospital Medical School. We award a prize in Prof Rotblat's name to our most outstanding MSc student.

2024

• Chen Katzir, MSc Artificial Intelligence and Medical Imaging

2023

• Robert Slack, MSc Physics and Engineering in Medicine

2022

• Ela Kanani, MSc Medical Robotics and AI 

2021

• Isabelle Hawley, MSc Physics and Engineering in Medicine

2020

• Suzanne Boardman

2019

• Adam Rudrum

2018

• Jeffrey Lui

2017

• Cornelius Bauer

2016

• Mei lok Chiang

2015

• Oscar Bennett

2014

• Kehao Wang

2013

• Anne-Marie Stapleton

2012

• Edwina Peck

2011

• James O'Callaghan

2010

• Katie Eyre

2009

• Catherine Eveleigh

2008

• Kate Ricketts

Professor Robert Speller is a distinguished physicist and academic at University College London, holding the title of Joel Professor of Physics Applied to Medicine. Originally specialising in cosmic ray physics, he transitioned his expertise to medical physics in 1973, and by 1983 he was appointed Head of Radiation Physics at UCL.

His expansive research portfolio encompasses the development of advanced sensors and detector systems, pioneering studies in scattered photon fields, and innovative applications such as semiconductor Compton cameras for proton therapy verification. Robert has co-authored several hundred publications, reflecting his strong influence in both the physics and medical imaging communities—with over 5,500 citations to his work.

Beyond his research contributions, Ribert plays a vital leadership role in education and mentorship. He heads the Radiation Physics Group, guiding projects in X‑ray computed tomography, diffraction-based breast-tissue analysis, and detector optimisation for therapy monitoring. 

His legacy also includes establishing the Robert Speller Prize for Best Paper by a PhD Student in recognition of outstanding PhD research within our department. 

2024

• Kai Mason

2023

• Yukun Zhou

2022

• Simone Foti

2021

• Edward James

2020

• Dana Shoukroun

2019

• Sana Hannan

2018

• Esther Baer

2017

• Michael Brown

2016

• Guotai Wang

2015

• Fabio Vittoria

2014

• Gemma Bale

2013

• Isabel Christie

2012

• Joanna Brunker

2024

• Jishizhan Chen - Liquid Crystalline Hydroxyapatite Nanorods Orchestrate Hierarchical Bone‐Like Mineralization

2023

• Laura Privitera - Shortwave Infrared Imaging Enables High-Contrast Fluorescence-Guided Surgery in Neuroblastoma

2024

• Connor Creasey, MSc Physics and Engineering in Medicine by distance learning

2023

• Louisa Brown, MSc Physics and Engineering in Medicine

2022

• Ioana Pinzaru, MSc Physics and Engineering in Medicine

2021

• Isabelle Hawley, MSc Physics and Engineering in Medicine

2024

• Luca Daniele Ramella
• Netanel Rosenberg Whyte 
• Valentino Thomas

2023

• Aidan Tang 
• Charlotte Wei 
• Kevin Wei

2022

How well would rubber sustain if used as wheelchair tyre?

• Karol Duque
• Aaryan Hebbalkar
• Rachel Wan

2021

Testing the properties of a knee support material

• Dimo Dihanov
• Emily Wagner

2024

• Lei Lei, PhD Medical Physics and Bioengineering

2023

• Carlos Navarrete-Leon, PhD Medical Physics and Bioengineering

Formally the London Myeloma Support Group Prize for Outstanding Extra-curricular Contribution

2021

• Carolina Borrelli, MEng Biomedical Engineering
• Oriol Roche i Morgo, PhD in Medical Physics and Bioengineering
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2019

• Aman Ganglani

2018

• Lorenzo Molinari

2017

• Marina Melero Bernal

2016

• Stecia-Marie Fletcher