Young healthcare scientist of the year
14 Dec 2005, PR 111/05 King's graduate, Nicola Fry, is joint winner of the Department of Health Award for ‘Young Healthcare Scientist of the Year'. She graduated from the College's MSc course in Medical Engineering & Physics in 2001.At the awards ceremony Health Minister Lord Warner said that Nicola's research (a non-invasive, child friendly ultrasound method of assessing musculoskeletal deformity) ‘has the potential to make a major difference to the treatment of children with cerebral palsy'.
The subject of her research is closely linked with her MSc project, which also received an award from UK Institute for Physics and Engineering in Medicine.
Nicola Fry said: ‘I am thrilled to have received this award. Muscle deformities in children with cerebral palsy result in disability. Muscles that shorten can be released surgically, but knowing which muscle to cut is difficult. At present MRI is the gold standard means of making the assessment of muscle length and volume but MRI is traumatic for such children. A non-invasive, child friendly method will transform how we are able to assess and treat these children.'
She is now working at the One Small Step Gait Lab in Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust. She was also a pre-registration Clinical Scientist trainee at the Department of Medical Engineering & Physics at King's College Hospital NHS Trust.
Notes to editors King's College London
King's College London is one of the two oldest and largest colleges of the University of London with over 13,800 undergraduate students and nearly 5,700 postgraduates in nine schools of study. It is a member of the Russell Group: a coalition of the UK's major research-based universities. The College has had 24 of its subject-areas awarded the highest rating of 5* and 5 for research quality, demonstrating excellence at an international level, and it has recently received an excellent result in its audit by the Quality Assurance Agency.
King's is in the top group of UK universities for research earnings, with income from grants and contracts of £100 million, and has an annual turnover of more than £348 million. In 2004 the College was once again awarded an AA- financial credit rating from Standard & Poor's.
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