National and international experts discuss new challenges in medical physics in the battle against cancer

The Faculty of Medicine of the University of Coimbra (FMUC) will host the conference "New Challenges in Medical Physics" on the 12th and 13th of December, promoted by the UT Austin Portugal Programme. The event will bring together more than 150 national and international experts, including researchers from the MD Anderson Cancer Center (MDACC) - University of Texas - a renowned research centre in the field of cancer. MDACC uses innovative techniques such as proton therapy.

The main objective of the event - with the scientific coordination of FMUC, iCBR and CIMAGO (two FMUC research centres) - is to bring together medical doctors, engineers, biomedical scientists, physicians, nurses, medical imaging and radiotherapy technicians, researchers and students in these fields to discuss new challenges in medical physics and to identify new opportunities for collaboration between MDACC and Portuguese research centres conducting research in the field of cancer. Maria Filomena Botelho, Full Professor and FMUC Professor, highlights: "Besides Portuguese researchers, there will also be researchers from MD Anderson Cancer Center and German Cancer Research Center to discuss current trends and promote knowledge exchange in medical physics, namely innovative approaches in radiotherapy, radionuclides and proton therapies".

Registration is open until 6 December: https://forms.gle/THQYcA4ExBahVCJr7. The full programme is available at https://utaustinportugal.org/events/new-challenges-in-medical-physics/.

The UT Austin Portugal programme started in 2007 (and has been renewed until 2030) and is a partnership between the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology and UT Austin, funded by the Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education.

Medical Physics is one of the five areas of the UT Austin Portugal Programme, which aims to establish joint partnerships between the UT Austin Medical School, Cockrell School of Engineering, UT MD Anderson Cancer Center and Portuguese research centres in the field of oncological therapies using radiation, including protons. In line with the national strategy for

In line with the National Strategy for the Development of High Energy Particle Therapies for Cancer Treatment, this initiative aims to improve the training of cancer radiology specialists.

^{Translation by Diana Taborda}