Sanchez Palmer who hails from Mandeville, Manchester is blazing a trail in the Medical Physics field.
Sanchez was awarded a Bachelor of Science degree in 2010 majoring in Electronics and with a minor in Medical Physics and Bio Engineering. From there he went on to achieve an MSc in Medical Physics (with Distinction) from the UWI, Mona in 2015. He was a member of the first group of physicists to complete the MSc program in Medical Physics which had only been established on the Mona campus of the UWI a few years earlier in 2012. The programme was established with the help of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Following on from his successes, Sanchez was awarded a scholarship for advanced studies in medical physics at the International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP, Italy). He was the first from the Caribbean to have ever received this honour. He graduated with an advanced Masters of Medical Physics (Cum Laude) from the University of Trieste, ICTP, in 2019.
Sanchez has since returned to Jamaica and resumed his graduate programme in the Department of Physics at the UWI with his eyes set on attaining a PhD in Medical Physics. He is studying Osteoporosis in Elderly Jamaicans using x-ray based diagnostic tools. He is co-supervised by Professor Denise Eldemire Shearer and Professor Mitko Voutchkov. His research aims to determine bone strontium levels that have been naturally accumulated as a result of geographic location and the types of food consumed. This information, specifically the Sr/Ca ratio, will be used to examine correlations with bone mineral density, osteopenic conditions and the bone’s ability to resist fractures.
Outside of his studies he has been very involved in student life and has held several leadership positions on the Mona campus of the UWI. He is currently a Resident Advisor on Rex Nettleford Hall.