Medical physics
Medical physics research at the University of Surrey deals with the application of the concepts and methods of physics to the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of human diseases with a specific goal of improving human health and well-being. Activities include cancer diagnostics, advanced imaging, radiation oncology, radiation biology, nuclear medicine and radiation protection.
Research in this area
Related research groups
Centre for Mathematical and Computational Biology
Developing mathematical and computational methods to advance research and practical applications in life sciences and medicine.
Centre for Vision, Speech and Signal Processing
Focuses on medical imaging technologies for cancer detection and machine learning in personalised care for better living and healthy ageing.
Lifelong health
One of the University's strategic research themes promoting interdisciplinary research across the spectrum from discovery science to population-based studies of health, wellbeing and care in both humans and animals.
Researchers
Professor David Bradley
Emeritus Professor
About my research
Areas of specialism: Radiological risks associated with naturally occurring radioactive materials, synchrotron and Raman techniques to characterize biological materials, radiation effects on tissues and simulates, effects of ionizing radiation on cells and extracellular matrix.
Medical and health indications and disease stages: Cancer, cell biology, radiation detection and prevention.
Associated research centres and groups: Department of Physics and biomedical physics groups.
Research funding and collaborators: EU.
Professor Tao Chen
Associate Vice-President, International and Professor in Chemical Engineering
About my research
Areas of specialism: Mathematical modelling of dermal absorption kinetics and bioavailability, modelling response to radiotherapy and modelling food systems.
Medical and health indications and disease stages: Dermatology, topical drug development, cancer, nutrition for diagnosis and treatment.
Associated research centres and groups: Digital Processes Research Centre and Centre for Mathematical and Computational Biology.
Associated colleagues: Eirini Velliou, Guoping Lian, Liang Cui, Michael Short, Susan Lanham-New and Sara Faithfull.
Research funding and collaborators: EPSRC, BBSRC, NC3Rs, RAEng, US Food and Drug Administration, European Crop Protection Association, Cosmetics Europe, Unilever, National Physical Laboratory, Royal Surrey County Hospital, King’s College London and Institute of Process Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Dr Silvia Pani
Senior Lecturer in Applied Radiation Physics
About my research
Areas of specialism: X-ray mammography and hyperspectral imaging.
Medical and health indications and disease stages: Cancer, diagnosis and treatment.
Associated research centres and groups: Institute of Cancer Research, Royal Surrey County Hospital, Rutherford Appleton Laboratories and National Physical Laboratory.
Research funding and collaborators: £65,000 PhD funding for “quantitative SPECT imaging" (Surrey-NPL scheme, 2017-20), £72,000 PhD funding for “hyperspectral X-ray imaging for breast density measurement” (STFC Cancer Diagnosis Network and Surrey DCSA, 2020-2024).
Professor Giuseppe Schettino
Associate Tutor in Medical Physics
About my research
Areas of specialism: Dosimetry, advanced radiotherapy, personalized medicine and radiation biology.
Medical and health indications and disease stages: Cancer, diagnosis and treatment.
Associated research centres and groups: National Physical Laboratory, Royal Surrey County Hospital, University College London, University of Oxford, King’s College, Queen’s University Belfast, Radiation and Medical Physics Group and Surrey Cancer Research Network.
Facilities: LINAC, MRI, X-ray, cobalt, diamond detectors, 3D printing.
Research funding and collaborators: EPSRC, NPL (BEIS), MRC, NC3R.
Professor Paul Sellin
Professor of Physics
About my research
Areas of specialism: Radiation detectors and new materials for medical devices.
Medical and health indications and disease stages: Cancer.
Associated research centres and groups: Radiation and Medical Physics Group.
Professor Kevin Wells
Professor of AI in Human and Veterinary Healthcare
About my research
Areas of specialism: Diagnostic imaging, artificial intelligence and computer vision for healthcare, digital pathology, PET/CT, mammography, non-contact sleep monitoring, virtual clinical trials, veterinary imaging and veterinary healthcare, one health.
Medical and health indications and disease stages: Cancer, dementia, sleep, neuromorphology and gestalt, prevention, diagnosis, treatment or recovery.
Associated research centres and groups: Surrey Foundation Trust Hospital, NCCPM, Imperial-Surrey Dementia Research Institute, Fitzpatrick Referrals, School of Veterinary Medicine, FROST, National Physical Laboratory, Surrey Sleep Research Centre, vHive.
Research at Surrey
Research here at the University of Surrey seeks to answer global challenges, drive innovation and deliver real-world impact. We are working in various areas of research including lifelong health, sustainability and artificial intelligence.