Secretary of State for Trade and Industry to see the
University of Aberdeen’s pioneering medical imaging centres
The Rt Hon Stephen Byers MP, Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, will visit the University of Aberdeen’s Faculty of Medicine and Medical Sciences on Friday March 9, at 10.15 a.m. Mr Byers will be met by Principal C Duncan Rice, Professor Peter Sharp, Head of the Department of Biomedical Physics and Bioengineering, and Mr Steve Cannon, Secretary to the University.
During the one-hour tour Mr Byers will visit the John Mallard PET Scanning Centre and the Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) Centres. He will be shown some of the pioneering work in medical imaging. The University of Aberdeen has been in the forefront of Magnetic Resonance Imaging for over 30 years and its work has generated millions of pounds for the UK economy.
Earlier this year the University was awarded the Queen’s Anniversary Prize for Higher and Further Education in recognition of the achievements of the Department of Biomedical Physics and Bioengineering in developing new techniques for medical imaging. Aberdeen is the only university in Scotland to have received the Queens Anniversary Prize 2000.
Principal C Duncan Rice said: “I am delighted that the Secretary of State is visiting our Medical Faculty and will see the contribution we make to the development of medical imaging techniques.”
Professor Sharp added: “The University is immensely proud of its pioneering work in medical imaging, particularly in MRI, and is aware that there is still much it can do to help the doctor diagnose and treat disease. For example, we are working on a development of MRI that will allow the doctor to produce images showing the distribution of free radicals in the body. Free radicals are highly reactive molecules that are involved in a whole variety of diseases, such as cancer and heart disease. This technique gives us an entirely new window into the body.”
Stephen Byers will tour the PET and MRI Centres and see how they are developing innovative diagnostic techniques to help tackle major illnesses and diseases.
The University’s international contribution to the world of medicine reaches back to the establishment of the first Chair of Medicine in the English-speaking world at Aberdeen in 1497.
You are invited to send a photographer/journalist to cover this event on Friday March 9, at 10.00 a.m. Please report to Angela Begg at the PET (Positron Emission Tomography) Centre, Aberdeen Royal Infirmary. The PET Centre is located at the East Entrance to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, diagonally opposite the University of Aberdeen Medical School (Polwarth Building).