The Bermuda College is playing a leading role in the fight against thyroid disease with lecturer Tara Soares' radiation research.

Mrs. Soares -- assisted by students -- is researching the effect of radiation therapy on the thyroid gland.

To treat hyperthyroidism, radioactive iodine is ingested into the body which destroys cells in the overactive thyroid.

Hypothyroidism, or reduced activity is seen as a more controllable condition than an overactive one.

It's symptoms include tremors, nervousness, and in extreme cases bulging eyes, lack of sleep and if left untreated possibly death.

Mrs. Soares, a Canadian, teaches physics but her research is categorised as Health Physics and is a combination of a variety of disciplines, including biology, chemistry and health care.

She is a graduate of Concordia University, with a bachelor's degree in experimental physics.

She did graduate work in health and radiation physics at McMaster University and worked for Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. a private research facility.

Mrs. Soares helped run a specialised radiation detection system for people involved in uranium mining.

"I guess it directed me in the type of research I'm involved in now,'' she said. "From there I moved to the Pickering Nuclear Facility outside of Toronto where again I looked at assessing radiation disorders in humans.'' Five years ago she and her Bermudian husband Douglas came to work in the Island.

Of her one year job at the Tynes Bay Incinerator, Mrs. Soares said: "It's kind of difficult for a nuclear physicist to find work in Bermuda!'' "As a health physicist we are governed by the ALARA Principle or as low as is reasonably achievable,'' she said.

The principle directs that dosages of radiation given to patients must be as low as possible but can still produce positive results.

Her tests produce charts on levels of radiation on patients to better gauge the development of the disease.

She uses simulations of the human body called phantoms and even live humans, although they are usually her students. The phantoms used at the College are on loan from Health Canada.

"This is only going to work if I can get as many patients as possible,'' Mrs.

Soares said. "But so far I have only had one hyperthyroid patient here.'' She added: "The people I have dealt with, like the doctors and nurses, have been wonderful. Bermudians do want to help out. But it has been slow.'' Between 25 and 35 local residents are treated for thyroid disease and it affects more than 200 million people worldwide. It is ten times more prevalent in women.

"The more volunteers I get the stronger my data will be,'' she said.

Her research is in collaboration with Health Canada, and gets its funding from Corange Ltd., which last year awarded her the Corange Research Grant to fund research relevant to the Bermudian environment.

Mrs. Soares said: "This is really one of the major researches that we do here. It's world class. It will be published and be cited for the use of radioactive iodine.'' She added: "The main objective is once we can understand the behaviour of the radioactive iodine, we can better optimise what dosage to give them.'' Fighting disease: Physics lecturer at the Bermuda College Tara Soares is leading research into radiation's effects on the thyroid with a grant from pharmaceuticals company Corange Ltd.