Prof Clare Elwell
Professor of Medical Physics
Dept of Med Phys & Biomedical Eng
Faculty of Engineering Science
- Joined UCL
- 1st Nov 1999
Research summary
Teaching summary
Education
- University of London
- Doctorate, Doctor of Philosophy | 1995
- University of Exeter
- Other higher degree, Master of Philosophy | 1990
- University of Exeter
- First Degree, Bachelor of Science (Honours) | 1988
Biography
Clare Elwell is a
Professor of Medical Physics in the Department of Medical Physics and Biomedical
Engineering at University College London (UCL). She obtained her BSc. in Physics with
Medical Physics in 1988 from the University of Exeter, where she also completed
her MPhil (1991). She gained a PhD from UCL in 1995 describing the application
of near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) to measurements of brain oxygenation and
blood flow in adults. She is now Director of the Near Infrared Spectroscopy
Research Group in the Biomedical Optics Research Laboratory at UCL and holds
honorary positions at University College London Hospital, the National Hospital
for Neurology and Neurosurgery, University of Essex and Birkbeck, University of
London. She develops novel optical systems for monitoring and imaging
the human body. Her research projects include studies of autism, acute brain
injury in adults, children and infants, sports performance, migraine and malaria.
Her most recent project
is the use of near infrared spectroscopy to investigate malnutrition related
brain development in rural Gambia, resulting in the first functional brain
imaging of infants in Africa. She started the Globalfnirs initiative (www.globalfnirs.org) to support the
application of NIRS in global health projects. She currently leads the Brain
Imaging for Global Health (BRIGHT) project which is developing brain function
for age curves for Gambian and UK infants from birth to 24 months of age with
the aim of informing targeted interventions to improve long term neurocognitive
outcome.
Her research is
supported by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, Medical Research
Council, Wellcome Trust, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and industrial
collaborators Hamamatsu Photonics and Hitachi Medical Systems.
She is a founder member
and President of the Society for Functional Near Infrared Spectroscopy, and
President of the London International Youth Science Forum. She is Founder and
Trustee of the charity Young Scientists for Africa (YoSA, www.yosa.org.uk).
Clare has won the UCL Provost’s
Public Engagement Award, Medical Research Council Science Suffrage Award,
Inspirational Teacher Award at the UK Inspirational Awards for Women and the
Women in Science and Engineering Research Award. Most recently she was awarded
the UCL Engineering Engagement Outstanding Contribution Award and a British
Science Association Media Fellowship to work with the Financial Times in
London.