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The Particle Therapy Cooperative Group early-career-researchers (PTCOG-ECR) is a youthful subcommittee within the PTCOG organisation. The subcommittee was inaugurated in June 2023 during the sixty-first PTCOG conference, which took place in Madrid, Spain. The PTCOG-ECR group is a community of early-career scientists that serves as a platform to represent the interests and concerns of emerging researchers and practitioners within PTCOG. It includes PhD students, postgraduate and postdoctoral researchers, trainee medical physicists and physicians, residents, and early-career scientists.
Interview with the PTCOG-ECR subcommittee chairs, Bethany Rothwell, Gabriele Parisi, and Giorgio Cartechini
How is the PTCOG-ECR subcommittee organised?
The PTCOG-ECR subcommittee, as with other PTCOG subcommittees, has three co-chairs. These are elected yearly during the general subcommittee meeting at the annual PTCOG conference.
We have set up a subgroup of ECR members, the operative group. The first group has been formed to start the engine of this great community. It will be reformed annually at the PTCOG conference and it will meet regularly during the year to organise, decide on, and come up with ideas for activities related to the ECR.
The whole ECR subcommittee is engaged with the members through tools such as polls, newsletters and feedback forms, which enables a constant flow of ideas and suggestions. This back-and-forth communication between the operative group and the wider community ensures that everyone is involved and has a say in the decisions and projects of the PTCOG-ECR subcommittee.
How can I join the PTCOG-ECR community?
If you are interested in the PTCOG-ECR activities, please join us! (https://forms.gle/Y3FJXEKHCdd2ahWp7)
By becoming a member of the ECR subcommittee, you will have the opportunity to propose your ideas and to participate in activities that contribute towards shaping the future of particle therapy, while benefiting from a supportive network of peers.
How can I actively contribute as a PTCOG-ECR member?
If you have ideas, suggestions and collaboration opportunities, please let us know using the PTCOG-ECR new ideas form (https://forms.gle/bciR3p6uY1cTtYqP8).
New ideas are reviewed by the operative group and discussed during its periodic meetings. During the year, the operative group will propose polls and Google forms to keep the ECR community involved in the decisions of the subcommittee.
Further, a Slack channel has been established for facilitating exchange in the ECR community and to allow a quick feedback between operative group and the wider committee. A link to join the channel will be sent following the registration to the subcommittee.
What are the next plans of the PTCOG-ECR subcommittee?
These are some upcoming initiatives:
- Newsletter Don't worry, it won’t be another standard bulletin email. We want to tailor the contents of the newsletter to the needs of ECR members (new scientific insights on radiation therapy, job opportunities, and upcoming subcommittee events).
- Collaborations with yESTRO and other young scientist groups We are excited to collaborate with yESTRO and other young scientist groups to foster cross-disciplinary interactions and knowledge exchange within the field of radiation therapy.
- PTCOG-ECR at PTCOG-62 We plan to organise several activities at the sixty-second PTCOG conference, which will be held in Singapore (June 10-15, 2024). These will include a plenary session entirely organised by the subcommittee on the “Open Science” topic, mentoring events,and social activities to meet and involve all ECRs.
- PTCOG-ECR webinars We plan also to host a series of online sessions throughout the year focused on topics of interest to ECRs in radiation therapy.
For anyone interested in taking a more active role in the PTCOG-ECR and shaping the future of the subcommittee, ECR members will have the opportunity to join the operative group for its upcoming term in 2024. Keep a lookout for further updates!
Looking forward to welcoming you aboard;
the subcommittee chairs and the rest of the operative group.
Bethany Rothwell, PhD
Massachusetts General Hospital & Harvard Medical School, USA
brothwell1@mgh.harvard.edu
Gabriele Parisi, PhD
University of Pavia, Italy, & Institut de Radioprotection et de Sûreté Nucléaire, France
gabriele.parisi@unipv.it
Giorgio Cartechini, PhD
University of Miami, USA
giorgio.cartechini@miami.edu
2023/2024 Operative Group
Elena Fogazzi
University of Trento, Italy
fogazzi.elena@gmail.com
Gaia Franciosini
Sapienza University of Rome, Italy
gaia.franciosini@uniroma1.it
Hannah Cook
National Physics Laboratory, UK
hannah.cook@npl.co.uk
Isabella Colizzi
Paul Scherrer Institute, Switzerland
isabella.colizzi@psi.ch
Jeremy Khong
The Christie NHS Foundation Trust, UK
jeremy.khong@nhs.net
Nadine Vatterodt
Danish Center for Particle Therapy, Denmark
nadine.vatterodt@rm.dk
Anastasiia Quarz
GSI & TU Darmstadt, Germany
a.quarz@gsi.de
Valeria Pascali
University of Pavia, Italy
valeria.pascali01@universitadipavia.it
Daniel Ebner
Mayo Clinic
Ebner.Daniel@mayo.edu
Marco Battestini
University of Trento, Italy
marco.battestini@unitn.it