Last October, at Harvard University, I was awarded the Ig Nobel prize for public health for inventing the Emergency Bra, an item of lingerie that, in case of an emergency, can be quickly transformed into two protective respiratory face masks.

Don't get too excited, boys: this can be done without removing any clothes.

My Ig Nobel nomination came as a pleasant surprise. And I recognised that this competitive prize for "scientific achievements that first make people laugh and then make them think" is hugely popular and a great opportunity to deliver a message on emergency preparedness to the public.

I admit that disaster preparedness is not the most enthralling discussion topic, but it is obvious why my invention is well suited for the Ig Nobel prize. Almost everyone who hears about it first laughs, then appreciates the underlying idea: an effective personal protective device needs to be simple, economical, and readily available.

The idea of a simple and readily available mask came to me after the Chernobyl nuclear accident in Ukraine. I was a young doctor at the time treating children relocated from the contaminated zone. I knew that the radioactive Iodine-131 aerosol released from the damaged reactor was a major contributor to the internal radiation dose of the affected population. My experiences led me to question why simple protective face masks were not available. As the mother of a one-year-old son, I was convinced women should have readily available means of protecting their children.

Because most women wear one all the time – and it can provide two face masks – I considered using a standard bra as the basis for such a personal protective device and designed my first prototype.

In 2001 I was shocked to see the photographs of victims of the 9/11 tragedy in New York holding pieces of cloth over their faces while running away from the disaster. Evacuation from similar emergencies would be easier if individuals had readily available face masks to protect their airways and free their hands. It was at that poiunt that I decided to proceed with commercialisation of the Emergency Bra.

For a medical scientist with no business experience, this was a challenge. But thanks to media exposure, I have received feedback showing that demand for the Emergency Bra is high. With the support of colleagues, students, family and friends, I re-prioritised my academic life and have started to manufacture the Emergency Bra, which will be available in the very near future at www.ebbra.com. The bra can provide a person with a critical time window to escape from fires, explosions, natural disasters and biological and radiological terrorist attacks (including a "dirty bomb"). As well as protecting against inhalation of harmful airborne particles and freeing victims' hands while they escape, it can decrease the chances of a panic attack in large crowds by providing individuals with a sense of security.

For the Ig Nobel award ceremony, I designed a hot pink Emergency Bra that has now been dubbed the Harvard model. I demonstrated it on Nobel laureates Wolfgang Ketterle (Nobel prize for physics, 2001), Orhan Pamuk (literature, 2006) and Paul Krugman (economics, 2008). Although they were not expecting it, they seemed to enjoy the demonstration.

During the forthcoming UK Ig Nobel tour this month, I will also demonstrate that the Emergency Bra is not only an effective, economical and readily available personal protective device but that, first and foremost, it is a beautiful piece of lingerie. Its additional function of personal protection does not interfere with its aesthetics or its main purpose.

I have no doubt my demonstrations will generate some laughs. However, I also look forward to addressing some serious questions from the British public. I hope audiences at Oxford University, Imperial College and elsewhere will leave thinking about the potential risks they face. I will consider my goals to be accomplished if I make people remember the importance of being prepared for the unexpected.

• Dr Elena Bodnar is director of the Trauma Risk Management Research Institute, Chicago

• For more information about the Ig Nobel tour, go to improbable.com/ improbable-research-shows/ig-uk-tour Improbable research, page 8