IOMP Anniversary Webinar: November 07, 2023
Tuesday, 7th November 2023 at 12 pm GMT; Duration 1 hour
Organizers: John Damilakis & Magdalena Stoeva
Moderators: John Damilakis & Eva Bezak
Speakers: Azam Niroomand-Rad, Colin G. Orton, Fridtjof Nüsslin
Title: The 60th Anniversary of IOMP – Personal Memories and Some Thoughts on the Future of Medical Physics
Speaker: Prof. Azam Niroomand-Rad, PhD, DSc, FAAPM, FACMP, DABR, FIOMP, FIUPESM
Azam Niroomand-Rad was born in Tehran, Iran. Encouraged by her math/physics teacher and inspired by Maria Skłodowska-Curie, she won Fulbright Scholarship for college education and went to USA in 1966. Azam completed BS in Math/Physics with honors (Summa Cum Laude & Phi Beta Kappa) from State University of NY in 1970 and then PhD in Atomic and Molecular Physics from Michigan State University in 1978.
Azam Niroomand-Rad received Postdoc Fellowship in 1981 and worked at the Department of Medical Physics at University of Wisconsin in Madison, Wisconsin under supervision of late Profs John Cameron and Herb Attix. She has specialized in therapeutic medical physics and has been certified by American College of Radiology (ACR) in 1988 by American Board of Medical Physics (ABMP) in 1990.
Prof. Niroomand-Rad worked at Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee (1983-1988) and then at the Department of Radiation Medicine, Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington DC until her retirement in 2008. She is now an Honorary Prof. at University of Wisconsin-Madison where she lives.
Prof Azam Niroomand-Rad is first (and thus far only) woman to serve as IOMP President (2003-2006). She is founder of the AAPM / IOMP International Scientific Exchange Programs (ISEP) for developing countries and has served on many AAPM / IOMP committees / Task Forces including International Labor Organization (ILO) (1991- 2008). She has published numerous articles and book chapters and has been Co-Inventor of a US Patent for designing a novel stereotactic method for treatment of spine lesions. She has received many Honors and Awards from numerous organizations including Honorary Doctor of Science Degree (DSc.) in 2001, AAPM Life-Time Achievement in Medical Physics (Quimby Award) (2006), and IOMP Marie Skłodowska Curie Award (2009) for a distinguished career contributing to the advancement of international medical physics through research, teaching and leadership.
Abstract
First Giant of Medical Physics
• Since Nov. 7, 2013, Marie birthday is celebrated as International Day of Medical Physics (IDMP)
• She was the first scientist to introduce the principles of physics in the field of medicine with a focus on diagnosis and treatment of diseases.
• How did she create Medical Physics not knowing what it was?
• How did she know her discoveries could transform the practice of physics and chemistry?
• How great scientists are formed?
Is it: time/place of birth, upbringing, hardships, hard works, obstacles to overcome? Or is it: curiosity, courage, persistence, patient, problem solving, open-mindedness, communication skill, willingness to take risks, detail-oriented, critical thinking, and creativity?
• I believe Maria had most of these personal and scientific attributes. She took “path less traveled.”
• I believe Maria’s family tragedies in Poland, her financial difficulties in college, along with poor research condition and sudden death of her husband Pierre Curie may have contributed to her becoming stronger and more determined to reach her goals.
Role Model: Marie Skłodowska-Curie
• Most people have some role models and heroes when they are growing up.
• When I was growing up in Tehran, Iran, I had no idea what Medical Physics was but I knew that Marie Curie had a remarkable life in Poland under Russian occupation and had difficult life in Paris and had won 2 Nobel Prizes in: Physics and Chemistry.
• Encouraged by my teachers and inspired by Marie Curie, I studied Math/Physics in High School.
• Then I received Fulbright scholarship to go to US (1966) for my college education.
• This was a difficult decision for my family and a big risk for me since I had never had to leave my family / country.
• I knew studying Physics will be a long and winding path for me when I left Iran.
• My journey to US at a young age, brought both challenges and opportunities.
• Had to overcome obstacles to reach my goals/dream with determination / discipline.
• Feeling homesick, facing cultural differences, had to overcome language barriers, I escaped to study long hours in libraries.
• Completed BS in Math/Physics with honors (Suma Cum Laude) from State University of New York in Albany, NY. (1970)
• Completed PhD in Atomic/Molecular Physics from Michigan State University, MI (1978)
New Professional Path: Medical Physics Career
• In 1981 when I saw a Postdoc Advertisement in Physics Today by late Prof. John Cameron, I called him and asked him “What is Medical Physics?”.
• After some conversation, when he learned about my Math/Physics background, he asked me to come to the UW-Madison within a few days before he goes to China.
• Luckily, I started my Postdoc Fellowship (1981) at the UW-Madison under supervision of late Prof. Cameron and Prof. Attix not knowing much about Medical Physics.
• I learned that in 1981 John had established the 1st Medical Physics Department in US.
• With a step-function change in my career (theoretical physics to applied physics), I had to decide between diagnostic and therapeutic Medical Physics.
• This was not an easy decision. Eventually chose therapeutic MP and became certified by American College of Radiology (1988) and American Board of Medical Physics. (1990).
• I became qualified to work at medical schools with patient care, research and teaching duties.
• Inspired by John Cameron and Larry Lanzel for improving MP globally, in 1988, I founded the AAPM/IOMP International Scientific Exchange Programs (ISEP) for developing countries.
• Initially with no funding from AAPM and IOMP and some resistance from developing countries, I did not know how to implement these programs.
• With the help of the American colleagues, including Faiz Khan and Colin Orton, we were able to offer these programs for free and established several MP Associations / Societies in Pakistan, Iran, Morocco, Egypt, Cameroon, Saudi Arabia, Cuba, Turkey, Russia, Bangladesh, Iraq, etc.
Lessons Learned, Plans Pursued, Future Actions
• Soon we learned that since MP was not listed as occupation by ILO (International Labor Organization), there were inertia to change / establish PM profession in developing countries.
• In 1994, in coordination with IOMP Presidents (Keith Boddy and Colin Orton), I provided data/documents as needed till MP profession was recognized and listed by ILO (2008).
• Encouraged by Larry Lanzl and John Cameron and supported by Colin Orton, I was nominated for IOMP Presidency in 2000 and became IOMP President (2003-2006).
• In collaboration with Colin Orton, we re-wrote IOMP Bylaws, established Rules Com., Joined IUPAP (Int’l Union of Pure and Applied Physics) as Affiliated Commission on Medical Physics (IntComMP), established Honors & Awards, including Marie Skłodowska-Curie Award for Distinguished Career in Research, Teaching, and Leadership.
• I was honored to receive Maria Skłodowska-Curie Award in 2009 and AAPM Life Time Achievement Award (Quimby Award) in 2006.
• What Actions could be taken by the next generation of Medical Physicists?
• Today, MP is exciting, dynamic and unique. There are new challenges to overcome to foster the next generation of MPs: Integration and sharing skills & expertise including creation and application of novel technical approaches with artificial intelligent robots that may increase efficiency/ efficacy of patient care in urban and underserved remote areas which have limited local resources.
Speaker: Colin Orton
Ph.D. in Radiation Physics from the University of London. Past Secretary-General of the IOMP and Past President of several organizations including the IOMP, IUPESM, IMPCB, AAPM, ACMP, and ABS. Chief Medical Physicist at New York University School of Medicine, Rhode Island Hospital and Brown University, and Karmanos Cancer Institute and Wayne State University, where I am currently Professor Emeritus. Past Editor of Medical Physics World, Medical Physics, Bulletin of the American College of Medical Physics, and the AAPM Quarterly Bulletin. Author or coauthor of about 300 papers in refereed journals, over 50 book chapters and 600 presentations, and author, coauthor, or editor of over 50 books. Major research interests have been bioeffect dose modeling, development of new fractionation and dose-rate regimes, HDR brachytherapy, cervix and breast radiotherapy, radiobiology, radiation carcinogenesis, radiation induced injuries, and radiotherapy physics.
Abstract:
I will be reviewing experiences when helping incoming Vice-President Prof. Larry Lanzl establish Medical Physics World in 1982 and as MPW Editor from 1985-1988, as IOMP Secretary-General from 1988-1994, and as IOMP President from 2000-2003. Memorable events during my terms of office included the establishment of the IOMP Library Program, the Travel Scholarships program for attendance at the World Congress by developing country delegates, the publishing agreement between the IOMP and the IOP, the IOMP/AAPM International Scientific Exchange Program (ISEP), the Donation of New and Used Equipment program, and the awarding of Full Membership in ICSU. Personal memories include helping countries establish their national medical physics organizations so as to apply for IOMP membership, participating in the 1st IOMP/AAPM ISEP course in Pakistan in 1992, and participation in the 1991 USSR medical physics conference when the USSR was dissolving, and the member countries voted to form their own national medical physics societies.
Speaker: Fridtjof Nüsslin, Technical University Munich, Germany
Education & Academic Qualification:
1959 Study of Physics and Medical Sciences at universities of Tübingen and Heidelberg;
1968 Dr.rer.nat., Physics and Physiology, University of Heidelberg; Postdoctoral fellowship at Max-Planck-Institute for Nuclear Physics, Heidelberg;
1979 Qualification university lecturer in Medical Physics;
1984 Professor Medical Physics;
Employment:
1970 Physicist at Radiotherapy Department, Medical School Hannover;
1987-2004 Full professor Medical Physics at the University of Tübingen;
Scientific Activities & Topics of interest:
Radiotherapy Treatment Optimisation, Conformal Radiotherapy (IMRT, IGRT); Dosimetry and Treatment Planning Optimization, Conformal Radiotherapy, Image Guidance, Advanced Technologies (particle beam therapy, laser application in imaging & particle beam therapy), Imaging technology (MRI/MRS, PET, CT); Biological & Molecular Imaging, Biological Modeling, Small Animal Image Guided High Precision Irradiation Technology. Treatment planning, Radiotherapy equipment, Dosimetry; Quality Assurance in Radiotherapy and Radiology; Radiation Protection; Non-Ionizing Radiation Effects; Hyperthermia; Radiological and Nuclear Emergencies. National and International professional matters of Medical Physicists, Medical Physics in developing countries.
Education & Training Programmes
Professional Activities:
Since 2004 Professor Biomedical Physics at Technische Universität München Various positions held in scientific organisations, boards, committees in Germany;
1990-1994 president DGMP
1994-1996 EFOMP Chair Scientific Committee;
1996-1998 EFOMP President.
2000-2006 IOMP Chair International Advisory Board
2006-2009 IOMP Vice President (elect)
2009-2012 IOMP President
2012-2015 IUPESM Vice-President
Honours:
2004 Honorary membership of the Czech Association for Medical Physicists (CAMP)
2005 Honorary membership of the European Federation of Organisations for Medical Physics (EFOMP)
2006 Honorary membership DEGRO (German Society of Radiooncology)
2008 Honorary membership OEGRO (Austrian Society of Radiooncology)
2008 Distinguished Affiliated Professor, Technische Universität München (TUM) and Fellow of the Institute of Advanced Studies, Technische Universität München (TUM-IAS)
2011 Richard-Glocker-Award of the DGMP (German Society of Medical Physics)
2011 Honorary membership SMPS (Saudi Medical Physics Society)
2013 Honorary Fellow IOMP
2021 Honorary Member DGMP
2021 Honorary Fellow IUPESM
Publications:
More than 200 publications in peer reviewed journals
Abstract:
Why medical physics? What is so fascinating in medical physics? Isn´t it just something in between of medicine and physics? Looking back on my professional life, I still have the feeling that hardly any other profession than medical physics covers such a broad spectrum of various disciplines. Indeed, during my whole life as a medical physicist I appreciated so much the many opportunities to witness exciting innovations, new trends and breakthroughs in medical and natural sciences, and to enjoy the challenge of translating these into health care practice. Another track of my professional life was my passion for contributing to the expansion and flourishing of medical physics worldwide. In this context it was a great honour and my personal highlight to have the opportunity to serve our community in several capacities at IOMP from 2000-2015. I am indebted to innumerable colleagues and friends during that time who made it possible to achieve important milestones, such as the expansion of the IOMP-Chapter structure, membership of IUPAP, tighter connection to WHO and IAEA, the approved definition of the “Medical Physicist” as a profession listed at the ILO, and many other advancements. However, there are still some issues we must focus on: the harmonization of education & training worldwide, filling the gap of qualified medical physicists, particularly in the LMI-countries, and opportunities for advancing medical physics science.
IOMP Webinar: Radiopharmaceutical Therapy (RPT)
Wednesday, 25th October 2023 at 12 pm GMT; Duration 1 hour
Organizer: M Mahesh
Moderator: M Mahesh
Speakers: Rob Hobbs/George Sgouros and Ana Kiess
Topic 1: Imaging and Dosimetry in Radiopharmaceutical therapy
Even after they have made it to Phase I clinical trial investigation, 97% of new cancer drugs fail. The majority of these drugs are chosen based on their ability to inhibit cell signaling pathways responsible for maintaining a cancer phenotype. Although this approach has led to dramatic improvements in treatment efficacy for certain cancers, this approach to cancer therapy is more complex than initially appreciated. Radiopharmaceutical therapy (RPT) involves the targeted delivery of radiation to tumor cells or to the tumor microenvironment. Since the radionuclides used in RPT also emit photons, nuclear medicine imaging may be used to measure the pharmacokinetics of the therapeutic agent and estimate tumor and normal organ absorbed doses in individual patients to implement an individualized (precision medicine) treatment planning approach to RPT delivery. This unique feature of RPT, along with its ability to delivery highly potent alpha-particle radiation to targeted cells, is at the heart of what distinguishes RPT compared to other cancer treatments for widespread metastases.
Learning Objectives:
Understand the mechanism of Radiopharmaceutical therapy.
Compare and contrast RPT with other cancer therapy modalities.
Understand the distinction between RPT and Theranostics.
Topic 2: Clinical Radiopharmaceutical Therapy, Dose-Response and Future Directions
Radiopharmaceuticals are rapidly expanding in clinical use and development for prostate cancer and many other tumor types. As in other radiation therapies, there is a dose-response relationship for both tumor and normal tissues, with increasing responses or toxicities at higher absorbed doses. In this webinar, we will discuss these concepts in relation to currently approved radiopharmaceutical therapies (RPTs) and future directions of RPTs. We will also review clinical indications and practical use of currently approved RPTs including [177Lu] Lu-PSMA-617, [177Lu] Lu-DOTATATE, and [223Ra] RaCl2.
Learning Objectives:
Understand clinical indications and practical use of currently approved radiopharmaceutical therapies
Discuss concepts of radiation dose and response of tumors and normal organ toxicities
Explore future directions of clinical radiopharmaceutical therapies.
IOMP Webinar: Physics and Technology for Cancer Care – Meet the IOMP Corporate Members
Tuesday, 12th September 2023 at 12 pm GMT; Duration 1 hour
Organizer: Magdalena Stoeva
Moderator: Ibrahim Duhaini
Speakers: Axel Hoffmann (PTW) & Alexander Pegram (RadFormation)
Topic 1: PTW and VERIQA RT EPID 3D as the Approach to EPID Dosimetry
Axel Hoffmann
Sales Director, PTW, Freiburg, Germany
Education:
09/1969 – 07/1977 Polytecnic Secondary School, Basic Education in Lauta, Germany
09/1977 – 07/1981 Extended Secondary school, Hoyerswerda, Germany
10/1984– 02/1989 Ilmenau Technical University, Ilmenau, Germany. Technical and Biomedical Cybernetics; Biomedical Engineering; Master of Science.
Professional:
02/1989 – 02/1991 National Board for Atomic Safety and Radiation Protection (SAAS), Berlin, Germany. Radiation Measurement in Health Physics; Film Dosimetry.
03/1991 – 08/2013 PTW, Freiburg, Germany, Area Sales Manager (Eastern Europe, Asia, Australia)
09/2013 – Present PTW, Freiburg, Germany, Sales Director, Sales Operation
Abstract
PTW is a world-wide leader in dosimetry. We develop, manufacture, and distribute measurement equipment and software for quality assurance as performed in radiotherapy, diagnostic radiology, and metrology.
PTW is over 100 years old and represents a high level of expertise in our business fields.
VERIQA RT EPID 3D is a new PTW software product for EPID patient treatment plan and delivery verification (pre-treatment and in-vivo). The result is a dose distribution in patient anatomy (based on the back-projection algorithm developed by the Netherlands Cancer Institute). The combination of a Monte Carlo algorithm and the EPID images provide a workflow-efficient and highly accurate dose reconstruction.
The pre-treatment verification does not require a phantom (measurement “in air”). Neither a phantom setup nor a re-planning is necessary.
Topic 2: Optimizing Cancer Care with Efficient QA
Alexander Pegram
Alexander “Alex” Pegram, DMP, DABR, received his Professional Doctorate in Medical Physics and Master of Science in Medical Physics from Vanderbilt University. His research focused on risk analysis using System Theoretic Procedures (STPA). He also attained certification in Therapeutic Medical Physics from the American Board of Radiology. At Vanderbilt, Alex was the Chief Medical Physics Resident, before moving to Sanford Health. As the Chief Physicist there, Alex managed a team across two sites and oversaw the purchase, installation, and commissioning of new equipment, including a TrueBeam. In 2020 Alex started at Radformation, where he is now the Product Manager of RadMachine, the company’s cloud-based Radiation Therapy Machine QA Platform. As an affiliate of AAPM, he is part of a working group on “Ask the Expert.”
Abstract
Ensuring the accuracy and reliability of radiation therapy machines is paramount for patient safety and effective cancer treatment in medical physics. In “Optimizing Cancer Care with Efficient QA,” Alex Pegram, DMP, DABR, delves into RadMachine, an innovative solution for Machine Quality Assurance offered by Radformation. RadMachine streamlines the QA process and enhances treatment precision, enabling physicists to perform more efficient, high-quality QA in less time.
The presentation discusses the clinical and scientific aspects of RadMachine, illustrating its seamless integration with data from therapy machines, imaging devices, and ancillary equipment, and more into a consolidated platform. A sophisticated combination of robust automation and a streamlined, cloud-based platform enables RadMachine to efficiently verify and validate machine parameters, minimizing human errors to maximize patient-centric care.
By optimizing resource allocation and time management, the highest standards of safety and quality for cancer care are met. Coupled with additional solutions for workflow automation from start to finish, this presentation will provide insights into the transformative potential of physics-driven technology in delivering exceptional patient care.
IOMP-IUPESM-ISC Joint Webinar: Practical Deep-Dive on ChatGPT
Tuesday, 29th August 2023 at 12 pm GMT; Duration 1 hour
Organizers: Magdalena Stoeva (IOMP,IUPESM) & Zhenya Tsoy (ISC)
Moderator: Magdalena Stoeva
Speaker: Nick Scott
For additional information and access to all the content and lots of example prompts for participants (many of which were not demonstrated in the webinar) click here.
Nick Scott
As a senior digital leader for more than 15 years, Nick worked with third sector organizations as diverse as Médicins Sans Frontières, UNISON and the Overseas Development Institute (ODI) to understand their goals; explore the possibilities digital offers for achieving these goals; and map and deliver the changes they needed to succeed. For his work building a digital team at UNISON Nick was listed in the Digital Leaders 100 list in the UK while at ODI his digital strategy was awarded Digital Strategy of the Year at the European Digital Communications Awards.
Since 2021 Nick has been working as a consultant while undertaking an Executive MBA programme at ESADE Business School in Barcelona. Nick helps non profits realize a transformative vision of what they could be in the digital age.
Abstract
The joint IOMP-IUPESM-ISC (International Science Council) webinar will create a safe space for experimentation and explore how the most popular tool – ChatGPT – can be used in our everyday work. The webinar in the form of practical workshop follows the initial workshop organized by the ISC in June 2023.
The webinar is focused on but not limited to the following items:
– An overview of technical capabilities and limitations of ChatGPT.
– A guided live preview of ChatGPT with examples on writing, testing and validating effective prompts.
– What is happening next with new versions of software, such as MS Office, where similar tools will be in-built.
– Moderated Q&A session.
A special focus is given on insights on how to work around technical capabilities and limitations of the tool, what makes for an effective prompt, and other practical questions around the use of ChatGPT.
The webinar is aimed at those working in the scientific organizations, communications colleagues and those with a general interest in using the tool. It would be useful to all levels of users – from those just starting out to discover ChatGPT, to those who are already actively using it.
IOMP-AAPM Webinar: Open-Source Tools in Medical Physics webinar
Wednesday, 19th July 2023 at 12 pm GMT; Duration 1 hour
Organizers: Robert Jeraj, Allen Movahed, Claire Park, Robert Jeraj & AAPM Global Research & Scientific Innovation Committee (GRSIC)
Moderator: M. Mahesh (Scientific Committee Chair of the IOMP)
Speakers: Kevin W Eliceiri, Heather Whitney, Robert Finnegan
Title: Open Source Computational Imaging of Cellular Microenvironments
Speaker: Kevin W Eliceiri
Kevin Eliceiri is the RRF Walter H. Helmerich Professor of Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering and Director of the Center for Quantitative Cell Imaging at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is also an investigator in the Morgridge Institute for Research. In 2022 he was named a Open hardware Trailblazer by the Open Source Hardware Association and the Sloan Foundation. His research focus involves developing novel optical imaging methods for investigating cellular microenvironment changes in wound healing, and the development of software for multidimensional image analysis. His lab has been contributing lead developers to several open-source imaging software packages including FIJI, ImageJ and μManager. ImageJ was named by Nature as one of the top ten computer codes that changed science. His open hardware instrumentation efforts involve novel forms of polarization, light sheet, laser scanning and multiscale imaging.
Abstract:
A primary interest of the Eliceiri lab is in developing novel imaging techniques that examine the interaction between cells and their microenvironment in space and time. Much of this work has involved the development of multiphoton based and computational approaches to interrogate cells noninvasively deep into intact tissue over time to study metabolism, cell signaling and stromal interactions. This has been particularly useful in studies of cell differentiation and cancer invasion and progression. A major element of this work is the construction of novel open source imaging hardware platforms including custom fluorescent lifetime, spectral imaging systems and multiphoton laser scanning systems. This work entailed new open hardware developments in laser, detection and acquisition technology. Much of our focus in hardware development is at the intersection of hardware and computation. Our past efforts have mainly focused on open source image analysis and visualization (ImageJ), on the computational side, and image acquisition (Micro-Manager) and device management on the hardware side. We are lead developers of the open-source project ImageJ/FIJI and in 2020 we launched the NIH P41 funded “Center for Open Bioimage Analysis” (COBA) to develop and maintain the open-source software CellProfiler and ImageJ while making new deep learning tools and workflow solutions for bioimaging. In 2021 we became the lead development home for Micro-Manager and OpenScan for light microscopy acquisition. We have been leading efforts to build an open source imaging informatics toolkit for light microscopy that spans the complete life cycle of imaging from acquisition, image analysis, data storage, and data dissemination. These tools have included support for novel imaging modalities such as light sheet microscopy, new metadata standards for sharing data and improved image analysis packages such as our work on ImageJ. This work on open source imaging software has enabled novel biological imaging studies and is in use by thousands of labs around the world. We now realize that there is an outstanding, untapped opportunity to advance computational optics, including opportunities for image analysis at runtime, where image processing routines can be run during acquisition to yield new insights and outcomes on data that would not be possible post-acquisition. We are combining our hardware accelerated approaches with our new algorithms to develop “smart” microscopes that can make decisions at runtime and use these decisions to determine where to focus in large tissue arrays.
Title: Open source tools from the Medical Imaging and Data Resource Center
Speaker: Heather Whitney
Heather M. Whitney, PhD is a research assistant professor in the Department of Radiology at the University of Chicago. She conducts research in computer-aided diagnosis of breast and ovarian cancer, focusing on the modalities of dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging and ultrasound. Her primary areas of interest are in artificial intelligence and radiomics across the imaging and classification pipeline, from medical image acquisition to performance evaluation and data harmonization. She also conducts research and collaborates in MIDRC, the Medical Imaging and Data Resource Center. Within MIDRC she works on methods of task-based distributions, interoperability between data enclaves, and monitoring and studying the diversity and representativeness of the MIDRC data commons to foster research in AI and health disparities.
Abstract:
The Medical Imaging and Data Resource Center (MIDRC, midrc.org) is a multi-institutional collaborative initiative driven by the medical imaging community that was initiated in late summer 2020 to help combat the global COVID-19 health emergency and to accelerate the transfer of knowledge and innovation in the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. MIDRC, funded by the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB) and hosted at the University of Chicago, is co-led by the American College of Radiology®, the Radiological Society of North America, and the AAPM. The aim of MIDRC is to foster machine learning innovation through data sharing for rapid and flexible collection, analysis, and dissemination of imaging and associated clinical data by providing researchers with unparalleled resources. In this talk, I will discuss the MIDRC open data commons and freely available resources developed by MIDRC investigators, including tools for building patient cohorts, building bias awareness in AI/ML development, and selecting performance metrics, as well as opportunities for contributing data.
Title: Unlocking medical imaging with platipy
Speaker: Robert Finnegan
Rob, an Australian physicist, brings extensive experience from geophysics, astrophysics, and medical physics. After completing his PhD from the University of Sydney he continued his work though research fellowships across multiple institutes, where he co-established the platipy library to facilitate accessible, high-quality tools for medical imaging and radiotherapy. Currently, Rob is advancing his skills through clinical medical physics training at the Northern Sydney Cancer Centre.
Abstract:
In the evolving landscape of medical physics, open-source software is becoming increasingly pivotal. This talk will introduce PlatiPy, a Python library designed to revolutionise medical imaging. PlatiPy offers a comprehensive, extensible, and continually expanding suite of tools, spanning all aspects of processing and analysis such as DICOM conversion, image registration, automatic segmentation, and a powerful visualisation toolkit. This talk will delve into the capabilities of PlatiPy, demonstrating simplify and expand users’ capabilities to use and understand imaging and radiotherapy data. A standout feature of PlatiPy is the streamlining of common tasks in big data pipelines, a critical component in today’s data-driven medical research. To illustrate this, we will walk through an end-to-end example focusing on cardiac toxicities. This demonstration will highlight how PlatiPy is innovating medical imaging and radiation dose assessment pipelines. Embracing the principles of accessible and open software, PlatiPy encourages collaboration among researchers, medical physicists, and computer scientists worldwide. Are you ready to explore how PlatiPy is helping to unlock medical imaging? Join us!
IOMP Webinar: Radiation Doses and Risk in Imaging – to Know or Neglect?
Tuesday, 20th June 2023 at 12 pm GMT; Duration 1 hour
Organizer: Prof Magdalena Stoeva
Moderator: Prof Arun Chougule
Speakers: Prof Dr Anchali Krisanachinda and Prof Dr Tomas Kron
Title: Imaging doses in radiotherapy: to know or neglect?
Speaker: Prof Dr Tomas Kron
Tomas Kron was born and educated in Germany. After his PhD he migrated to Australia in 1989 where he commenced his career in radiotherapy physics. From 2001 to 2005 he moved to Canada where he worked at the London Regional Cancer Centre on the commissioning of one of the first tomotherapy units. In 2005, Tomas became principal research physicist at Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in Melbourne, Australia where he now is Director of Physical Sciences. He holds academic appointments at Wollongong, RMIT and Melbourne Universities. Tomas has an interest in education of medical physicists, dosimetry of ionising radiation, image guidance and clinical trials demonstrated by 100 invited conference presentations and 330 papers in refereed journals. He has received many awards over the years including an Order of Australia Medal (2014), Fellowship of IOMP and IUPESM and Life Membership of the TransTasman Radiation Oncology Group (TROG) in 2020.
Abstract:
Radiotherapy is one of the main treatment modalities for cancer patient. It uses target doses in excess of 50 Gy to eradicate tumour cells. In the context of this high dose many people consider dose from imaging procedures that allow for treatment planning and delivery verification to be negligible, a position reflected in the lack of education about imaging dose optimisation for radiotherapy physicists and scant dose reduction methods available on commercial radiotherapy equipment. This presentation argues that this is a mistake not only because the framework of radiation protection urges us to justify and optimise all radiation doses. The number and complexity of imaging procedures is increasing and the volume of the patient irradiated and dose distribution in imaging is fundamentally different form the high dose region in therapy. As such a recently formed task group of ICRP is dealing with imaging dose in radiotherapy. This and experience of managing imaging dose in a large radiotherapy centre will be subject of the presentation.
Title: Radiation-induced Cancer Risk in Medical Imaging: To know or Neglect?
Speaker: Prof Dr Anchali Krisanachinda
Anchali Krisanachinda graduated her B.Sc.(Hons) in Physics, M.Sc. (Radiation Physics) from University of London, UK, and Ph.D. (Medical Radiation Physics) from University of Health Science, North Chicago, Ill, USA. She was a Director of Medical Physics Graduate Program, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand. She established Medical Imaging/Medical Physics, graduate programs, M.Sc. and Ph.D. at Chulalongkorn University and became Chairperson of both programs. She established Thai Medical Physicist Society (TMPS) in 2002, started the clinical training of medical physicists in 2007 and obtained Clinically Qualified Medical Physicist, CQMP, in radiation oncology, ROMP in 2009, DRMP in 2012 and NMMP in 2015. Then all 3 branches in medical physics clinical training were started at the same time using AMPLE (Advanced Medical Physics Learning Environment). Medical Physicists in South-East Asia join AMPLE sharing Thai Clinical Supervisors in ROMP and NMMP. The Ministry of Public Health of Thailand approved the medical physics national license in 2022, more than ten years after she requested. Hopefully, in 2023, there will be 300 Thai medical physicist with national license in medical physics. Continue Professional Development in medical physics will be later established. She has received many awards from her Faculty of Medicine and Chulalongkorn University, South-East Asian Federation of Organizations for Medical Physics (SEAFOMP), Asia-Oceania Federation of Organizations of Medical Physics (AFOMP), IOMP and IUPESM.
Abstract:
The risk model, the cancer sites, dose and dose rate effectiveness factor (DDREF) and mathematical models will be described presenting differences among the models. These models take into account parameters such as sex, age-at-exposure, attained age and time since exposure.
Medical Imaging
Patient dose from a chest X-rays is about 0.1 mSv, whole-body CT scan is about 10 mSv. The effective doses from diagnostic CT procedures may be associated with an increase in the possibility of fatal cancer of approximately 1 chance in 2000. This increase in the possibility of a fatal cancer from radiation can be compared to the natural incidence of fatal cancer in the U.S. population, about 1 chance in 5 (400 chances in 2000). In other words, for any one person the risk of radiation-induced cancer is much smaller than the natural risk of cancer. If the natural risk of a fatal cancer is combined to the estimated risk from a 10 mSv CT scan, the total risk may increase from 400 chances in 2000 to 401 chances in 2000. Nevertheless, this small increase in radiation-associated cancer risk for an individual can become a public health concern if large numbers of people undergo increased numbers of CT screening procedures of uncertain benefit.
IOMP Webinar: Radiogenomics/Radiomics-Guided Personalized Radiation Therapy: Current Status, Challenges, and Opportunities
Friday, 12th May 2023 at 12 pm GMT; Duration 1 hour
Moderator: Prof Arun Chougule
Speaker: Dr. V. Subramani
Dr. V. Subramani, PhD is currently working as Assistant Professor of Radiation Oncology (Medical Physics) and Heading Medical Physics in the Department of Radiation Oncology at All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi. He is having more than 26 years of experience in in radiation oncology medical physics. He has publication of around 50 scientific research articles as author and co-authors in the field of radiation oncology. Also He has delivered around 70 invited guest lectures, chaired several scientific sessions and participated in the debates and panel discussions in the national and international professional organization’s annual and periodic scientific meetings for the last ten years in the field of advanced radiotherapy and medical physics. He is currently national secretary of Association of Medical Physicists of India (AMPI), IOMP Education and Training Committee member and also serves as Chief Editor of Asia-Oceania Federations of Organization for Medical Physics Newsletter.
Abstract:
The success of a cancer treatment depends on the ability to deliver the right treatment to right patient to a right dose at right time, which is an ultimate goal of precision medicine or precision oncology. However, currently patients undergoing radiotherapy are treated using uniform dose constraints specific to the tumor and surrounding normal tissues. This population based one-size-fit-all approach results in significant adverse effects and suboptimal tumor control. Another concern with current approach is that two patients with nearly identical dose distributions can have substantially different acute and chronic morbidities leading to poor quality of life. Therefore, there is a need to develop an approach to overcome this limitation of current standard of care in oncology. Due to recent advances in biological and quantitive imaging, image processing analysis, computational power, cancer biology, biotechnology and genomics, there are tremendous growths and large amount of data is available for each individual patient.
The radiogenomics is an emerging field in precision radiation oncology. “Radiogenomics” has two meanings: “the study of genetic variation associated with response to radiation (Radiation Genomics) and “the correlation between cancer imaging features and gene expression (Imaging Genomics). Radiogenomics is a combination of both radiomics and genomics biomarkers, which is useful in guiding and personalizing treatment prescription and adaptation when changes occurring during the course of therapy. This is termed as Radiogenomics-Guided personalized radiation therapy. Both radiomics and radiogenomics biomarkers can be used to evaluate disease characteristics or correlate with relevant clinical outcome such as patient prognosis and treatment response. The common goal of discovering useful diagnostics, prognostics or predictive biomarkers to improve clinical decision making and ultimately enable the practice of precision and personalized medicine.
The presentation will address about the medical physics aspects of quantitative imaging biomarker, radiomics/radiogenomics model development, radiomics-guided radiotherapy using radiomics-target volume, radiomics-knowledge based treatment and also gnomically-guided radiotherapy including genomic-adjusted radiation dose and radiation sensitivity signature and models for personalized radiotherapy.
IOMP Webinar: Upright Radiotherapy: Challenges and Opportunities
Friday, 28th April 2023 at 12 pm GMT; Duration 1 hour
Organizer: Eva Bezak, IOMP
Moderator: M Mahesh, IOMP
Speaker: Tracy Underwood, PhD
Dr Tracy Underwood is a Senior Physicist at Leo Cancer Care, an innovative young company who are developing medical devices for upright radiotherapy. She is also a UKRI Future Leaders Fellow and an Honorary Senior Research Fellow at University College London.
As a radiotherapy researcher she has worked at some of the most innovative clinics and academic departments worldwide, including Massachusetts General Hospital / Harvard Medical School in Boston, IUCT Oncopole in Toulouse, the Christie NHS Foundation Trust, the University of Manchester, and the University of Oxford. She is passionate about medical physics education and is part of the editorial board of “The Encyclopaedia of Medical Physics”, which is published as an open resource at http://www.emitel2.eu/, as well as in hardcopy by CRC Press.
Tracy was awarded the 2015 IMechE JRI: Best Medical Engineering PhD Prize and the 2017 Early Career Academic Prize from the UK Institute of Physics and Engineering in Medicine.
She likes to spend her free time on the beach or in the forest with her husband and two young kids.
Abstract:
Treatments which combine fixed radiation beams with upright, rotating patient positioning systems have been investigated since the advent of radiotherapy. However, recently there has been an upsurge of interest in this topic, as evidenced by new academic publications and commercial systems.
In Heidelberg, one of the only carbon ion gantries in the world weighs ~600 tonnes. For proton therapy, gantries typically weigh ~100-200 tonnes. Even conventional photon gantries weigh ~5 tonnes: around the weight of an adult elephant.
Eliminating the gantry could vastly reduce the radiation shielding required and the 3D footprint of treatment bunkers. It could also reduce the complexity of beam delivery equipment, leading to reduced maintenance, easier upgrades, and lower expertise barriers. These factors can bring down treatment room costs, not just for heavy ion / proton radiotherapy, but also for conventional photon radiotherapy where global access is unacceptably low. There may be tumour sites where upright radiotherapy is better medicine (e.g., lung, liver). For certain patients (e.g., those with head and neck cancers), upright positioning is also likely to prove more comfortable.
Against the advantages of upright radiotherapy, we need to weigh the practical challenges of re-implementing the clinical workflow. Questions also remain over immobilisation and how treatment plan quality and radiotherapy effectiveness will vary with body position.
Given the decades of enhancements across supine radiotherapy, how committed are we to the traditional paradigm? Here we will explore the published evidence, challenges and opportunities associated with upright radiotherapy.
IOMP Webinar: Leadership in Medical Physics
Thursday, 27th April 2023 at 12 pm GMT; Duration 1 hour
Organizer: Eva Bezak, IOMP, Simone Kodlulovich Renha, IOMP
Moderator: Simone Kodlulovich Renha, IOMP
Speaker: Colin Orton, PhD
Dr. Orton graduated with a Ph.D. in Radiation Physics from the University of London, England in 1966. He has worked as Director of Medical Physics at New York University School of Medicine (Assistant Professor 1966-1975), at Rhode Island Hospital and Brown University (Associate Professor 1975-1981), and at the Detroit Medical Center/Karmanos Cancer Institute and Wayne State University (Professor 1981-2003), where he is currently Professor Emeritus in the School of Medicine. While at Wayne State he directed of one of the first accredited medical physics graduate programs, with over 150 M.S. and Ph.D. graduates. His major research interests have been bioeffect dose modeling, development of new fractionation and dose-rate regimes, HDR brachytherapy, cervix and breast radiotherapy, radiobiology, radiation carcinogenesis, radiation induced injuries, and radiotherapy physics, and he has taught courses in radiation biology annually to residents, therapists, and physicists. He has served as President of the American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM), Chairman of the American College of Medical Physics (ACMP), President of the International Organization for Medical Physics, the American Brachytherapy Society (ABS), the International Union for Physical and Engineering Sciences in Medicine (IUPESM), and the International Medical Physics Certification Board. Dr. Orton has published over 20 books, over 290 papers, made over 600 presentations, and has received the major awards of the AAPM, ACMP, ABS, IOMP and IUPESM.
Abstract:
Many medical physicists would like to become leaders, but many will be just as happy working all their lives making valuable contributions to the health and safety of their patients without taking on the added responsibilities of leadership. This talk will review the different types of leadership available to medical physicists, what makes you a “leader”, and what opportunities are there for you to reach your leadership potential.
Leadership can take several forms for medical physicists, such as:
Chief Medical Physicist
Chief Clinical Physicist
Radiation Safety Officer
Director of an educational program
Director of a residency training program
Officer in a regional, national, or international medical physics organization.
In this talk we will discuss a variety of topics, including:
Can anyone be a leader or do leaders need to have special traits (interests, skills, motivation, personality, commitment…)?
Can leadership be taught and, if so, should a teaching program include “leadership” in the curriculum?
Should there be leadership mentorship programs?
How can you work to become a leader?
IOMP Webinar: Cumulative Dose: What, Why, When, How, and How Much?
Wednesday, 26th April 2023 at 12 pm GMT; Duration 1 hour
Organizer: John Damilakis, IOMP
Moderator: John Damilakis, IOMP
Speaker: Madan Rehani, PhD
Dr. Madan Rehani is Director, Global Outreach for Radiation Protection at the Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston. He was President, IOMP (2018- 2022) and is currently President IUPESM. He is a retired Professor of Medical Physics and also retired from the IAEA where he worked for 11 years. He was Head of the WHO Collaborating Center on Imaging Technology and Radiation Protection in India. Dr. Rehani is an Emeritus Member, International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP), having been active member for 24 years. He is author of 9 Annals of ICRP, 4 of which as Chair of the TG. He is Senior editor Br J Radiology and Assoc Editor, Eur J Medical Physics. He has more than 180 publications, has written 40 chapters in Books and edited 5 books. Besides medical physics & radiology journals, he has published papers in clinical journals e.g. JAMA Intern Med, Br Med J, Eur Heart J, Cardiovascular Imaging, Am J Gastroenterol, Circulation J, The Lancet.
Abstract:
Despite criticism, there is no way out from cumulative effective dose (CED) when several organs are involved, and we have to focus on the patient’s radiation safety in addition to the technique dose. One cannot close eyes to stochastic risks when patients are receiving cumulative doses in three digits of mGy of organ doses or three digits of mSv of CED in a short period of a few years. Scientists involved in studying radiation effects inform us that we have to sum doses from imaging exams performed at different times and they do not have gap correction factors for stochastic effects. Studies published in the last 3 years have brought new results, never before known. They have opened a new era where every one of us has the potential to contribute to enhancing patient radiation safety and the manufacturers have to do much more. The talk will deal with what lies ahead, which is more powerful than controversies.
IOMP Webinar: Micro-X CNT Emitters, X-ray Tubes, and Unique Imaging Applications
Tuesday, 25th April 2023 at 12 pm GMT; Duration 1 hour
Organizer: Eva Bezak, IOMP
Moderator: Eva Bezak, IOMP
Speaker: Brian Gonzales, PhD
Brian is the Chief Scientist of Micro-X and the CEO of Micro-X Inc, the US subsidiary. Brian has a Ph.D. in biomedical engineering from UNC and NC State University and has published in multiple peer-reviewed scientific journals, focused on X-ray Computed Tomography using carbon nanotube (CNT) X-ray technology. Brian has worked with carbon nanotube X-ray technology from the early research at UNC, then lead early development of the technology at XinRay Systems, and then assisting in the transition to full commercialization of the technology at Micro-X in partnership with Flinders University and the University of Melbourne in Australia.
Abstract:
Micro-X has successfully developed the world’s first carbon nanotube (CNT) based x-ray tube for medical applications. This unique technology achieves both the high x-ray current, and the stable x-ray output required for safe and effective medical imaging. The performance of Micro-X CNT tubes is achieved through two patented design features of the CNT emitter that differentiate the emitter for other field-emission emitters. In this presentation, Micro-X will present an overview of the emitter design and share emitter data demonstrating the high current and stable performance.
CNT x-rays are smaller and simpler compared to conventional x-ray tubes. CNT x-ray tubes are controlled by direct electronic voltage instead of the indirect thermionic control of conventional x-ray. These differences enable new imaging systems to be developed. In this presentation, Micro-X will overview the four different products Micro-X has designed taking advantage of the advantages of the CNT x-ray. This includes a lightweight mobile digital x-ray imaging system to bring x-ray directly to a patient bedside, an x-ray camera that creates two-dimensional x-ray backscatter images with the x-ray source and detector on a single side, a compact lightweight CT for early diagnosis of stroke, and a reimaged airport checkpoint based around a miniaturized CT baggage scanner.
IOMP Webinar: Radiation Protection When Imaging Pregnant Patients: An ICRP Perspective
Monday, 24th April 2023 at 12 pm GMT; Duration 1 hour
Organizer: John Damilakis, IOMP
Moderator: John Damilakis, IOMP
Speaker: Kimberly Applegate, MD. MS
Dr. Kimberly Applegate is a retired professor of radiology and pediatrics from the University of Kentucky in Lexington.Kimberly is a member of the ICRP Main Commission of the International Commission for Radiological Protection (ICRP) as chair of Committee 3, focusing on radiation protection in medicine and also the National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements (NCRP). She is active on multiple ICRP task groups including TG 108, 109, 113, 121, 124, and 126 and NCRP subcommittees—one on patient shielding in medical imaging and another on the stratification of equipment use and training for fluoroscopy. To improve safe and effective imaging care of children worldwide, Kimberly has been active in the Image Gently Campaign (now the Alliance) Steering Committee from its beginning in 2007.
Abstract:
The radiological protection community in medicine has long recognized the relative radiosensitivity of pregnant women and the fetus compared to the average adult patient. There are a number of serious clinical conditions, including new cancer diagnoses, that occur during pregnancy and that require imaging procedures and radiation therapy that will be described. Further, there is continued evolution of our scientific understanding of radiation health effects, of societal values, and imaging protocols allow for improved radiological protection as long as local education/training and communication are provided for all stakeholders. However, there are varying levels of guidance, imaging protocols, and shared decision-making with women and their families. This webinar will provide an update on the ICRP work regarding this topic.
IOMP Webinar: Women in Medical Physics (on the occasion of the International Women’s Day)
Wednesday, 8th March 2023 at 12 pm GMT; Duration 1 hour
Organizers: Magdalena Stoeva and Eva Bezak
Moderator: Loredana Marcu
Title: Improving Women Health: the needs of medical imaging and the IAEA perspective
Speaker: Virginia Tsapaki, PhD
Medical Physicist (Diagnostic Radiology), Dosimetry and Medical Radiation Physics Section, Division of Human Health, Department of Nuclear Applications, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
Medical Physicist specialised in radiology at the DMRP Section, Division of Human Health, IAEA since August 2019. Since then, involved in multiple regional, national training courses, as well as various missions and activities related to human health. Scientific Secretary of 3 IAAEA publicaitons and contributor to 3 other related guidance documents. From 2004 until 2019, an IAEA expert sent in several missions, analysing data and publishing scientific papers from various IAEA surveys. Clinical experience for approximately 30 years with more than 150 publications in national/international journals/conference proceedings and more than 200 presentations/posters in national/international conferences. Participated in multiple European projects such as the Clinical Diagnostic Reference Levels, ENEN+ project, Basic Safety Standards Transposition project, ENETRAP III, Paediatric Diagnostic Reference Levels, EUTEMPE-RX, EMAN, SENTINEL, DIMOND II/III research projects. Served as a chair or member of committees in international organizations (AAPM, IOMP, EFOMP, ESR, EURAMED). Chair of Organizing committee of 2 European conferences (2016, 2018).
Abstract:
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) assists Member States in nuclear sciences and applications to benefit human health and to ensure safe, high quality and effective medical uses of radiation. The overall goal of the IAEA Human Health programme is to build capacity and transfer technology for the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of diseases in radiation medicine according to best practices. Various activities to support the above efforts, relevant to improving women health are: a) Guidance documents, training and professional matters; b) Coordinated Research Activities; c) Development of training resources; and d) Clinical audit programmes. All these will be presented in more detail during the session.
Title: Pioneer women in medical physics from the Middle East
Speaker: Huda Al Naemi, PhD
Executive Director, Hamad Medical Corporation, A/Professor, Weil Cornel Medicine, Qatar
Dr. Huda has been working in Hamad Medical Corporation for almost 3 decades and she is the Executive Director of Occupational Health and Safety Department since 2006. Dr. Al Naemi represents Qatar in a number of international and global organizations such as; International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), IPEM and World Health Organization (WHO) and implement some of their projects at the national level. Dr. Al Naemi is an active member in many international organizations such as, European Society of Radiology(ESR), American Organization of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM), IOMP, Institute of Physics and Engineering in Medicine (IPEM) and, Gulf Nuclear medicine association.
In 2019 Dr. AlNaemi was appointed as Assistant professor of Medical Biophysics Research in Radiology at Weil Cornel Medicine (WCM). Dr. AlNaemi’s role in WCM is to collaborate in education and training for medical students and to conduct research at the cutting edge of knowledge to provide the highest quality of care to the community. Dr. AlNaemi has collaborated on several research and educational projects including some funded by the Qatar National Research Fund (QNRF) and International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). These have led to several peer-reviewed publications, this research focused on radiation dose optimization in imaging modalities for patients including pregnant women and pediatrics. The two projects funded by QNRF were in collaboration with Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School USA and Geneva University Hospital Switzerland.
Dr. AlNaemi was elected president of the Middle East Federation of Organization of Medical Physics (MEFOMP) for the term 2018 – 2022 and she is also the president of the Qatar Medical Physics Society (QaMPS) since 2018. As MEFOMP president Dr. AlNaemi led the MEFOMP efforts for the publication of a chapter in a published book on “Medical Physics during the COVID-19 Pandemic. In 2019 Dr. Al Naemi was awarded the Institute of Physics and Engineering in Medicine (IPEM) The Healthcare Gold Medal. In 2017 she was awarded the State Encouragement Award for Medical Sciences Category, Doha Qatar. In 2022 Dr. Huda received an appreciation from IOMP for her strenuous efforts in her work as president of MEFOMP from 2018-2022. In 2022 Dr. Al Naemi has been elected as a regular member of the IDMP, one of the IOMP committees.
Abstract:
Main Objectives
To Believe in ourselves as women and face the challenges
To do the maximum energy in work and giving
To be always optimistic and believe of better future.
Middle Eastern women have a very limited opportunity when it comes to professional career and they are thought to be better off staying at home taking care of the household. Yes indeed, such fact existed in the old days. It has rooted from the very own families of the Arabs and continued in primary school where girls and boys studies separately. There is an opportunity then for women, but it was limited only to teaching and nursing profession. But gone are those days; opportunities have opened for women. Slowly, the colleges started admitting women in the so-called “men field” especially in the healthcare industry.
Eventually, I started work in healthcare as senior radiation physicist then became the Executive Director of Occupational Health and Safety Department where I direct various health and safety sections including the Radiation Safety Section which was later named as Medical Physics Section. Being the only Medical Physicist in Qatar then, I represented the country internationally and had the opportunity to work with various international organizations such as WHO, IAEA, UNEP to name a few, and has implemented some of their projects at the national level. It has always been my aspiration to further the advancement of the medical physics profession locally and regionally. I established the Qatar Society of Medical Physics (QSMP) and co-founded the Middle East Federation of Medical Physics (MEFOMP) which I also became the President in 2018-2021.
Title: Wearing more than one hat – is this the new fashion trend for women in medical physics?
Speaker: Iuliana Toma-Dasu, PhD
Medical Radiation Physics Division, Stockholm University and Karolinska Institutet, Cancer Center Karolinska, 171 76 Stockholm
Iuliana Toma-Dasu is Professor in Medical Radiation Physics and the Head of the Medical Radiation Physics division at the Department of Physics, Stockholm University, affiliated to the Department of Oncology and Pathology at Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, Sweden, and the Editor in Chief of Physica Medica – European Journal of Medical Physics.
Iuliana Toma-Dasu studied Medical Physics at Umeå University, Sweden, where she also became a certified medical physicist and received a Ph.D. degree. In parallel with her involvement in the educational program for the medical physicists run at Stockholm University, her main research interests focus on biologically optimised adaptive radiation therapy, including particle therapy, modelling the tumour microenvironment and the risks from radiotherapy.
Abstract:
Achieving gender equality has been one of the objectives of the medical physicists’ community in many European countries, as well as in many other places around the world. This objective has been partially reached, nowadays women in the medical physics being much less underrepresented than in other physics fields. Becoming a medical physicist and performing clinical duties is, therefore, possible for many women due to the various strategies developed and implemented at institutional, national or international levels within the professional associations under the IOMP umbrella. Reaching, however, higher positions in the hierarchy on either clinical or academic side in medical physics is still a considerable challenge for women compared to men. The question therefore is: how many hats should a woman wear, how many accolades should she receive, how many merits should she prove, to be regarded as successful in medical physics and accede to a leading position? This talk would attempt to answer some of these questions while highlighting the importance of successful women in medical physics to share their experience to inspire others and help the policy makers develop the most successful strategies to continue the work towards offering the same opportunities to all genders in the medical physics field.
IOMP Webinar: Carbon-ion Radiotherapy: Current Status and Future Perspective
Tuesday, 7th February 2023 at 12 pm GMT; Duration 1 hour
Organizer: Eva Bezak, IOMP
Speaker: Taku Inaniwa, National Institute for Quantum Science and Technology, Japan
Taku Inaniwa, Ph.D, is a group leader of treatment beam research group at the Institute for Quantum Medical Science, National Institutes for Quantum Science and Technology (QST) in Japan. His research focuses on developing dose calculation algorithms and biological models used for charged-particle therapy treatment planning. He has contributed more than 100 peer reviewed publications. He is a member of international scientific advisory board of Physics in Medicine and Biology. For his works, he has received several national and international awards. From April 2022, he has concurrently served as a guest professor at Division of Health Science, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka University.
Abstract:
Charged-particle therapy with carbon ions (C-ion RT) has attracted growing interest due to their advantageous physical and biological characteristics. So far more than 40,000 patients have been treated worldwide. During the past three decades, C-ion RT has made remarkable progress in clinical and technological aspects. In my presentation, I would like to introduce physics, dosimetry, radiation biology, carbon RBE, and some clinical results of C-ion RT.
Safety Blinded or Safety Minded – Don’t Learn Safety by Accident
Monday, 23rd January 2023 at 12 pm GMT; Duration 1 hour
IOMP Webinar: Safety Blinded or Safety Minded – Don’t Learn Safety by Accident Monday, 23rd January 2023 at 12 pm GMT; Duration 1 hour Organizer: John Damilakis, President IOMP
Moderator: John Damilakis, President IOMP
Speaker: Chris Trauernicht, President of FAMPO
Chris Trauernicht is the head of the medical physics division at Tygerberg Hospital in Cape Town, South Africa, as well as an associate professor at Stellenbosch University. He is the current president of the Federation of African Medical Physics Organizations (FAMPO) and currently serves on the IOMP Accreditation Board.
Chris has more than 150 congress contributions and 30 papers, and he is a member of the editorial boards of “Advances in Radiation Oncology” and the “South African Journal of Oncology”.
He serves as an assessor for the Health Professions Council of South Africa and has acted as examiner and convenor for the Colleges of Medicine of South Africa. The IAEA has appointed Chris as an expert on numerous occasions, including on the implementation of the Basic Safety Series for medical professionals, on the prevention of accidents and incidents in radiotherapy, and most recently on a regional training course to train the trainers in radiation safety culture (hence the idea for this talk).
Chris was the recipient of the 2020 “International Day of Medical Physics” award for his services to medical physics in the FAMPO region.
Abstract:
Should have, would have, could have… many healthcare professionals may be familiar with that sinking feeling when a preventable incident has slipped through the safety net and reached the patient. The incorporation of safety culture in healthcare can help prevent many adverse incidents and events.
Safety culture can be defined as “the assembly of characteristics and attitudes in organizations and individuals which establishes that, as an overriding priority, protection and safety issues receive the attention warranted by their significance”. In fact, the Bonn Call for Action specifically proposed the strengthening of radiation safety culture as one of its ten main actions.
In 2021, the International Atomic Energy Agency published a booklet on safety culture traits and proposed ten traits – patterns of behaviour or thinking – that encourage the prioritization of safety.
The implementation of these traits is free, yet many systems fail to apply these characteristics effectively. In this talk a brief overview of the ten traits is given. The application of these will improve your institution’s safety culture.
Radiation Biology Updates: From Low Doses to Ultra-high Dose Rates
Tuesday, 15th December 2022 at 12 pm GMT; Duration 1 hour
Organizer: Eva Bezak, IOMP
Moderator: M Mahesh, IOMP
Title: Low dose simulation: perspectives in radiation protection
Speaker: Andrea Abril, Profesora Asistente, Departamento de Física, Universidad Nacional de Colombia
Dr Abril is an Assistant Professor and Academic Coordinator for the Master of Medical Physics at Pontificia Universidad Javeriana (Bogotá-Colombia), and since 2022 she is an Assistant Professor (part-time ) at Universidad Nacional de Colombia. She taught subjects such as Advanced radiation physics, Radiobiology, and Numerical Methods for MP which enabled her to integrate her experience in MC simulations with the radiobiological concepts, relevant to imaging optimization. Before that, She held a postdoc position where the main objective was to set up the proof of concept of the development made her my Doctoral thesis (Dr.Sc Universidad Nacional de Colombia 2018 ); a Hybrid device gamma-MRI that integrates dosimetric gel as a gamma radiation detector, the methodologies wrere based on MC simulations.
Abstract:
Doses over 100 cGy have been reported to have evident and consistent biological effects that the patient safety and radiation protection limits are based on it. However, low dose effects are still misunderstood. The NCRP27 compiled relevant studies in which biological responses were reported, even though the effects are unrelated to each other.
The low reproducibility does not permit the determination of the effects observed in the risk models. The main recommendation to boost the knowledge barrier is to design specific experiments at low doses to reproduce the SF curves. DNA mechanistic simulations are a tool to perform in silico experiments under different doses and radiation conditions and to evaluate if they have considerable effects on the SF. These simulations can even distinguish the probability and specific damage reparation mechanism through the damage location to compare with biochemical in vitro assays.
Title: The state of ultra-high dose rate (FLASH) radiotherapy: the rapid developments of a rapid therapy
Speaker: Nolan Esplen, University of Victoria, Canada
Nolan Esplen is a PhD candidate at the University of Victoria (Victoria, BC, Canada). As a member of the UVic XCITE lab, Nolan’s active research interests pertain to the development of enabling technologies supporting delivery of novel preclinical modalities including spatially-fractionated and ultra-high dose rate (FLASH) radiotherapy. His recent work has found focus on physics and dosimetry within the context of ultra-high dose rate x-ray source development, including that of a megavoltage x-ray platform for FLASH radiobiological research at TRIUMF (Vancouver, BC). Nolan has been awarded a number of honors for his scientific contributions.
Abstract:
Renewed interest in the use of ultra-high dose rates (UHDR) in radiation therapy (RT) has been prompted by a growing body of literature supporting UHDR irradiation, or “FLASH”, as a means to reduce normal-tissue toxicity when compared to irradiation at conventional dose-rates. The potential for improved normal-tissue outcomes (i.e. FLASH effect), paired with isoeffective tumor control and the ability to freeze target motion, has thus made FLASH an attractive candidate for widening the therapeutic window in curative RT. However, while tissue-sparing effects have since been demonstrated across various animal models and radiation modalities (photons, electrons, protons), the radiobiological mechanisms which underlie the FLASH effect, and the beam parameters required to reproducibly elicit it, remain to be elucidated. Continuously updated knowledge has given rise to a number of competing or complementary mechanistic explanations and technologies for more accessible delivery and investigation into this exciting frontier. In this session, a general overview of FLASH radiobiological concepts and delivery techniques will be presented.
Growing Professional Recognition for Medical Physicists: Raymond Wu and IMPCB
Tuesday, 6th December 2022 at 12 pm GMT; Duration 1 hour
Organizer: Tomas Kron, IMPCB Nomination and Election Committee Chair
Moderator: Tomas Kron, IMPCB Nomination and Election Committee Chair
Speakers: Colin Orton, John Damilakis , Adel Mustafa, Ibrahim Duhaini, Art Boyer
(Office bearers and Board members of IMPCB)
Abstract:
Raymond Wu has been instrumental in setting up the International Medical Physics Certification Board more than 10 years ago. As CEO he has guided the organisation through its rapid growing phase and the many ups and downs typical for an international organisation run by volunteers. IMPCB now has mature processes for accreditation of Medical Physics Certification Boards and certification of medical physicists in countries where no certification board exists. At the end of 2022 Raymond Wu will retire from his position as CEO and the present mini-symposium celebrates his contributions to IMPCB and medical physics.
IOMP Webinar on International Day of Medical Physics (IDMP) 2022: Medical Physics for Sustainable Healthcare
Monday, 7th November 2022 at 12 pm GMT; Duration 1 hour
Chairman: John Damilakis, IOMP President
Co-Chairman: Ibrahim Duhaini, IDMP Coordinator
Invited Speakers
1. Paddy Gilligan, EFOMP
2. Arun Chougule, AFOMP
3. Patricia Mora, ALFIM
4. Chai Hong Yeong, SEAFOMP
5. Christoph Trauernicht, FAMPO
6. Meshari AlNuaimi, MEFOMP
7. J. Daniel Bourland, AAPM
8. Boyd McCurdy, COMP
Joint IOMP-IFMBE Webinar on Clinical Engineering Day 2022: Management and maintenance of medical technologies
Wednesday, 19th October 2022 at 12 pm GMT; Duration 1 hour
Organizer: Magdalena Stoeva, IOMP
Moderator: Francis Hasford, IOMP
Speakers: Ernesto Iadanza, IFMBE & Magdalena Stoeva, IOMP
Ernesto Iadanza, BME, CE, M. Sc., Ph.D., Senior Assistant Professor in Bioengineering (tenure-track) at the Department of Medical Biotechnologies, University of Siena, nationally qualified as Associate Professor in Bioengineering. He is currently a member of the International Federation for Medical and Biological Engineering (IFMBE) Administrative Council, and Chair of its Council of Societies. He received the IBM Faculty Award in 2013 and the IFMBE/CED Teamwork Award in 2019. Editor in Chief of the Clinical Engineering Handbook 2nd Edition, Academic Press, 2020. Associate Editor of many BME journals. Supervisor in 200+ graduation theses. Author of 190+ publications on international books, scientific journals, volumes, and conference proceedings.
Magdalena Stoeva, PhD, FIOMP, FIUPESM is the present Secretary General of the International Organization for Medical Physics (IOMP) and the International Union for Physical and Engineering Sciences in Medicine (IUPESM) and an Editor-in-Chief of the journal Health and Technology, jointly published by Springer and the IUPESM in cooperation with the WHO.
Dr. Stoeva has expertise in medical physics, engineering and computer systems at academic and clinical level, as well as organizational and international experience.
Prof. Stoeva’s work is directed towards the technological advancements as a driving factor of contemporary healthcare.
IOMP – WHO Joint Webinar on World Patient Safety Day 2022
Wednesday, 14th September 2022 at 12 pm GMT; Duration 1 hour
Organizer: John Damilakis, IOMP
Moderator: Eva Bezak, IOMP
Speakers: John Damilakis, IOMP; Emilie van Deventer, WHO; Erik Briers, EPCC
Prof. John Damilakis, MSc, PhD, FIOMP, FIUPESM
John Damilakis is professor and chairman at the Department of Medical Physics, School of Medicine, University of Crete and director of the Department of Medical Physics of the University Hospital of Heraklion, Crete, Greece. He is President of the ‘International Organization for Medical Physics’ (IOMP), Past President of the ‘European Alliance for Medical Radiation Protection Research’ (EURAMED), Past President of the ‘European Federation of Organizations for Medical Physics’ (EFOMP) and Past President of the ‘Hellenic Association of Medical Physics’. Prof. Damilakis is a member of the ICRP Committee 3 and member of the steering committee of the ‘EuroSafe Imaging Campaign’ of the European Society of Radiology. He is coordinator or an active research member of several European and national projects. As a Visiting Professor he has given lectures on dosimetry and radiation protection in Boston University, USA. His publications have been focused on medical radiation protection and dosimetry and, recently, also on Artificial Intelligence in medical imaging. He is editor, author or co-author of several books. Number of publications in PubMed: 243, number of citations: 8286, h-index 48 (Google Scholar). He has received several awards for his work.
Dr Emilie van Deventer
Dr Emilie van Deventer is the Head of the Radiation and Health Unit at the World Health Organization in Geneva, Switzerland. This programme covers the public health aspects of both ionizing and non-ionizing radiation safety and provides information and guidance to national authorities on radiation protection and health. She is responsible, inter alia, for the WHO International EMF Project, the Global UV project and radon activities. Before joining WHO in 2000, she was a chaired professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Toronto, Canada. She holds a PhD from the University of Michigan, USA and an honorary doctorate (doctor honoris causa) from the University of San Marcos, Lima, Peru.
Dr ERIK A.M. BRIERS MS PhD
Dr Erik Briers holds a doctorate in Chemistry from the University of Leuven, Belgium. Since his promotion in 1979 he has been involved in laboratory medicine. He founded in 1982 the diagnostic company Eco-Bio diagnostics and served as its CEO until 1990. In this function he developed a diagnostic test for the detection of Aspergillus antigens with a fast assay allowing the potential curative treatment of patients with disseminated aspergillosis, a deadly disease. This test has been approved by the FDA. He has been a guest lecturer for the subject “Applied immunology” within the Master study programme Biochemical Engineering at the University of Leuven 2009-2016. Erik Briers was the Executive Director of the European Cancer Patient Coalition (ECPC) (2012-2013) and ad interim executive director of EPPOSI (The European Platform for Patient Organizations Science and Industry) (2014). He was active at the European Medicine Agency (EMA) at the Patient and Consumer working party (PCWP) and later was appointed by the EU commission as an alternate patient member of the Committee on Advanced Therapies (CAT) (2016-2019). He is board member and vice chairman of Europa Uomo. He is a member of the Guidelines Panel on the treatment of prostate cancer of the European Association of Urology (EAU) since 2013. He is since 2013 member of the patient advisory board of the European Society of Radiology (ESR-PAG) and has given many presentations at the occasion of the yearly European Congress of Radiology (ECR). He is vice-president of Us Too Belgium and the chief editor of PROSTAATinfo the magazine of the organization. He serves as a member of advisory boards of several scientific organizations.
IOMP Webinar: Fractionated radiotherapy and its synergistic relationship with immunotherapy
Tuesday, 21st June 2022 at 12 pm GMT; Duration 1 hour
Organizer: Eva Bezak, IOMP
Moderator: Eva Bezak, IOMP
Speaker: Rebecca D’Alonzo, PhD Candidate
Rebecca D’Alonzo, PhD Candidate is a PhD candidate at the School of Physics, Mathematics and Computing, University of Western Australia, Australia. Rebecca is a 3rd year PhD student at the University of Western Australia. She completed her Bachelor of Science at UWA, majoring in Physics and Pathology. She the graduated from Masters of Medical Physics where she won the Master of Physics Medical Physics Prize in 2018. Rebecca is passionate about pre-clinical research, using novel radiotherapy and imaging devices to better understand cancer and how to improve treatment outcomes. Rebecca has also won numerous awards for her research presentations.
Abstract:
Malignant tumours have decreased oxygenation due to malformed blood vessels. Hypoxia decreases the effectiveness of radiotherapy (RT), and the abnormal vessels prevent both systemic therapies and immune cells from reaching areas of the tumour. This study quantified the alterations of the tumour microenvironment (TME) that can be achieved with varying RT fractionation. The objective was assess the changes in vasculature normalisation and reoxygenation that can be achieved with localised RT. The optimal RT was then combined with various immunotherapy schedules, to find the immunotherapy + RT combination that improves treatment outcomes.
AB1-HA mesothelioma tumour cells were subcutaneously injected into BALB/cJAusbP mice. Mice underwent RT fractionation with a small animal RT device. Starting 10 days post-inoculation, mice received various RT fractionations. Fractions were delivered on consecutive days. On day 15 mice underwent hybrid optical and Doppler ultrasound imaging with a LAZR-X photoacoustic imaging instrument to assess the vasculature and oxygen saturation concentration within the tumour. Imaging continued every second day, until day 29 post-inoculation. The RT fractionation schedule that resulted in the most TME alterations was then combined with various immune checkpoint inhibitor (anti-PD1 and anti-CTLA-4) schedules to find the optimal treatment combination. Mice with cured primary tumour then underwent tumour rechallenge.
Alterations to the TME were observed following different RT fractionation schedules. Imaging showed the most significant increase in vascularisation and oxygen saturation for 2 Gy x 5 fraction. This fractionation schedule was then combined with immunotherapy given at varying timepoints. Immune checkpoint inhibitors given concurrently with RT resulted in the most tumours cured, and lead to tumour rechallenge resistance.
RT fractionation can be used to modulate the TME. This has the potential to be exploited to prime the tumour for susceptibility to other treatments, especially immune checkpoint inhibitors. Acknowledgements: This study was supported by grant 1163065 from the Cancer Australia Priority-driven Collaborative Cancer Research Scheme.
IOMP Webinar: Relative biological effectiveness of protons – time for a change?
Friday, 13th May 2022 at 12 pm GMT; Duration 1 hour
Organizer: Madan Rehani, IOMP
Moderator: Eva Bezak, IOMP
Speaker: Iuliana Toma-Dasu
Iuliana Toma-Dasu is Professor in Medical Radiation Physics and the Head of the Medical Radiation Physics division at the Department of Physics, Stockholm University, affiliated to the Department of Oncology and Pathology at Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, Sweden, and the Editor in Chief of Physica Medica – European Journal of Medical Physics.
Iuliana Toma-Dasu studied Medical Physics at Umeå University, Sweden, where she also became a certified medical physicist and received a Ph.D. degree. In parallel with her involvement in the educational program for the medical physicists run at Stockholm University, her main research interests focus on biologically optimised adaptive radiation therapy, including particle therapy, modelling the tumour microenvironment and the risks from radiotherapy.
Abstract
Current practice in proton radiotherapy planning is based on the assumption that the relative biological effectiveness (RBE) of protons has a constant value of 1.1 as recommended by the ICRU report 78. Nevertheless, increasing evidence is pointing nowadays towards to fact that the RBE of protons is not constant but it varies with the endpoint, the dose per fraction, the actual beam quality described by the linear energy transfer (LET) or other metrics and, of course, the tissue type. This presentation will give a brief overview of the clinical evidence for variable proton RBE and will introduce the frame of the mathematical models for variable RBE based on in vitro cell survival data and the application of these models on proton treatment evaluation and optimisation. A critical discussion on the change from a constant 1.1 proton RBE to a variable value will also be presented.
IOMP Webinar: Virtual imaging trials in breast imaging
Thursday, 12th May 2022 at 12 pm GMT; Duration 1 hour
Organizer: John Damilakis, IOMP
Moderator: John Damilakis, IOMP
Speaker: Hilde Bosmans
Hilde Bosmans is professor in medical physics in the University of Leuven (Belgium), she is expert in medical physics in the radiology department of the University Hospital Leuven and steers the physico-medical quality control procedures in 103 mammography units in the Belgian breast cancer screening. She has 261 peer reviewed papers and works currently with 12 PhD students at different themes in medical physics. Research in Virtual Clinical Trials was worked out in the frame of PhD theses by Ann-Katherine Carton, Federica Zanca, Elena Salvagnini, Lesley Cockmartin, Eman Shaheen and Liesbeth Van Coillie. Ongoing projects in VCTs in breast imaging focus on the creation of synthetic data for AI training, the optimization of contrast enhanced mammography and expansion to other modalities such as chest x-ray imaging (with the PhD project of Sunay Rodriguez) and cone beam dental applications.
Abstract
Quality requirements in breast imaging are high, especially in breast cancer screening where the ultimate results are also measured and compared to (European) Guidelines. This has triggered many optimization projects and models for detailed breast dosimetry. The parameter space for optimization is however big, many new techniques are being introduced and clinical trials in breast cancer screening require a huge amount of images and take a lot of time. From the early days on, effort has therefore been put in developing breast models and virtual clinical trial (VCT) frameworks.
We will report on the typical components in VCT studies, on their validation and their limitations. The lecture will conclude with illustrating unique results that could be obtained with virtual imaging trials.
IOMP Webinar: GEANT4 for medical physics applications: an overview and latest updates & Overview of the Geant4-DNA project
Wednesday, 11th May 2022 at 12 pm GMT; Duration 1 hour
Organizer: Eva Bezak, IOMP
Moderator: Eva Bezak, IOMP
Speakers: Associate Professor Guatelli (University of Wollongong) & Prof Sebastien Incerti (University of Bordeaux)
Associate Professor Susanna Guatelli, Centre For Medical and Radiation Physics, University of Wollongong, Australia, is an international leading expert of the Geant4 Monte Carlo code for medical physics applications, working in the field since 2002.
Since 2018, S. Guatelli is member of the Steering Board of the Geant4 International Collaboration in her role of Coordinator of the Geant4 Advanced Examples Working Group. Since 2018, she leads the Geant4 Medical Simulation Benchmarking Group dedicated to the systematic testing of Geant4 for medical applications. S. Guatelli has extensive expertise in teaching Geant4 at various levels and organised many Geant4 short courses addressed to the use of this Monte Carlo code in medical physics.
S. Guatelli has been chair/co-chair of several international workshops and conference sessions dedicated to Monte Carlo codes applied to medical physics. She is Associate Editor of Physica Medica and of Applied Radiation and Isotopes.
In 2021, she was awarded with the prestigious Women in Physics Lecturer award, of the Australian Institute of Physics, for her significant contribution to research at the international level. In 2022, she became a member of the College of Experts of the Australian Research Council (ARC).
Abstract
Topic: GEANT4 for medical physics applications: an overview and latest updates
Geant4, which is a Monte Carlo toolkit describing particle transport and interactions in matter, is widely used in medical physics in critical applications such as verification of radiotherapy treatment planning systems, and the design of equipment for radiotherapy and nuclear medicine. It is also used in medical imaging for dosimetry, to improve detectors and reconstruction algorithms, and for radiation protection assessments.
In this seminar, an overview will be given of the capability of Geant4 for medical physics applications, focusing on the latest updates concerning Geant4 11.0. In addition, she will present the project G4-Med, which has been developed by a large international collaboration, the Geant4 Medical Simulation Benchmarking Group, including both Geant4 developers and users. The goal of the project is to perform a systematic benchmarking of the accuracy of the Geant4 physics models in a set of application scenarios of interest for medical applications.
Information will be provided on how to start to use Geant4 for medical applications. The seminar will finish by describing briefly the Geant4 development processes and Geant4 user support, which are in place to continue to develop this simulation code for and in synergy with the medical physics community.
Professor Sébastien Incerti is director of research at the National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) and the National Institute of Nuclear and Particle Physics (IN2P3), in France. He is involved in the development of the open source Geant4 Monte Carlo toolkit (http://geant4.org) for the simulation of particle-matter interactions. His research activities focus on the study of the biological effects of ionizing radiation in several application areas, including medical physics and space sciences, in particular for the Geant4-DNA project (http://geant4-dna.org) for which he has been the spokesperson since 2008. Since 2019, he is the scientific director of CNRS-IN2P3 for interdisciplinary science.
Abstract
Topic: Overview of the Geant4-DNA project
In this webinar, we will present an overview of the Geant4-DNA extension (http://geant4-dna.org) of the general-purpose Geant4 Monte Carlo simulation toolkit (http://geant4.org). Initially proposed by the European Space Agency, Geant4-DNA aims at simulating in a mechanistic way the biological effects of ionizing radiation on living organisms at the sub-cellular level. In particular, it allows to simulate the physical, physico-chemical and chemical stages that take place in the biological environment after irradiation, allowing in particular the prediction of early DNA damage from simplified geometries of biological targets. Geant4-DNA is fully included in Geant4 and is freely available to the scientific community. It contains examples of various applications in physics, chemistry and radiobiology, which can be used to learn Geant4-DNA. Its development continues in the framework of an international collaboration.
IOMP Webinar: Computational challenges in patient dose
Tuesday, 10th May 2022 at 12 pm GMT; Duration 1 hour
Organizers: Madan Rehani and Pedro Vaz
Moderator: Pedro Vaz, Portugal, Centro de Ciências e Tecnologias Nucleares of IST (University of Lisbon), Portugal.
Speakers: Choonsik Lee, PhD; NCI, NIH, USA & Manuel Bardiès, INSERM (National Institute of Health and Medical Research), France
Pedro Vaz, Portugal, Centro de Ciências e Tecnologias Nucleares of IST (University of Lisbon), Portugal.
Pedro Vaz, Ph.D. in Physics, is Coordinator Researcher at Instituto Superior Técnico, University of Lisbon. His areas of research include Radiation Protection and Dosimetry. He was the President of the Center for Nuclear Sciences and Technologies of IST (2017-2020). He is/has been Portuguese Representative in several Committees of the European Union (Group of Experts in Radiological Protection of the EURATOM Treaty and Consultative Committee on Energy Fission of the European Union) and the OECD/NEA (namely the Committee on Radiological Protection and Public Health). He is the institutional representative in European Union research platforms such as MELODI and EURADOS. He served as the National Liaison Officer (NLO) of Portugal for the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Is member of the Editorial Board of the journal “European Journal of Radiology” and Associated Editor of the journal “Radiation Physics and Chemistry”. Pedro Vaz teaches Radiation Protection and Dosimetry topics in different Portuguese Universities.
Choonsik Lee, PhD; NCI, NIH, USA
Topic: Current status and challenges in organ dose estimation for patients undergoing diagnostic radiology procedures
Dr. Lee is a senior investigator and Dosimetry Unit head at the United States National Cancer Institute. He has more than 20 years of expertise on computational and experimental radiation dosimetry for patients undergoing medical radiation procedures. His research team develops methods and tools to estimate radiation dose from medical exposures, including treatment and diagnostic tests, in order to generate reliable dosimetry data for use in epidemiological studies of ionizing radiation and cancer risk. Dr. Lee has involved in several task groups in the International Commission on Radiological Protection in the past years and was appointed to the ICRP Committee 2 (Doses from Radiation Exposure).
Manuel Bardiès, INSERM (National Institute of Health and Medical Research), France.
Topic: Clinical dosimetry in diagnostics and therapy: recent developments and new perspectives
Manuel Bardiès obtained his Doctorate from Toulouse University, France, in 1991. He developed his research in radiopharmaceutical dosimetry within INSERM (National Institute of Health and Medical Research) since 1992 in Nantes, then in Toulouse, and currently in Montpellier (2021-). He was member of the EANM Dosimetry Committee (2001-2013, chair 2009-2011). He chaired EFOMP Science Committee (2014-2016), and is currently chairing the EFOMP Special Interest Group for radionuclide internal dosimetry. He has been involved in education in various European structures (ESMIT, ESMPE). He’s members of the Board of the medical physics resident programme in France. The group led by Manuel Bardiès is primarily involved in radiopharmaceutical dosimetry, at various scales (cell, tissue, organ). This requires the ability to assess radiopharmaceutical pharmacokinetics, through quantitative imaging. An important part of the research activity involves Monte Carlo modelling of radiation transport. The objective is to improve molecular radiotherapy by allowing patient-specific treatments.
IOMP Webinar: Non-cancer effects associated with low to moderate doses radiation exposure: what we know so far from epidemiological studies
Monday, 9th May 2022 at 12 pm GMT; Duration 1 hour
Organizer: John Damilakis, IOMP
Moderator: John Damilakis, IOMP
Speakers: Marie-Odile Bernier, Sophie Jacob
Marie-Odile Bernier, MD, PhD, works as researcher in the Epidemiology Department of the French Institute for radiation Protection and Nuclear safety (IRSN) since 2005. She is coordinating epidemiological studies on low dose exposure in the field of medical exposure at IRSN. She launched a large cohort specifically designed to study cancer risk in 100 000 children exposed to CT scans in France. She has also more than 25 years of experience as endocrinologist, specialized in the treatment of thyroid cancer.
Sophie Jacob, PhD, is a radiation epidemiologist at IRSN since December 2007. She is specialized in non-cancer effects of ionizing radiation in the context of medical exposure. She coordinated the French O’CLOC study on radiation cataract and lens opacities and was then involved in the OPERRA – EURALOC study (2013-2017), a European multicentric study. In 2013, she initiated research on radiation-induced cardiovascular effects after breast cancer radiation therapy with the French BACCARAT study, further developed in the frame of European MEDIRAD EARLY-HEART study (2017-2022). Dr. Jacob received a PhD in epidemiology (2007) and a master degree in mathematics and biostatistics for biology (2004) from the University of Paris, France.
Abstract:
The use of ionising radiation in medicine is steadily increasing, with clear benefits for population health through improved diagnostic and therapeutic technologies, but it also raises issues in the radiation protection of patients and medical workers.
There is accumulating evidence from epidemiological studies for increased risk of some non-cancer effects following exposure to ionising radiation at low to moderate doses, in particular for circulatory diseases, lens opacities or neurological effects, that may take decades to manifest and present clinically. But there are still uncertainties related to the risks of late-developing non-cancer diseases and effects of radiation exposure.
This webinar will provide an overview of recent epidemiological results and ongoing research in the era of non-cancer diseases related to ionising radiation exposure, with a special emphasis on medical application of radiation.
IOMP-ICRP Webinar: Are radiation risks below 100 mGy for example through recurrent CT procedures of real concern for radiological protection? Wednesday, 20th April 2022 at 12 pm GMT; Duration 1 hour
Organizer: Madan Rehani, IOMP
Moderator: Christoper Clement, ICRP
Speakers: Werner Ruehm, Dominique Laurier, and Richard Wakeford
Christopher Clement is the Scientific Secretary & CEO of the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP), overseeing the daily business of ICRP and representing the organisation in many international fora since 2008. He has presented well over 300 invited lectures in more than 40 countries and overseen the production of more than 70 issues of Annals of the ICRP as Editor-in-Chief. Since 2012 he has been a member of the International Radiation Protection Association (IRPA) Executive Council, and Vice-President of IRPA since 2021. He has more than 30 years of experience in radiological protection, including environmental monitoring and remediation, radiological counterterrorism, and as Director of Radiation Protection at the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission. In 2019, he received the Ambassador’s Award from the Ambassador of Japan to Canada for his work in recovery after the Fukushima Daiichi accident and the promotion of mutual understanding and friendly relations between Japan and Canada.
Werner Rühm leads the Medical and Environmental Dosimetry Group at the Helmholtz Center Munich, Institute of Radiation Medicine, Germany. In addition, he is professor at the Medical Faculty of the University of Munich. He has been a member of Committee 1 “Radiation Effects” (C1) of the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) since 2005, serving as C1 Secretary from 2012 to 2016, and as C1 Chair from 2016 to 2021. Currently he is currently chairing ICRP TG91 on Dose and Dose-Rate Effectiveness Factor. From 2014 – 2020 he was Chair of the European Radiation Dosimetry Group (EURADOS), and in 2020 he was elected Chair of the German Radiation Protection Commission (SSK). In 2020 Werner Rühm was elected by the German Federal Parliament and the Federal Council of Germany as a member of the National Civil Society Board, and in 2021 he was elected Chair of ICRP. He is a member of the German delegation to UNSCEAR.
Dominique Laurier has 25 years of experience in the field of radiation epidemiology. He works at the French Institute for Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety (IRSN) as Deputy Head of the Health Division. He has been a member of the main commission of the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) since 2017 and chairman of ICRP committee 1 since 2021. He is the French representative to UNSCEAR, and the chair of the Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) High Level Group on Low Dose Research (HLG-LDR).
Richard Wakeford is Honorary Professor in Epidemiology in the Centre for Occupational and Environmental Health at The University of Manchester, UK. He worked in the nuclear industry for nearly 30 years advising on radiation risks before taking early retirement in 2006, then joining the academic staff of The University of Manchester as Professor before retiring at the end of 2019. Richard has been a member of ICRP Committee 1 since 2009 and has also been a member of a number of expert groups including as a member of the UK delegation to UNSCEAR, the EU Article 31 Group, the UK Committee on Medical Effects of Radiation in the Environment (COMARE), the UK Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) at the time of the Fukushima Dai-ichi accident, and various technical groups for WHO, IAEA, NEA/OECD and US NCRP. He has been Editor-in-Chief of Journal of Radiological Protection since 1997.
Abstract:
Recent studies suggest that every year worldwide about a million patients might be exposed to doses of the order of 100 mGy of low-LET radiation, due to recurrent application of radioimaging procedures. This webinar provides a synthesis of recent epidemiological evidence on radiation-related cancer risks from low-LET radiation doses of this magnitude. Specifically, reviews of recent results are given with respect to a) the atomic bomb survivors (by W. Rühm), b) low dose-rate exposures during adulthood (by D. Laurier), and c) in utero and childhood exposures. (by R. Wakeford). Taken together, substantial evidence was found that ionizing radiation causes cancer at acute and protracted doses above 100 mGy, and growing evidence for doses below 100 mGy. It is concluded that doses of the order of 100 mGy from recurrent application of medical imaging procedures involving ionizing radiation are of concern, from the viewpoint of radiological protection.
Literature:
W. Rühm, D. Laurier, R. Wakeford, Cancer risk following low doses of ionising radiation – current epidemiological evidence and implications for radiological protection, Mut. Res. – Genetic Toxicol. Environ. Mutagenesis 873 (2022) 503436
M.P. Little, R. Wakeford, S.D. Bouffler, K. Abalo, M. Hauptmann, N. Hamada, G.M. Kendall, Review of the risk of cancer following low and moderate doses of sparsely ionising radiation received in early life in groups with individually estimated doses, Environ. Internat. 159 (2022) 106983
R. Wakeford, J.F. Bithell, A review of the types of childhood cancer associated with a medical X-ray examination of the pregnant mother, Int. J. Radiat. Biol. 97 (2021) 571-92.
IOMP webinar: Biologically Targeted Radiotherapy: utilising imaging biomarkers to characterise tumour heterogeneity for precision radiation therapy
Tuesday, 22nd March 2022 at 11 am GMT
Organizer: Eva Bezak, IOMP
Moderator: Eva Bezak, IOMP
Speaker: Annette Haworth
Prof Haworth is the Director of the Institute of Medical Physics at the University of Sydney and the course coordinator for the medical physics postgraduate program. She has more than 25 years experience as a clinical medical physicist having previously worked at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in Melbourne Australia before moving to Sydney in 2016. Annette’s research interests have focused on novel approaches to brachytherapy and radiotherapy treatments, in particular using quantitative imaging for biological optimization of treatment planning and treatment response.
Abstract:
Intra-tumoral heterogeneity is largely ignored in radiation therapy (RT) treatment planning. Imaging biomarkers derived from quantitative MRI (qMRI) enable voxel-wise mapping of biological characteristics, providing an opportunity to optimise RT dose distributions based on spatially defined Intra-tumoral biology. Mapping changes in qMRI post-treatment offers the opportunity for early identification of those at risk of recurrence. In this presentation I will showcase our work demonstrating how quantitative imaging may be used to produce 3-dimensional maps of tumour heterogeneity to facilitate a precision-based approach to biologically targeted RT treatment planning and treatment response.
IOMP webinar: Image quality monitoring, Medical Physics 3.0, and patient-centered care
Wednesday, 9th February 2022 at 12 pm GMT
Organizer: Madan Rehani
Moderator: Madan Rehani
Speaker: Ehsan Samei
Ehsan Samei, PhD, DABR, FAAPM, FSPIE, FAIMBE, FIOMP, FACR is a tenured professor, Chief Imaging Physicist, and director of Center for Virtual Imaging Trials at Duke University. Authored over 320 referred papers, he is passionate about bridging the gap between scientific scholarship and clinical practice through virtual clinical trials, clinically-relevant metrologies, and Medical Physics 3.0. He aims towards quantitative patient-centric use of imaging, effectual realization of translational research, and clinical processes that are based on evidence.
Abstract:
While much of medical physics is vested with imaging and therapy technologies, those technologies are effective only to the extend they are used for the care of patients. The physicist is in fact vested with the expertise and the responsibility to ensure that each patient gets the optimum imaging and therapy towards the best clinical outcome. This involves a closer understanding of the clinical nuances of technologies in clinically-relevant quantitative terms, understanding how the advantages of technologies can be effectually realized in its implementation and patient-specific use, and monitoring to ensure the expected outcome is realized. This presentation offers a holistic perspective, anchored to the principles of Medical Physics 3.0, to integrate the rigor of science of medical physics and the relevance of practice towards patient-centered care.
IOMP webinar: Re-igniting the role of physics in medicine
Wednesday, 19th January 2022 at 12 pm GMT
Organizer: Madan Rehani
Moderator: Madan Rehani
Speaker: Robert Jeraj
Dr. Robert Jeraj is a Professor of Medical Physics, Human Oncology, Radiology and Biomedical Engineering at the University of Wisconsin, Madison and a Professor of Physics at the University of Ljubljana, Slovenia, where he leads international research groups of medical physics. Dr. Jeraj is a founding member of the Topical Group on Medical Physics within American Physics Society (APS), the Working Group on the Future of Medical Physics Research and Academic Training within American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM), the Medical Physics for World Benefit (MPWB) organization, and is a founding Editor in Chief of the Biomedical Physics and Engineering Express (BPEX) journal. He has served as a member of the Medical Imaging Drug Advisory Committee at Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and is on the Board of Commission on Accreditation of Medical Physics Education Programs (CAMPEP). Dr. Jeraj is an author of over 150 published papers, text books and book chapters, and is a frequent invited lecturer and presenter on the use of molecular imaging in therapeutic interventions and general applications of medical physics in radiation and medical oncology.
Abstract:
Medical physics has led to many achievements contributing to modern day medical practice, ranging from high-resolution diagnostics to high-precision treatment deliveries. However, the rapid pace of developments in medicine particularly fueled by personalized therapeutic approaches are posing some unique challenges. At the same time, they are providing new opportunities for involvement of physics in medicine beyond traditional roles. In this lecture, we will (1) review current trends in personalized medicine, (2) summarize some strategic initiatives aimed to address these trends by medical physics societies, (3) highlight the need for additional skills and knowledge required to tackle the challenges and (4) overview some examples of physics involvement in medicine beyond traditional medical physics roles. Specifically, we will present state-of-the-art solutions in the area of quantitative imaging biomarkers, which could be extended and adopted on a global scale.
IOMP webinar: Modelling the invasiveness of high-grade gliomas using computational tools – from imaging to radiotherapy target definition
Tuesday, 7th December 2021 at 12 pm GMT
Organizer: Eva Bezak
Moderator: Eva Bezak
Speaker: Wille Häger
Wille Häger is a PhD student at the Department of Physics, Stockholm University, and Department of Oncology and Pathology, Karolinska Institute, in Stockholm, Sweden, under the supervision of Prof. Iuliana Toma-Dasu and Dr. Marta Lazzeroni. His PhD project is focused on models and computational tools for simulating the tumour invasion of high-grade gliomas and the potential implications for radiotherapy.
Abstract:
High-grade gliomas (HGGs) are notoriously invasive of normal tissue, and to this day prognosis remains poor. The main issue in treating HGGs appears to be determining the extent of the tumour invasion, as regions of considerable clonogenic cell populations are not detectable using conventional diagnostic imaging methods. This presentation will discuss the use of modelling to simulate the HGG growth and its invasion of brain matter, how well the simulated invasion agrees with the conventional clinical target volume (CTV) delineation, and the future prospects of model assisted CTV delineation and probabilistic treatment planning.
IOMP webinar on IDMP 2021: Communicating the Role of Medical Physicists to the Public
Sunday, 7th October 2021 at 12 pm GMT
Organizer: Madan Rehani
Moderators: Madan Rehani and Ibrahim Duhaini
Speakers: Joan Leach, Jeanne Erdmann, Peter Rickwood
Speaker 1
Title: Why Communicating the Science is Worth the Effort
Professor Joan Leach
Director, Australian National Centre for the Public Awareness of Science
The Australian National University (ANU)
NEW BOOK: An Ethics of Science Communication
https://www.palgrave.com/gp/book/9783030321154
Professor Joan Leach, PhD is a TED talker. She is Director of the Australian National Centre for Public Awareness of Science and Chair of the Academic Board at The Australian National University. She also Chairs the National Committee for History and Philosophy of Science at the Australian Academy of Science. Her recent books include An Ethics of Science Communication (with Fabien Medvecky) and an edited collection, Science Communication: A Global Perspective which tells the stories of 39 nations and territories attempts to raise the profile of science over the last 50 years. While remaining transfixed by science, she advocates for better science communication that critically examines the social impacts of science, technology and biomedicine.
Speaker 2
Title: Communication is Understanding Waiting to Happen
Jeanne Erdmann
Award winning health and science journalist
• Tagline: Independent health and science journalist, board member Association of Health Care Journalists, cofounder The Open Notebook
• She is freelance journalist who lives near St. Louis, Missouri. Nearly 20 years ago, she left the world of cells and microscopes for writing and reporting. Jeanne specializes in genetics, aging, end-of-life issues, and wellness. Her work has appeared in both trade and consumer publications, including Real Simple, Discover, Science News, Family Circle, Nature, Nature Medicine, Women’s Health, and The Washington Post. She is a board member of the Association of Health Care Journalists, and co-founder and editor at The Open Notebook, a craft-focused site for science, health, and environmental writers. She’s also been the recipient of numerous awards and fellowships.
Speaker 3
Title: Journalists – love them hate them but you need them. How to make friends with the press and benefit from the results
Peter Rickwood
Executive Director, Atomic Reporters, Vienna, Austria.
He was environmental journalist on Canada’s largest daily newspaper; then Press Officer for a decade at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); media advisor to the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO); consultant to the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR); and is founder Atomic Reporters which has been organizing training workshops bringing specialists and journalists, professional and citizen together, to promote nuclear literacy and support more informed reporting.
IOMP webinar: New Tools of Phantoms, Monte Carlo Calculations, and AI for Medical Physics Applications
Wednesday, 6th October 2021 at 12 pm GMT
Organizer: Madan Rehani
Moderator: Madan Rehani
Speaker: Prof. Xie George Xu, University of Science and Technology of China (Hefei, China)
Speaker biosketch:
Prof. Xie George Xu is professor and director of the Institute of Nuclear Medical Physics, University of Science and Technology of China (Hefei, China). Before relocating to China recently, he was the Edward E. Hood Endowed Chair Professor of Engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (Troy, New York, USA). He received a Ph. D. in Nuclear Engineering (health/medical physics focus) from Texas A&M University (College Station, Texas, USA) in 1994. Since 1995, Prof. Xu has mentored nearly 100 Ph.D and M.S. students in the U.S. and China. His research has focused on “radiation dosimetry” for radiation protection, medical imaging, and radiotherapy applications, with continuous funding by governmental agencies and private sector industry. His publication list includes 2 books, 200 peer-reviewed papers/chapters, 400 abstracts, and 140 invited talks. Widely known for his work on “computational phantoms” and “advanced Monte Carlo simulations”, Prof. Xu is a fellow of American Nuclear Society (ANS), Health Physics Society (HPS), American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM), and American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE), as well as a council member of the National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurement (NCRP) and a past president of the Council on Ionizing Radiation Measurements and Standards (CIRMS). He has been on the editorial board of Medical Physics and Physics in Medicine & Biology for 20 years. Prof. Xu and his team have developed a number of commercial software tools including VirtualDose (a CT and IR patient dose reporting software), ARCHER (a GPU-based Monte Carlo dose computing software for treatment planning and dose QA verification), and DeepViewer (an image segmentation and registration software tool). Prof. Xu has received numerous professional recognitions including, recently, CIRMS Randal S. Caswell Award for Distinguished Achievements (2015), HPS Distinguished Scientific Achievement Award (2018), ANS Arthur Holly Compton Award in Education (2020), ANS Rockwell Lifetime Achievement Award in Radiation Protection and Shielding (2020), and AAPM Edith H. Quimby Award for Lifetime Achievement in Medical Physics (2020).
Abstract:
Estimation of organ doses in medical physics depends on computational phantoms and Monte Carlo calculations ─ two tools that have seen major advancement recently. Phantoms have evolved from the 1st-generation stylized phantoms to 2nd-generation voxel phantoms, and to 3rd-generation boundary representative (BREP) phantoms. Aided with the latest deep-learning image segmentation tools, patient-specific phantoms can be created consisting of organ outlines ready for Monte Carlo calculations. And GPU-based Monte Carlo codes can reduce dose computing time from hours to less than one minute. This presentation will cover: (1) Historical review of computational phantoms and Monte Carlo codes, (2) Development of patient-specific phantoms using an automatic multi-organ segmentation tool, DeepViewer, that is based on neural convolutional network (called U-Net) , (3) Development of rapid Monte Carlo dose calculation code, Archer, that is based on nVidia GPU co-processors and virtual-source-modeling of medical accelerators. Examples in medical imaging dose (CT, PET/CT) and radiation treatment will be discussed.
IOMP webinar: Cardiac radioablation: An introduction, an overview, and how medical physicists could help shape its future
Tuesday, 7th September 2021 at 11 am GMT
Organizer: Eva Bezak
Moderator: Eva Bezak
Speaker: Suzy Lydiard, ACRF ImageX Institute, University of Sydney
Suzy Lydiard is a part-time PhD student at the ACRF ImageX Institute, University of Sydney, supervised by Prof. Paul Keall. Her PhD is investigating cardiac radioablation for atrial fibrillation, a new and developing non-invasive treatment alternative for the most common sustained cardiac arrhythmia. Her work is specifically evaluating the feasibility of an MRI-guided treatment on an MRI-Linac using non-invasive target tracking and MLC tracking. Suzy is also working as a clinical Radiation Oncology Medical Physicist at the Kathleen Kilgour Centre, New Zealand.
Presentation Overview:
Cardiac radioablation has rapidly grabbed the attention of both clinicians and academics after stellar initial clinical results. Cardiac radioablation has the potential to advance and expand the clinical care available to those suffering from certain cardiac arrhythmias and is already being implemented within clinical trials globally. There are exciting and abundant opportunities for medical physicists and academics to help progress cardiac radioablation technologies and advance cardiac radioablation knowledge in order to make this treatment mainstream and accessible to those patients in need. This presentation will describe the clinical drivers for cardiac radioablation, discuss the challenges cardiac radioablation brings to radiotherapy, summarize the technology approaches currently utilized in clinical cardiac radioablation treatments, and identify potential research and development opportunities.
IOMP webinar: CTV-PTV Margins in Stereotactic Radiosurgery: Do we need them?
Tuesday, 15th June 2021 at 11 am GMT
Organizer: Eva Bezak
Moderator: Eva Bezak
Speaker: John Shakeshaft, Site-Senior Physicist ICON Cancer Centre, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia
John Shakeshaft currently works as the site-senior physicist at Gold Coast University Hospital within the ICON Cancer Care network. He has previously worked with both small and large radiation oncology departments across Australia and the UK (where he trained). He is the current chair of the Australasian College of Physical Scientists & Engineers in Medicine (ACPSEM) Radiation Oncology Specialist Group.
Recently he has also been the trial physicist for the Trans-Tasman Radiation Oncology Group (TROG) Cancer Research Stereotactic Radiosurgery (SRS) OUTRUN trial and chaired the technical working group developing guidelines for future TROG SRS trials.
Abstract
CTV-PTV Margins in Stereotactic Radiosurgery: Do we need them?
Traditionally in Radiation Oncology margins are added to the clinical target volume (CTV) to allow for geometrical uncertainties in the planning and treatment. However, in stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) some practitioners, particularly those treating with a Gamma Knife®, have not added margins to the CTV to form a planning target volume (PTV). This inconsistent approach to handling CTV-PTV between centres providing an SRS service, for example in a clinical trial, difficult.
The talk will consider:
– Geometrical uncertainties in SRS including the magnitude of the different contributing factors
– How different treatment modalities differ and the potential effect on margin requirements (for example achievable steepness of dose gradients)
– The effect of imaging for treatment position verification on modern treatment systems
– The ICRU91 approach for clinical trials
– Clinical evidence for the use of CTV-PTV margins in SRS
IOMP webinar: I tested this x-ray system: Is it acceptable for clinical use?
Wednesday, 26th May 2021 at 12 pm GMT
Organizer: Madan Rehani
Moderator: Dr. Geraldine O Reilly, St. James’s Hospital, Dublin
Speakers: Stephen Balter
Physicists make quantitative measurements to determine therapeutic and diagnostic equipment safety and performance. Measurement uncertainty can influence acceptability decisions. Inappropriate equipment acceptance might result in hazardous operation. Improper rejection could be hazardous to patients if alternative equipment is not available in a timely manner.
This presentation reviews basic concepts and nomenclature for measuring instrument calibration and measurement uncertainty applicable to all areas of medical physics. A brief outline of the differences between manufacturers’ and medical physicists’ processes will be presented using fluoroscopic beam measurements as an example. It concludes with some clinical implications of acceptability.
Stephen Balter, Ph.D. is a Professor of Clinical Radiology (physics) at Columbia University in New York City. His primary clinical responsibility is in a high volume interventional cardiology department. Dr. Balter is ABR certified and licensed by New York State in the areas of Diagnostic Imaging, Therapeutic Radiology, and Medical Health Physics. He received his Masters in Radiological Physics from Columbia, and his Ph.D. in Experimental Physics, from Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute.
Dr. Balter is an active participant in several physical and clinical societies. He is an elected fellow in the American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM), American College of Medical Physics (ACMP), American College of Radiology (ACR), Society for Cardiac Imaging and Interventions (SCAI), and the Society for Interventional Radiology (SIR). He is a member of Council of the National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements (NCRP), and currently serves on three International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) working groups.
Dr. Belter’s interests have focused on brachytherapy, interventional radiology, and related health-physics topics. He has published over 200 papers, chapters, and books in these and related areas. Among these, he was the chair for NCRP Report 168 on fluoroscopic guided interventions. He has served as an invited lecturer and visiting professor in many USA and worldwide venues.
IOMP webinar: Publishing in medical physics
Monday, 10th May 2021 at 1 pm GMT
Organizer: Madan Rehani
Moderator: Paolo Russo, Chair, Publication Committee, IOMP, Past Editor-in-Chief, Eur J Medical Physics
Speakers: Katia Parodi and John Boone
Individual topics
Katia Parodi: Keeping the pace with a rapidly evolving field of medical physics
John Boone: The fundamentals of a great paper
Prof. Dr. Katia Parodi
Chair of Experimental Physics – Medical Physics
Faculty of Physics at LMU Munich
Editor-in-Chief, Physics in Medicine & Biology
Katia Parodi received her Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Dresden, Germany, in 2004. She then worked as postdoctoral fellow at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston, USA. In 2006 she returned to Germany as tenured scientist and group leader at the Heidelberg Ion Therapy Center, obtaining in 2009 her Habilitation from the Heidelberg University. Since 2012 she is full professor and Chair of Medical Physics at the Physics Faculty of the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (LMU) in Munich, where she initiated a dedicated curriculum for Medical Physics within the Physics Master of Science study. Her main research interests are in high precision image-guided radiotherapy with a special focus on ion beams, from advanced computational modeling to experimental developments of novel methods for imaging and in-vivo ion range monitoring for pre-clinical and clinical applications. Katia Parodi has been invited speaker and committee member at many conferences, contributed to over 200 publications in peer reviewed journals, 12 book chapters and a couple of patents. For her work, she received several national and international recognitions, including the Behnken Berger Award in 2006, the IEEE Bruce Hasegawa Young Investigator Medical Imaging Science Award in 2009, the AAPM John S. Laughlin Young Scientist in 2015 and the awarding of an ERC Consolidator grant in 2016. In 2017-2018 she served as president of the German Society for Medical Physics, and is since 2021 the Editor-in-Chief of the journal Physics in Medicine and Biology.
John M. Boone, Ph.D.
Professor of Radiology and Biomedical Engineering
Editor-in-Chief, MEDICAL PHYSICS
John M. Boone, Ph.D. received his undergraduate degree in Biophysics at UC Berkeley and his MS and Ph.D. in Medical Physics at UC Irvine. After faculty positions at University of Missouri, Columbia and Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, he is now Professor of Radiology and Biomedical Engineering at the University of California Davis, in Sacramento California. His research interests include the development of cone beam CT systems for dedicated breast imaging, and the use of Monte Carlo methods for radiation dose assessment in diagnostic radiology especially in breast imaging and CT. His lab has also developed accurate x-ray spectral models for diagnostic radiological imaging, non-destructive testing, and ortho-voltage therapy applications. His interests also extend to whole body CT, including the development and implementation of new methods for image quality evaluation (e.g. 3D MTF and 3D NPS) and for radiation dosimetry (Size Specific Dose Estimation – SSDE).
IOMP Webinar on IMPW 2021
Friday, 30th April
The management of unintended and accidental exposures
Moderator: Eva Bezak
Speaker: Colin Martin
More details: https://www.iomp.org/iomp-school-on-impw-2021-day-5
Dr Colin Martin worked as a hospital-based Medical Physicist in Radiation Protection in Glasgow and Aberdeen, Scotland for over 30 years. He has now retired from the NHS but is an honorary senior lecturer for the University of Glasgow. Colin is Vice-Chair of ICRP Committee 3 (Protection in Medicine), chairs two ICRP Task groups and is a member of several others. He is a member of various UK and EU working parties, COMARE, which advises the UK government on medical uses of radiation, and he has chaired two IAEA Technical Meetings on avoidance and prevention of radiation incidents in medicine. His research interests include radiation protection, diagnostic radiology, radiation dosimetry, and non-ionising physics. He has co-authored/edited several textbooks on radiation protection, written over 300 articles including 150 papers in peer reviewed scientific journals. Colin is a member of Editorial Boards for the Journal of Radiological Protection and Radiation Protection Dosimetry.
IOMP Webinar on IMPW 2021
Thursday, 29th April
Does contact shielding improve patient safety?
Moderator: Chai Hong Yeong
Speaker: Paddy Gilligan
More details: https://www.iomp.org/iomp-school-on-impw-2021-day-4
Paddy Gilligan works as chief physicist in the Mater Private Hospital in Dublin Ireland. He has over thirty years’ experience in diagnostic imaging, He has served on state boards for regulatory radiation protection agencies. He became associate professor in University College Dublin in 2017. He was the chair of the European congress of radiology physics programme in 2019 He was a member the radiation safety committee of the European Society of Radiology, and the Eurosafe imaging steering committee. Prior to becoming President of EFOMP he chaired the successful bid for ECMP 2022 for Dublin. He is a trustee of the Robert Boyle Foundation. He is currently chair of the Gonad and Patient Shielding (GAPS) group of experts who are in the process of producing a consensus document on patient shielding from the major European professional bodies involved in radiology.
IOMP Webinar on IMPW 2021
Wednesday, 28th April
Patient radiation protection: How IAEA and WHO are contributing?
Moderator: Madan Rehani
Speakers: Ola Holmberg and Maria Perez
More details: https://www.iomp.org/iomp-school-on-impw-2021-day-3
Dr. Ola Holmberg is the Head of the Radiation Protection of Patients Unit at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Vienna, Austria since the last 12 years – an organization within the United Nations family. He is a medical physicist who has previously worked in Sweden, Ireland, the Netherlands and Denmark.
Dr María del Rosario Pérez is a physician who worked in the field of radiation protection for more than 3 decades. She received her M.D. in 1980 from the School of Medicine of the Buenos Aires University (Argentina). She completed her professional education on Diagnostic Imaging and Radiotherapy and worked as radiation oncologist at a public hospital until 1990. After obtaining a post-graduate diploma on Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety she worked at the National Atomic Energy Commission (CNEA) and the Nuclear Regulatory Authority (ARN). Since 2007 she works at the WHO Radiation and Health Unit in Geneva (Switzerland). She represents WHO at the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR), the IAEA Radiation Safety Standards Committee (RASSC), the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP), the EC Art 31 Group of Experts and the Inter-Agency Committee on Radiation Safety (IACRS), which she is currently chairing.
IOMP Webinar on IMPW 2021
Tuesday, 27th April
Artificial Intelligence and medical physics: The initial experience of the SINFONIA Horizon project
Further information: https://www.sinfonia-appraisal.eu/
Moderator: Mika Kortesniemi
Speakers: John Damilakis and Habib Zaidi
Prof. John Damilakis, PhD, FIOMP, FIUPESM
John Damilakis is professor & chairman at the Department of Medical Physics, School of Medicine, University of Crete & director of the Department of Medical Physics of the University Hospital of Heraklion, Crete, Greece. He is Vice President & President‐elect of IOMP, Immediate Past President of EURAMED, Past President of EFOMP and Past President of the ‘Hellenic Association of Medical Physics’. Prof. Damilakis is a member of 2 ICRP Task Groups & member of the steering committee of the ‘EuroSafe Imaging’ of the European Society of Radiology. As a Visiting Professor he has given lectures on dosimetry and radiation protection in Boston University, USA. His publications have been focused on medical radiation protection and dosimetry. He is editor of 2 books published by the IOP Publishing and Springer‐Verlag and co‐author of 2 chapters in books published by Springer and Academic Press. Number of publications in PubMed: 220, number of citations 7220, h‐index 45 (Google Scholar, February 2021).
Professor Habib Zaidi is Chief physicist and head of the PET Instrumentation & Neuroimaging Laboratory at Geneva University Hospital and faculty member at the medical school of Geneva University. He is also a Professor at the University of Groningen (Netherlands) and the University of Southern Denmark. His research is supported by the Swiss National Foundation, private foundations and industry (Total 8.3M US$) and centres on hybrid imaging instrumentation (PET/CT and PET/MRI), computational modelling and radiation dosimetry and deep learning. He was guest editor for 11 special issues of peer-reviewed journals and serves on the editorial board of leading journals in medical physics and medical imaging. He has been elevated to the grade of fellow of the IEEE, AIMBE and the AAPM. His academic accomplishments in the area of quantitative PET imaging have been well recognized by his peers since he is a recipient of many awards and distinctions among which the prestigious (100’000$) 2010 kuwait Prize of Applied sciences (known as the Middle Eastern Nobel Prize). Prof. Zaidi has been an invited speaker of over 160 keynote lectures and talks at an International level, has authored over 320 peer-reviewed articles in prominent journals and is the editor of four textbooks.
IOMP Webinar on IMPW 2021
Monochromatic X-rays: A new source with potential to replace century-old technology
Monday, 26th April
Further information: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33368354/
Moderator: John Damilakis
Speakers: Madan Rehani and Eric Silver
Dr. Madan M. Rehani is Director, Global Outreach for Radiation Protection at the Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, USA. He is President, International Organization for Medical Physics (2018-2021). He was earlier Radiation Safety Specialist at the International Atomic Energy Agency for 11 years and prior to that Professor and Head of Medical Physics at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India. Dr. Rehani is a Member, International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP). He is author of 8 Annals of ICRP, 4 of which as Chair of the Task Group. He is Senior editor BJR, Assoc Editor, Eur J Medical Physics. He has more than 165 publications, has written 40 chapters in Books and has edited 5 books. He has published papers in high impact factor journals e.g. JAMA Intern Med, Br Med J, Eur Heart J, Cardiovascular Imaging, Am J Gastroenterol, Circulation J, The Lancet.
Eric Silver has dedicated his career to experimental high energy astrophysics. He spent 21 years as a Senior Astrophysicist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA) where he directed an interdisciplinary program of X-ray spectroscopy, polarimetry and low temperature physics for 1) the study of cosmic x-ray and gamma ray sources such as black holes, supernova remnants and clusters of galaxies; 2) fundamental physics investigations of highly charged ions produced in heavy ion accelerators and laboratory plasmas; and 3) industrial and medical applications where high resolution x-ray spectroscopic imaging is important to materials and chemical analysis. The latter included studies of silicon wafers for the semiconductor industry, interstellar dust and cometary particles returned to Earth from NASA probes, examining artifacts and fine art for conservation science, and even mapping anti-cancer drugs at the cellular level. He received his B.S. degree in Physics from M.I.T. and Ph.D. in Astrophysics from Columbia University, has served on many NASA, NIH, DoE and NSF review panels, authored/co-authored 130+ publications on spectroscopy and x-ray imaging and is the co-editor of a book on spectroscopy. Eric was a recipient of a NIH Challenge Grant and the George E. Burch Fellowship for new medical applications and has 16 patents to his credit.
Joint IAEA–IOMP webinar
Patients Undergoing Recurrent CT Imaging: Managing Cumulative Doses
16 March 2021, 2 pm CET
Moderator: Jenia Vassileva (IAEA)
Presenter: Madan Rehani (IOMP)
IOMP-ALFIM WEBINARS IN SPANISH LANGUAGE
Radioterapia de Pulmón utilizando IMRT/VMAT y SBRT / Lung IMRT/VMAT and SBRT
26 March 2021, 3 pm EST
Organizers: Patricia Mora (ALFIM) and Madan Rehani (IOMP)
Speaker: Dr. Cesar Della-Biancia
Department of Medical Physics
Memorial Sloan Kettering
New York, USA
Joint IAEA–IOMP–CIRSE webinar
What’s new in understanding radiation risks for patients in interventional procedures
23 February 2021, 2 pm CET
Moderator: Jenia Vassileva (IAEA)
Presenters: Madan Rehani (IOMP), Werner Jaschke (CIRSE)
IOMP-ALFIM WEBINARS IN SPANISH LANGUAGE
Seguridad y Protección en salas de Resonamcia Magnética: Actualización / Safety and Protection procedures in the MRI Suite
Friday, 26th Feb 2021
Organizers: Patricia Mora (ALFIM) and Madan Rehani (IOMP)
Speaker: Dr. Manuel Arreola
Vice-Chair de Radiología
Jefe de los Servicios de Fisica medica de los Hospitales Universitarios (Gainesville y Jacksonville)
Director del programa de posgrado de Fisica Medica
Universidad de Florida
IOMP webinar jointly with WHO, IRPA and IAEA on Radiation Safety Culture
Tuesday, 9th Feb 2021 at 12 noon GMT
We have so many tools and means to practice radiation safety. The transition from radiation safety to radiation safety culture occurs when we are able to make everyone involved practice safety. Thus, radiation safety culture has much to do with establishing culture. Experts from 4 major international organizations shall deliberate on this important topic and will cover both diagnostic and therapeutic activities in which staff in medical institutions are involved with.
Organizer and moderator: Prof. Madan Rehani, IOMP
Speakers in alphabetical orders of organization (IAEA, IOMP, IRPA, WHO):
Dr. Debbie Gilley, IAEA
Dr. Madan Rehani, IOMP
Dr. Bernard le Guen, IRPA
Dr. Maria Perez, WHO
IOMP Webinar: Personalized dosimetry for CT and interventional procedures
December 7, 2020
Organizers and moderator: Madan Rehani, PhD
Speaker: Dr. Hilde Bosmans, PhD
University Hospital of the KU Leuven, Belgium
Hilde Bosmans is team leader of the medical physics experts in radiology in the University Hospital of the KU Leuven and for more than 100 centers in the Belgian breast cancer screening. She is also professor at the KU Leuven. With a team of PhD students and post doc researchers she works at dose and quality in radiology. Patient specific dosimetry has been the theme of several successful projects. The company Qaelum that develops and commercializes a dose management system is a spin-off of the department. Hilde Bosmans is also project leader of the EUTEMPE-RX courses for medical physics experts in radiology
IOMP Webinar: Publishing in medical physics journals
November 24, 2020
Organizers: Madan Rehani and Paolo Russo
Moderator: Paolo Russo
Speakers:
Paolo Russo, Experience of Physica Medica/EJMP
Iuliana Toma-Dasu: Being a successful author
Paolo Russo was born in Napoli (Italy) in 1958. In 1981 he graduated in Physics magna cumlaude at the University of Napoli “Federico II”, where he became in 1984 research assistant, then associate professor and then full professor of medical physics. His scientific activity is entirely in the field of Medical Physics, mainly in the development of systems for X-ray and gamma-ray medical imaging, with a focus on techniques for X-ray breast imaging. He served as a reviewer for various international peer reviewed scientific journals and for national and European Science funding agencies. From 2008 to 2012 he was Associate Editor for the Medical Imaging area of the journal “Physica Medica: European Journal of Medical Physics”, and for 2013-2020 he is Editor-in-Chief of this journal. In 2018-19 he was Chair of the Publications an Communications Committee of the European Federation of Organizations for Medical Physics and for 2018-2021 he is Chair of the Publications Committee of the International Organization for Medical Physics; for 2018-2023 he is member of the Board of Directors of the International Medical Physics Certification Board. He co-authored over 160 papers in international peer reviewed journals and scientific book chapters and over 100 communications to international conferences.
Iuliana Toma-Dasu is Professor in Medical Radiation Physics and the Head of the Medical Radiation Physics division at the Department of Physics, Stockholm University, affiliated to the Department of Oncology and Pathology at Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, Sweden. Iuliana Toma-Dasu studied Medical Physics at Umeå University, Sweden, where she also became a certified medical physicist and received a Ph.D. degree. In parallel with her involvement in the educational program for the medical physicists run at Stockholm University, her main research interests focus on biologically optimised adaptive radiation therapy, including particle therapy, modelling the tumour microenvironment and the risks from radiotherapy.
Medical physicist as a health professional
Saturday, November 7, 2020
Moderator: Madan Rehani
Panelists
· IAEA: Ola Holmberg, Giorgia Loreti
· IOMP
o Madan Rehani, President IOMP
o Ibrahim Duhaini, IDMP
· Regional Organizations of IOMP
o Ad Maas, Europe, EFOMP (backup Brenda Byrne)
o Hassan Kharita, Middle-East, MEFOMP
o Sandra Guzman, Latin America, ALFIM
o Taofeeq Ige, Africa, FAMPO
o Arun Chougule, Asia, AFOMP
o Freddy Haryanto, South East Asia, SEAFOMP
Dr. Ola Holmberg is the Head of the Radiation Protection of Patients Unit at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Vienna, Austria since the last 12 years – an organization within the United Nations family. He is a medical physicist who has previously worked in Sweden, Ireland, the Netherlands and Denmark.
Giorgia Loreti is a Training Officer at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Her work focuses on ensuring access to quality education in Medical Physics, adherence to standards, as well as recognition of the profession. Previously, she worked as clinical medical physicist at the S. Orsola University Hospital in Bologna.
Dr. Madan M. Rehani is Director, Global Outreach for Radiation Protection at the Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, USA. He is President, International Organization for Medical Physics (2018-2021). He was earlier Radiation Safety Specialist at the International Atomic Energy Agency for 11 years and prior to that Professor and Head of Medical Physics at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India. Dr. Rehani is a Member, International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP). He is author of 8 Annals of ICRP, 4 of which as Chair of the Task Group. He is Senior editor BJR, Assoc Editor Medical Physics. He has more than 155 publications, has written 39 chapters in Books and has edited 5 books. He has published papers in high impact factor journals e.g. JAMA Intern Med, Br Med J, Eur Heart J, Cardiovascular Imaging, Am J Gastroenterol, Circulation J, The Lancet.
Dr Ibrahim Duhaini is the chief medical physicist and radiation safety officer at Rafik Hariri University Hospital since 2004. He is also a Medical Physics instructor at the Lebanese University. Ibrahim has won several awards in recent years in the field of Medical Physics: The International Day of Medical Physics Award in 2015, the International Organization of Medical Physics Presidential Award in 2016, the International Organization of Medical Physics Fellow Award (FIOMP) in 2017, and the Lebanese University Pioneer Award in 2018.
Ibrahim was a founding member of the Middle East Federation of Organizations of Medical Physics (MEFOMP) and was elected President for two terms (2009-2015). Currently he is the Treasurer of the International Organization of Medical Physics (IOMP) for the term 2018-2021. Also, he serves as the IDMP Coordinator.
Ibrahim has more than 20 years of experience in the field of radiation therapy and safety and is Board Certified by the International Medical Physics Certification Board (IMPCB) in 2018.
Dr. Ad J.J. Maas is chair of EFOMP’s Professional Matters committee and member of the EFOMP Board of Officers since 2018. He is a member of a Medical Ethics and Research Committee in the Netherlands and a member of EU Expert Panels on Medical Devices and In Vitro Diagnostic Devices.
Mohammad Hassan KHARITA, PhD in Radiation Dosimetry MEFOMP Secretary General since 2018 Director of Radiation Safety – Hamad Medical Corporation – Qatar Medical physicist specialized in Diagnostic Radiology and Health Physics
Sandra Guzman is a doctor in Medical Physics from the University of Sao Paulo-Brazil, President of the Latin American Association of Medical Physics (2019-2022), President of the Peruvian Society of Medical Physics (2008-2016), President of the Cusco 2010 organizing committee (Latin American Congress of Medical Physics), organizer of national events, university professor and clinical medical physicist in Radiotherapy with more than 18 years of experience. Winner of the IOMP award (IDMP 2016 Award) and recognition from the AAPM-2017.
Dr. Taofeeq Ige is the pioneer Secretary-General of the Federation of African Medical Physics Organization (FAMPO) and currently the President. He serves as committee member of the IOMP (Awards and Honours) and also the Health Technology Task Group of the International Union of Physical and Engineering Sciences in Medicine (HTTG-IUPESM).
Dr. Arun Chougule is the Senior Professor and Head Radiological Physics, SMS Medical College, Jaipur with 36 years of professional and teaching experience, Ex. Pro Vice Chancellor, RUHS Dean Faculty of Paramedical Science. Immediate Past President of AMPI and current President of AFOMP and Chair ETC of IOMP. Publications over 110 and more than 300 presentations. Research interest- radiation biology, experimental dosimetry, radiation safety, QA-QC. Awarded with IOMP-IDMP 2016, AFOMP Member Excellent Presentation Awards, Outstanding Faculty award 2019 SMS Medical College, Dr. Farukh Abdulla Sher – e- Kashmir best researcher award, AFOMP outstanding Medical physicists 2020.
Dr. rer.nat. Freddy Haryanto is president of SEAFOMP since 2019. He is lecturer on Physics Department of Institut Teknologi Bandung, Indonesia. He is specialized on Monte Carlo simulation for Radiotherapy. He has interest also in small field dosimetry.
e-Learning in Medical Physics Education – How much, When and How – A Reflection After 20 Years Experience
Thursday, October 15, 2020
Moderator: Prof. Arun Chougule
Speaker:
Prof. Slavik Tabakov, PhD, Dr.h.c, FIPEM, FHEA, FIOMP
Vice-President IUPESM, Past-President IOMP
King’s College London, UK
Prof Slavik Tabakov, FIPEM, FHEA, FIOMP is the current Vice-President of the International Union for Physical and Engineering Sciences in Medicine (IUPESM – the Union of IOMP and IFMBE), which has some 150,000 members worldwide. Prof. Tabakov was also President of the International Organization for Medical Physics (IOMP) from 2015 to 2018. He is an active contributor to the international development of medical physics for over 30 years. Prof Tabakov was born in Plovdiv, Bulgaria and graduated at Technical University Sofia. He has been trained and specialised in X-ray Diagnostic Radiology Physics and Engineering in USA, France and Germany.He started his career at Medical University Plovdiv, where he habilitated in 1990. Since 1991 he works at King’s College Hospital and King’s College London, UK, where he is the Founding Director of MSc Clinical Sciences (Medical Physics), MSc Clinical Sciences (Clinical Engineering), and MSc Medical Engineering and Physics. He is also Co-Director of the International College on Medical Physics at ICTP, Trieste, Italy. Prof Tabakov has led 7 international projects, which developed the first e-learning in medical physics, the first educational website in the profession, the first Medical Physics Dictionary (translated to 31 languages) and the first e-Encyclopaedia of Medical Physics (www.emitel2.eu). Prof Tabakov is Founding Co-Editor in Chief of the IOMP Journal Medical Physics International. He has Chaired the Education and Training Committees of IOMP, IFMBE and IUPESM and has advised the development of 15 MSc courses in various countries. Among his many awards are the King’s College London Teaching Excellence Award, the EU Award for Education – the Leonardo Da Vinci Award, the Honorary membership of the Indian Association of Medical Physics, the IOMP Harold Johns Medal for Excellence in Teaching and International Education Leadership.
The following websites, presented at the Webinar, and maintained by Prof. Slavik Tabakov, include e-materials related to medical physics education and e-learning:
e-books: http://www.emerald2.eu/mep_index.html
Emerald e-learning materials: http://www.emerald2.eu/cd/Emerald2/
e-Dictionary and e-Encyclopaedia of Medical Physics: www.emitel2.eu
IOMP Journal Medical Physics International: www.mpijournal.org
Effective dose: Thriving or dying?
Tuesday, 6th October 2020, Time: 12 noon -1:00 pm GMT
Organizer & moderator: Prof. Madan Rehani, President, IOMP
Speaker 1: Colin Martin on Effective dose in Medicine
Speaker 2: Madan Rehani: Effective dose: Is it poor man’s cake?
Panel discussion “Is Effective dose thriving or dying?”: Colin Martin and Madan Rehani
Dr Colin Martin worked as a hospital-based Medical Physicist in Radiation Protection in Glasgow and Aberdeen, Scotland for over 30 years. He has now retired from the NHS but is an honorary senior lecturer for the University of Glasgow. Colin is Vice-Chairman of ICRP Committee 3 (Protection in Medicine), and a member of several ICRP Task groups, including TG79 on the use of dose quantities in radiation protection. He is a member of various IAEA committees, UK and EU working parties, and COMARE, which advises the UK government on medical uses of radiation. His research interests include radiation protection, diagnostic radiology, radiation dosimetry, and non-ionising physics. He has co-authored/edited several textbooks on radiation protection, written over 200 articles including 140 papers in peer reviewed scientific journals. Colin is a member of Editorial Boards for the Journal of Radiological Protection and Radiation Protection Dosimetry.
Dr. Madan M. Rehani is Director, Global Outreach for Radiation Protection at the Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, USA. He is President, International Organization for Medical Physics (2018-2021). He was earlier Radiation Safety Specialist at the International Atomic Energy Agency for 11 years and prior to that Professor and Head of Medical Physics at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India. Dr. Rehani is a Member, International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP). He is author of 8 Annals of ICRP, 4 of which as Chair of the Task Group. He is Senior editor BJR, Assoc Editor Medical Physics. He has more than 155 publications, has written 39 chapters in Books and has edited 5 books. He has published papers in high impact factor journals e.g. JAMA Intern Med, Br Med J, Eur Heart J, Cardiovascular Imaging, Am J Gastroenterol, Circulation J, The Lancet.
Proton Facility Shielding: Regulatory and Design Aspects
Wednesday, September 23; Time: 1:00 – 2:00 GMT
Organizer: Prof. Madan Rehani, President, IOMP
Moderator: Prof. Geoffrey Ibbott, Chair Science Committee, IOMP
Speakers:
Katja Maria Langen: Proton Therapy Shielding – Regulatory Aspects
Katja Maria Langen is Professor and Associate Director of Medical Physics at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. She received the equivalent of a B.S. in health physics from the Berufsakademie Karlsruhe, and both an M.S. and a Ph.D. in medical physics from the University of Wisconsin. After conducting clinical and research training, Dr. Langan took a position at the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Orlando and was in charge of planning for a proton facility. From there, she moved to the University of Maryland Proton Treatment Center, before taking her current position. Among other publications and committee responsibilities, she recently contributed to an IAEA project on Staffing and Training Requirements for a First Proton Facility.
Nisy Elizabeth Ipe: Proton Therapy Shielding – Physics and Design Considerations
Nisy Elizabeth Ipe is a consulting radiation physicist in shielding design. She has a Ph.D. from Purdue University. Previously she was the Head of the Radiation Physics Department at SLAC National Laboratory, Stanford, California. She has 35 years of experience in shielding design and has shielded many proton therapy facilities. She has written 3 book chapters on proton therapy shielding. She was the Task Group Chair for PTCOG Report 1: Shielding and Radiation Safety for Charged Particle Therapy Facilities; and a consultant on NCRP Report 151. She has given invited talks at various national and international schools, workshops and conferences (ACMP, SEAAPM, AAPM, HPS, PTCCOG, SATIF, etc.)
09 September 2020, 12 noon- 1:00 GMT
Organizer: Prof. Madan Rehani, President, IOMP
Moderator: Prof. Eva Bezak, Secretary General, IOMP
Speakers
Iuliana Toma-Dasu: Biomarkers for hypoxia and proliferation: from imaging to outcome prediction
Iuliana Toma-Dasu is Professor in Medical Radiation Physics and the Head of the Medical Radiation Physics division at the Department of Physics, Stockholm University, affiliated to the Department of Oncology and Pathology at Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, Sweden. Iuliana Toma-Dasu studied Medical Physics at Umeå University, Sweden, where she also became a certified medical physicist and received a Ph.D. degree. In parallel with her involvement in the educational program for the medical physicists run at Stockholm University, her main research interests focus on biologically optimised adaptive radiation therapy, including particle therapy, modelling the tumour microenvironment and the risks from radiotherapy.
Loredana G. Marcu: Biomarkers for cancer stem cells: from imaging to outcome prediction
Loredana G. Marcu is Professor of Medical Physics at the University of Oradea, Romania and Adjunct Professor at School of Health Sciences, University of South Australia. She is a radiotherapy medical physicist, being educated and trained in Adelaide, South Australia. Her current research interests cover in silico modelling of tumour growth and response to treatment, radiobiology, targeted therapies, and the risk of second cancer after radiotherapy. She has published 15 books/book chapters on physics, radiotherapy and radiobiology and over 100 scientific papers. Loredana Marcu is involved in several professional activities within EFOMP and IUPESM.
17 August 2020, 12 noon- 1:00 GMT
The importance of certification and accreditation in medical physics
Speaker: Prof. Colin G. Orton, Ph.D.
Professor Emeritus
Wayne State University
USA
Moderator: Prof. Arun Chougule
IOMP School webinar Organiser
Senior Professor & Head
Department of radiological Physics, SMS Medical College & hospitals, JAIPUR, INDIA
4 August 2020, 12 noon- 1:00 GMT
Organizer: Prof. Madan Rehani, President, IOMP
Moderator: Prof. Eva Bezak, Secretary General, IOMP
Speakers:
Engaging medical professionals, physicists, engineers, and biologists in medical machine learning projects: experience from the Australian Institute for Machine Learning
Dr Johan Verjans
Cardiologist
Royal Adelaide Hospital and Deputy director
Medical Machine Learning
Australian Institute for Machine Learning
Adelaide
Expanding Quantitative Medicine through AI and Automation.
Dr Price Jackson
Senior Medical Physicist
Peter McCallum Cancer Centre
Melbourne
AI in clinical trials
A/Prof Lois Holloway
Research Medical Physicist
Ingham Institute for Applied Medical Research
Sydney
Panel discussion: Speakers + Dr Sykes
Dr Jonathan Sykes
Lead Radiation Oncology Medical Physicist – Research
Sydney West Cancer Network
Sydney
15 June 2020, 12 noon- 1:00 GMT
Topic: Physics aspect of Clinical implementation of MR- Linac
Speaker:
Prof. K.Y. Cheung
Senior Medical Physicist, Medical Physics and Research Department
Hong Kong Sanatorium & Hospital, Hong Kong
Moderator:
Prof. Arun Chougule
IOMP School webinar Organiser
Senior Professor & Head
Department of radiological Physics
SMS Medical College & hospitals, JAIPUR, INDIA
Understanding the limitations of current CT dosimetry and the way forward
Monday, July 20
Time: 12 noon -1:00 GMT
Organizer: Prof. Arun Chougule
IOMP School webinar Organiser
Senior Professor & Head
Department of radiological Physics
SMS Medical College & hospitals, JAIPUR, INDIA
Speaker: Prof. John Damilakis
Chairman, Department of Medical Physics
School of Medicine
University of Crete, Iraklion, Crete, Greece
Moderator: Prof. Eva Bezak
Professor of Medical Radiation
University of South Australia
Adelaide, Australia
Prof. John Damilakis, PhD
John Damilakis is professor and chairman at the Department of Medical Physics, School of Medicine, University of Crete and director of the Department of Medical Physics of the University Hospital of Heraklion, Crete, Greece. He is Vice President and President-elect of the ‘International Organization for Medical Physics’ (IOMP), Immediate Past President of the ‘European Alliance for Medical Radiation Protection Research’ (EURAMED), Past President of the ‘European Federation of Organizations for Medical Physics’ (EFOMP) and Past President of the ‘Hellenic Association of Medical Physics’. Prof. Damilakis is a member of 2 ICRP Task Groups (TG 108 and TG 109) and member of the steering committee of the ‘EuroSafe Imaging’ of the ESR. He is coordinator or an active research member of several European and national projects. As a Visiting Professor he has given lectures on dosimetry and radiation protection in Boston University, USA. His publications have been focused on medical radiation protection and dosimetry. He is editor of 2 books published by the IOP Publishing and Springer-Verlag and co-author of 2 chapters in books published by Springer and Academic Press. Number of publications in PubMed: 213, h-index 45 (Google Scholar). Many of these publications are in leading journals such as Medical Physics, Physics in Medicine and Biology, Radiology, Investigative Radiology and European Radiology. John Damilakis has given more than 300 invited presentations in national and international conferences including ECR, RSNA, AAPM, IAEA, ICRP, IOMP and EFOMP meetings. He has received 10 awards for his work.
9 July 2020, 12 noon – 1:00 GMT
Webinar Topics:
What is radiomics? What is its relationship to machine learning and deep learning? Arman Rahmin, UBC, Vancouver, Canada
Potential value and pitfalls of machine learning for radiomics applications by Mathieu Hatt, INSERM, France
Organizer: Prof. Madan Rehani, President, IOMP
Speakers:
Arman Rahmin, UBC, Vancouver, Canada
Arman Rahmin is Associate Professor of Radiology and Physics at the University of British Columbia (UBC), as well as Senior Scientist and Provincial Medical Imaging Physicist at BC Cancer, Vancouver, Canada. He received his PhD in medical imaging physics at UBC. Following doctoral studies, he was recruited by Johns Hopkins University (JHU) to lead the high-resolution brain PET imaging physics program and to pursue research at the JHU Department of Radiology. In 2018, he was recruited back to Vancouver, where he leads the provincial molecular imaging and therapy physics program and his lab (rahmimlab.com) pursues research in tomographic image generation and analysis. He has published a book, over 130 journal articles and 280 conference proceeding papers/abstracts, and delivered more than 90 invited lectures worldwide. He was president (2018-2019) of the Physics, Instrumentation and Data Sciences (PIDS) Council of the Society of Nuclear Medicine & Molecular Imaging (SNMMI), and was awarded the John S. Laughlin Young Scientist Award by the American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM) in 2016
Mathieu Hatt, INSERM, France
Mathieu Hatt is a computer scientist. He received his PhD in 2008 and his habilitation to supervise research in 2012. His main skills and expertise lie in radiomics, from automated image segmentation to features extraction, as well as machine (deep) learning methods, for PET/CT, MRI and CT modalities. He is an elected member of the EANM physics committee, the SNMMI physics, data science and instrumentation council board of directors, and the IEEE nuclear medical and imaging sciences council.
23 June 2020, 12 noon- 1:00 GMT
Topic: Artificial Intelligence in Medical Physics and Medicine: Challenges and Opportunities
Moderator:
Prof. Madan Rehani, President, IOMP
Speaker:
Prof. Steve Jiang, Ph.D.
Vice Chair, Department of Radiation Oncology;
Director, Division of Medical Physics and Engineering
University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
USA