Liz O'Riordan | |
|---|---|
| Born | Elizabeth Louise Ball 1974 (age 49–50) |
| Nationality | British |
| Other names | Liz Ball |
| Occupation | Surgeon |
| Known for | Breast cancer awareness |
| Academic background | |
| Education | University of Wales College |
| Thesis | "Molecular mechanisms of human thyroid tumorigenesis" (2008) |
| Academic work | |
| Institutions | Ipswich Hospital |
| Main interests | Breast-conserving surgery |
| Notable works |
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| Website | liz |
Elizabeth Louise O'Riordan (née Ball; born 1974) is a British retired breast surgeon, known for her work in breast cancer awareness by openly discussing her personal experiences in being diagnosed and treated for breast cancer.
O'Riordan trained in oncoplastic breast surgery at the Royal Marsden Hospital, London. In 2015 she was appointed consultant in oncoplastic surgery at Ipswich Hospital in Suffolk. Two years into that post she was diagnosed with breast cancer and since then regularly blogs, tweets, creates podcasts, and in 2016 delivered a TED Talk. In addition, having experienced being a patient, she talks to physicians about it.
Her self-help book completed with professor of primary care Trisha Greenhalgh, titled The Complete Guide to Breast Cancer, was published in 2018. That year, a statue of her showing her topless was unveiled in her home town of Bury St Edmunds. Around the same time she retired from her surgical job following a recurrence of the disease and further treatment that resulted in an inability to properly use her left arm.
Her memoir Under the Knife was released in July 2023, around the same time as discovering she had breast cancer for the third time. O'Riordan was also recognized as one of the 100 Influential Women in Oncology by OncoDaily.[1]