Robert Farley

He/Him

I am gay and I am a medical physicist specalising in radiotherapy physics. //

I am a Consultant Clinical Scientist and the Head of Medical Physics and Clinical Engineering at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. I am also President Elect and LGBTQ+ network mentor at the Institute of Physics and Engineering in Medicine. As far as I am aware, I will be the first out LGBTQ+ president of the Institute when I take office in September 2021. When I started my scientific career in the late 1980s in Chemistry, there were very few, if any, LGBTQ+ role models that I was aware of. Nevertheless, I came out as gay in the early 1990s during my doctorate and have stayed out during my entire career. In 2003 I joined the National Health Service and retrained in Medical Physics, specialising in Radiotherapy Physics; although I felt isolated until recently, as I didn’t know of any other LGBTQ+ medical physicists. I am fortunate to work in a role that straddles science and healthcare as this enables me to raise awareness of LGBTQ+ issues in both arenas. I am also lucky to live on the edge of the beautiful North York moors with my husband of 25 years.