FRPT2021: International conference as stakeholder meeting of the UHDpulse EMPIR project

The international FLASH Radiotherapy & Particle Therapy (FRPT2021) conference was held at the end of 2021. The conference was organized by the partners of the UHDpulse EMPIR project, which was coordinated by PTB, together with the partners of the EU project titled INSPIRE. This made it a joint stakeholder workshop for both projects. Over 700 participants from more than 40 countries were gathered at the meeting. The partners of the UHDpulse EMPIR project contributed to the conference with 25 oral presentations and nine posters. Doing this helped the findings on dosimetry for FLASH radiotherapy gained during the project to be disseminated within the target group.

The international FLASH Radiotherapy & Particle Therapy (FRPT2021) conference took place from 1 to 3 December 2021. It was organized by the partners of the UHDpulse EMPIR project (http://uhdpulse-empir.eu/) [2], CHUV, PTB and Institut Curie, together with the partners of the EU project titled INSPIRE (https://protonsinspire.eu/), the University of Manchester and the Christie Hospital. This event was a joint stakeholder workshop of the two EU‑funded projects. The conference was originally to take place at the Austria Center in Vienna, but was eventually organized only virtually after the Austrian border was closed due to the COVID‑19 restrictions just one week before the meeting was due to take place.

The aim of the FRPT2021 conference was to support the gathering of an international community of scientists and experts interested in FLASH radiotherapy using protons, electrons, heavy ions and photons. The leading suppliers of irradiation facilities and dosimetry equipment sponsored the event. FRPT2021 brought researchers and students together with clinical oncology experts and provided a multidisciplinary platform to discuss the latest progress achieved in this rapidly developing field.

Over 700 participants from more than 40 countries were gathered at the meeting. The interest and expert knowledge of the participants ranged from physics, modelling and chemistry to biology and medicine, which gave rise to intensive and wide‑ranging discussions and scientific exchanges. The dimensions of the meeting and the detailed discussions reflected the enormous ongoing interest in FLASH as well as the vitality of the subject in research and clinical radiotherapy.

The partners of the UHDpulse EMPIR project contributed to the conference with 25 oral presentations and nine posters. This helped to effectively disseminate the findings gained during the project within the target group. All abstracts were published in Physica Medica. In addition, an FRPT2021 special issue was published in Physica Medica (https://www.physicamedica.com/flash) with a selection of publications on FLASH technology and dosimetry supported by six publications of the UHDpulse partners.

Due to the great success of the first FRPT conference, the conference organizer Kenes is planning to organize FRPT on an annual basis. FRPT2022 took place in Barcelona from 30 November until 2 December 2022, and  FRPT2023 has been scheduled to take place in Toronto from 5 until 7 December 2023.

Contact

A. Schüller, Department 6.2, Working Group 6.21