Susanna Guatelli

Professor Susanna Guatelli is an internationally recognised physicist and academic leader whose work is helping to improve cancer treatment, radiation protection methods and the safe exploration of space. She is currently the Head of the School of Mathematics and Physics at the University of Wollongong. Professor Guatelli began her research career with a PhD project focused on the study and modelling of radiation effects on astronauts in human missions to Mars, within the AURORA project of the European Space Agency. Her research, based at the Centre For Medical and Radiation Physics, UOW and CERN (Geneva, Switzerland), has since expanded to the development of computational tools that allow physicists to model how radiation interacts with the human body, radiation detectors, satellites and spacecrafts. Professor Guatelli is internationally known for her contributions to Geant4, a simulation tool modelling particle interactions with matter. Used in industry and research laboratories across the globe, Geant4 enables scientists to study radiation effects before applying technologies in the real world. Beyond her scientific achievements, Professor Guatelli is a passionate educator and mentor of students and Early/Mid Career Researchers. She is deeply committed to making physics accessible beyond the walls of the laboratory. Through public lectures, school outreach activities, community engagement and media contributions, she works to bring the excitement and societal impact of physics research to a broader audience. Her goal is to inspire curiosity and encourage the next generation to pursue careers in STEM. Her dedication to both research excellence and community engagement was recognised with the prestigious Women in Physics Award from the Australian Institute of Physics in 2021. In 2022 she became a member of the Australian Research Council Panel of Experts. She is currently serving as Associate Editor in Physica Medica and Radiation in Physics and Chemistry. She is member of the Executive Editorial Board of Biomedical Physics & Engineering Express (BPEX). Medical physics, Synchrotrons and accelerators