Stuart Meeson

Background and education

Stuart Meeson, younger son of Trevor and Mary Meeson of Newport, Shropshire, was educated at Adams' Grammar School (1983-1990), Newport. Afterwards he studied at the University of Southampton gaining a bachelor's degree in Physics with Hons. (1993), before studying for a doctorate (Ph.D.) in medical physics (1997) - An investigation of optimal performance criteria in Electrical impedance tomography. Five scientific papers were published in peer reviewed journals on this work. He was also awarded the poster prize at the 1st Joint IPSM and BES Annual Scientific Meeting 1994 - University of Keele.

Professional qualifications

Professional qualifications include CPhys (Chartered Physicist) from the Institute of Physics (1999), CSci (Chartered Scientist) from the Science Council (2004). Registered as a State Registered Clinical Scientist (SRCS) by The Council For Professions Supplementary To Medicine (1999; registrations are now administered by the Health Professions Council).

Early career path

He then settled Hampshire and continued with his medical imaging and clinical physics research. Early in his career he took an interest in mammography research working for the UK NHS Breast Screening Programme, based at the Royal Surrey County Hospital (Guildford, Surrey). After completing two reports and publishing six scientific papers he moved to the Clinical Physics Department of The Royal London Hospital where he explored therapeutic applications of microwaves. The aim of the research was to develop a new method of treating the pre-cancerous condition Barrett’s oesophagus, a condition that increases the risk of oesophageal cancer (adenocarcinoma). Two scientific papers were published along with an article on using ultrasound to measure the rate of change of haemodynamic response at the onset of exercise in normal limbs and those with intermittent claudication. He was awarded the IPEM Spiers’ Prize for 2003 for an extended one thousand-word abstract detailing the Barrett’s oesophagus research.

Current research

Current research on multi-slice/detector computed tomography (MDCT) is being undertaken in the Radiology Group of the University of Oxford. Work involves balancing image quality and radiation exposure for patients undergoing MDCT for medical purposes. Areas of particular interest include imaging the cervical spine, abdominal sepsis and low contrast features in the abdomen and liver. In collaboration with Health Protection Agency’s (HPA) Medical Dosimetry Group, he was responsible for the design of the third UK national CT dose survey and data collection. A final report on Doses from CT Examinations in the UK (2011 Review) was published by Public Health England in September 2014. Early results from the CT dose survey were presented at the UKRC conference in Manchester 2011 and later reported by AuntMinnieEurope. (AuntMinnie features the latest news and information about medical imaging.) The clinical expansion of CT and radiation dose are also discussed in Chapter 2 of the updated Springer book “Radiation Dose from Multidetector CT” (2nd edition; August 31, 2012 pp.21-32). Two scientific papers have been published and a scientific e-Poster paper on a diagnostic accuracy study was awarded the IPEM Poster Prize for best electronic poster exhibition at the UKRC Congress 2008.

( EC work was financially supported by the EC-EURATOM 6 Framework Programme (2002-2007) and formed part of the CT Safety & Efficacy (Safety and Efficacy of Computed Tomography (CT): A broad perspective) project, contract FP6/002388.)

Work as an amateur horticulturalist

Stuart Meeson also has a very keen interest in amateur horticulture. He is a member of many UK based horticultural societies and exhibits regularly at their horticultural shows. He was awarded the RHS Banksian Medal at the Dogmersfield, Winchfield and Crookham Village Horticultural Show 2010. In 2011 he was awarded the Ernie Self Novice Trophy at the Orchid Society of Great Britain (OSGB) Autumn Show. Later in 2014 he was awarded the RHS Banksian Medal at the OSGB Spring Show and a Certificate of Appreciation for orchid Masdevallia mendozae 'Mullus' by the RHS Orchid Committee in March 2015. At the 25th Anniversary Show he was awarded an RHS Gold medal and Best Flower Box at RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower Show 2015.