Herts biomedical engineer named among prestigious Royal Academy of Engineering fellows
Dr Nada Yousif, Senior Lecturer in Biomedical Engineering at the University of Hertfordshire, has received a prestigious Leverhulme Trust Research Fellowship from the Royal Academy of Engineering.
This year’s fellowships recognise seven outstanding researchers working on a wide variety of engineering challenges, with benefits for society and the economy.
Dr Yousif’s work will develop multi-level computational modelling for improving clinical outcomes in treating tremor, a neurological disorder that causes shaking movements in one or more parts of the body.
Historically, such disorders were treated by surgically destroying parts of the brain tissue; in more recent years, electrical deep brain stimulation (DBS) and focused ultrasound (FUS) have emerged as less invasive treatment methods. Dr Yousif’s work seeks to improve the clinical effect of FUS using medical imaging data, brain atlases and existing biophysical models.
Associate Professor Daniel McCluskey, Dean of the University’s School of Physics, Engineering and Computer Science, said today:
“I am always incredibly proud to see the work of my colleagues recognised by the Royal Academy of Engineering. Dr Yousif’s research has the potential to impact life-changing clinical improvements for people around the world. Her receipt of a Leverhulme Fellowship will enable her to devote herself to this research, and I look forward to seeing her work advance”.
The Leverhulme Trust fellowships allow awardees to focus on full-time research for up to a year, by covering the costs of a replacement academic to take over their teaching and administrative duties. This allows mid-career engineers to reinvigorate their research interests, and also gives other junior academics the opportunity to gain valuable teaching and administrative experience by stepping in during the duration of the award.
Professor Anne Trefethen FREng, Chair of the RAEng Leverhulme Trust Research Fellowships panel, said:
"I am delighted to see such a wide range of research covered by this year's awardees and that we’re able to support such outstanding individuals across the UK, from Scotland to Southampton. These research projects have the potential to deliver substantial benefits to society and the economy and I hope our support will help them to be realised."
More information about Dr Yousif’s research can be found on the Royal Academy of Engineering website.