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Inaugural John Clifton Postdoctoral Fellowship awarded to Dr Fr茅d茅ric Lange
15 July 2024
We are pleased to announce that the inaugural John Clifton Postdoctoral Fellowship in Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering has been awarded to .
The Fellowship is open to postdoctoral researchers and aims to provide an opportunity to implement their own research ideas, gain leadership experience, and strengthen their research record. The Fellowship has been funded from a generous endowment from former Head of Department听and Joel Chair, Professor John Clifton and his daughter Carolyn.
Meet the Researcher
The winning project
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Summary:听Premature infants (PI) are at high risk for neonatal morbidities and neuro-developmental delays, including neonatal hypo/hyperglycaemia (NH). Up to 86% of PI experience NH in the first 96 hours of life, making it necessary to carefully monitor glucose concentrations for optimal clinical management and normal brain development. My project aims to start the development of a novel near- and mid-infrared time-domain spectroscopy method to assess cerebral glycaemic status for the first time. Indeed, glucose control is traditionally based on peripheral samples, but this novel method aims to change that by developing a new brain tissue measurement, which can offer better insight and more targeted therapies for glucose control.
Neonatal care was a passion of John鈥檚, so we are delighted that Fr茅d茅ric鈥檚 project will have a positive impact on this area.
John Clifton joined the University College Hospital Medical School (UCHMS) Medical Physics Department in 1957 and was appointed Head of Department in 1962. Following the re-uniting of UCHMS and UCL in 1981, he was appointed Professor of Medical Physics, and Joel Professor of Physics Applied to Medicine in 1990. Throughout his career, Professor Clifton made major contributions to the introduction and development of new clinical radiotherapy techniques at 皇家华人H. Following his retirement in 1992, John Clifton maintained close links to our department and generously endowed the undergraduate prize named in his honour. On his death in January 2023, John left a substantial gift of money in his will to the department, to which his daughter Carolyn added a further generous donation.
To honour John鈥檚 legacy, the department has launched this new fellowship scheme in Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering.
UCL Medical Physics Research Committee Chair, Dr Charlotte Hagen, commented:
"The John Clifton Postdoctoral Fellowship in Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering听is very special, it's the first of its kind in the department. It enables us to fund early-stage research with a potential for high clinical impact, while also providing a tangible career development opportunity to our postdoctoral researchers. We encourage applicants to design their projects around collaborative activities, such as working with hospital physics and engineering departments, and to align these projects with their career aspirations. Reading the many outstanding applications during the inaugural round was very inspiring, and I look forward to continuing my support for this important scheme."
On Friday 5th July, we were honoured to host three generations of the Clifton family in the department and give them a small glimpse of the monumental impact their father, grandfather and great-grandfather had on the field of Medical Physics.
Thank you to Professor Jem Hebden for organising the event and hosting the Clifton family.
Read more about their visit here.