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The Physics of Medicine Initiative

In 1953 the Cavendish Laboratory was home to the discovery of the DNA double helix by Crick and Watson, a discovery which has completely transformed our understanding of genetics and the factors that underpin life. The work led directly to the formation of the Laboratory for Molecular Biology, now housed on the Addenbrooke's site, and for a time the direct involvement of the physics department at this interface dwindled. Over the last 10-15 years that situation has changed, and there is now an increasing awareness of the exciting developments in the biomedical field, and a realisation of what physicists from the Cavendish are able to offer to scientists and clinicians working in this field.

In 2004, through the foresight of the then Head of the Physics Department, Professor Malcolm Longair, and the then Regius Professor of Physic, Professor Sir Keith Peters, plans were set in motion for a major initiative in the Physics of Medicine, plans that are coming to fruition under Professor Peter Littlewood (Physics) and Professor Patrick Sissons (Clinical School) with the enthusiastic support of the chairs of the Schools of Biology, Technology and Physical Science.

Under the Directorship of Professor Athene Donald the new Centre for the Physics of Medicine was opened in December 2008 in West Cambridge, adjacent to the Cavendish, to house interdisciplinary work in this field. This building, together with the appointment of four new lecturers and the creation of a Chair in the Physics of Medicine, demonstrates the level of commitment by the University of Cambridge to this new venture. The building's laboratories house researchers from different disciplines alongside a core from the Physics department. The group are actively working to create an environment where researchers, particularly students, can freely mix, discuss and share ideas. Projects in the building sit at the interface between the disciplines, and it is expected that totally new research opportunities will emerge from the mix. Further developments in the near future include core facilities to enable efficient use of equipment and create a strong knowledge base. Students moving into unfamiliar areas will thus have experts around them to provide appropriate training, and a wide range of equipment available to them. The University has gifted the Physics of Medicine Initiative a small allocation of studentships and interested students should contact the researchers named on this website to enquire about potential projects.

Physics of Medicine offers a host of new opportunities to researchers keen on taking their own skills and interfacing them with complementary ones in another discipline. To facilitate this exchange of ideas we have been running a seminar/tutorial course in the Physics of Living Matter since Jan 2008, held variously in the Department of Physics or Department of Genetics. We also hold regular seminars at the interface of physical sciences, life sciences and clinical sciences, based in the new PoM building.

For more information about these courses and seminars please visit our seminars page.

In due course, to build on our success, we need to raise funds for a variety of schemes, including the construction of the second phase of the building where the offices and teaching space will sit. We seek funds to allow us to build up a cohort of graduate students, trained to be familiar with a broad range of approaches and capable of spanning across the disciplines in terms of both their language and practical ability, whilst retaining their own speciality. Similarly, we will require funding to enable us to host young research fellows who can develop their work in this field surrounded by like-minded researchers.