A former Neale Wade student has been presented with a CBE for her work in pathology in a prestigious ceremony at Buckingham Palace.

Dr Suzy Lishman, works at Peterborough City Hospital, where she is head of department and lead for gastrointestinal pathology.

She comes from a medical family with a grandfather and father who were both GPs, an aunt who was a respiratory physician and a mother and grandmother who were both nurses.

Suzy, 50, said: “I was absolutely thrilled to be awarded a CBE. Being awarded the medal by Prince Charles at Buckingham Palace was one of the most exciting days of my life.

“It is always nice to have your hard work recognised, but I am also delighted that pathology has received this recognition as it is medical speciality that many people don’t know much about.

“One of the things I have focussed on in my career has been public engagement and I often talk to schools and the general public about pathology and its vital role in health care.

“I was particularly pleased to be invited back to the Neale Wade to talk to current students.”

Suzy studied medicine at Girton College, Cambridge and the London Hospital Medical College.

After qualifying as a doctor she studied pathology at University College London, completing specialist training in 1999.

Her first consultant job was at Hinchingbrooke Hospital in Huntingdon and she moved to Peterborough District Hospital in 2006.

Now living in Rutland, Suzy still has family and friends in March.

She said: “I wanted to be a doctor from an early age and have never regretted choosing my career.”

She chose pathology because she said she always enjoyed learning about the basic science behind disease to understand why illnesses develop and how treatments work.

“Studying pathology has allowed me to put my theoretical knowledge into practice, diagnosing conditions such as cancer by examining cells under the microscope and using the results of molecular tests to help tailor treatment to an individual patient.”

Suzy is only the second woman to be elected president of the Royal College of Pathologists, where she served until November 2017.

In a list of the 50 most inspirational women in health care, the Health Service Journal describe Suzy as the ‘public face of pathology’.