Professional Groups
Prize for leukaemia research
Young physicist Liz Ainsbury has been rewarded by HSBC and Institute of Physics for her research in magnetic field physics. She has studied whether there is a link between extremely low frequency magnetic fields, such as those produced by overhead power lines and health effects such as childhood leukaemia and how this could be explained with magnetic field physics.
 | Dame Mary Richardson congratulates Liz Ainsbury and the runners up (far left Andrea Tak Yue Ma and far right Elaine Baxter) |
Liz, is the first person to receive a new award from the Institute’s women in physics group and HSBC Education Trust that recognises outstanding work by a female physicist who is in the early stages of their career. Liz has just finished as a postgraduate at the University of Bristol and her work was funded by the charity children with leukaemia.
On winning the award, Liz said: “I enjoyed physics throughout school and university, so it was natural that I should end up working in physics for my career. The results of my research show that the suggested connection between power lines and childhood leukaemia could be explained by better understanding of the physics of magnetic fields, but much more research is needed in this area. I am now working with the Health Protection Agency so hope to continue to apply physics to healthcare.”
Liz is given the award not just for her research but for her many contributions to taking science to the public and in particular girls in school.
Liz continued: “Throughout my time at BristolUniversity I have been involved in outreach activities, such as inviting school students to the university to see what we do here and by volunteering as a researcher in residence at St Mary Redcliffe and TempleSchool in Bristol. I see outreach work as being equally as important as my research. We need to encourage students to want to study physics to university level and beyond, and this can only be achieved by demonstrating that physics is not only fascinating, but can be fun too!”
Doctor Joanne Baker, secretary for the Institute’s women in physics group said: “Competition for the award was strong but Liz ticked all of the boxes. We’ll also be giving the two runners up Elaine Baxter of Qinetiq Space Division, Farnborough, and Andrea Ma of the University of Cambridge’s Cavendish Laboratory a book at the awards ceremony.”
Notes on the award
The £1000 award, very early career women physicist of the year award, was presented by Dame Mary Richardson, CEO of the HSBC Education Trust, which has sponsored the prize at 4:00pm on 28 February 2007 at the Institute of Physics after a careers event for women.
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