Workshops in Chile 2022

In November and December 2022, there are several workshops taking place in Santiago de Chile. The courses are jointly organised with our partners in Chile as part of our long-lasting cooperation:

• Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, Santiago de Chile (UC)
• Clínica Alemana in Santiago de Chile (CAS)

The scientific workshops at UC and CAS aim at different topics providing current knowledge in research areas by national and international speakers from Europe and Chile.

All three courses are hosted under the auspices of the Heidelberg Institute of Radiation Oncology (HIRO) in close cooperation with our partners.

The scientific workshop about "Emerging Techniques in Radiotherapy" focuses on the latest developments and techniques in the field of radiotherapy such as FLASH, Mini Beam Radiotherapy or Hadron Therapy. Our international speakers from Germany (Heidelberg), France (Paris), Italy (Roma) and Chile (Santiago de Chile) are experts in their field and provide comprehensive and in-depth insights into their research topics.

The workshop is scheduled as a hybrid event. Thus, participants can decide to attend on-site at the Heidelberg Center Latin America in Santiago de Chile (HCLA) or online via Zoom.

Hosts: German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) & Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, Santiago de Chile (UC)

Dates: Tue. Nov. 29th - Wed. Nov. 30th 2022 (Please note that all times are given for Chile! The time difference is 4 hours. E.g. 9 a.m. in Chile correspond to 1 p.m. in Germany/CET!)

Mode: hybrid event with online access via Zoom and on-site participation in Chile

Venue: Heidelberg Center Latin America (HCLA), Santiago de Chile (Google Maps)

Language of talks: English

Registration is closed! All registered online participants will get the URL to the Zoom Webinar on Monday, Nov. 28th 2022 (at least until 6pm CET in Germany or 2pm Chilean time). All registered on-site participants are asked to register at the HCLA on Tuesday, Nov. 29th 2022 between 9.00 - 9.30am (Chilean time) as indicated on the program.

During the morning session (part 1) we will focus on matRad. MatRad is an open source dose calculation and treatment planning toolkit written in Matlab. We will start using matRad's graphical user interface (GUI) to understand differences in treatment planning with photons, protons and ions. We will then use matRad to examine computational details, like basic data structures and algorithms used in dose calculation and treatment plan optimisation. Finally, we will script our own plan comparison study within Matlab or Octave.

Speakers: Dr. Niklas Wahl (Research Group Leader) & Dr. Amit Ben Anthony Bennan (Postdoctoral Researcher), both: German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany

The 2nd part during the afternoon focusses on AI. The aim of this hands-on session is to build a Deep Learning algorithm capable of generating the distribution of absorbed dose by a medium of a simple geometry interacting with a given particle beam. Such an algorithm may provide a faster alternative to a Monte Carlo (MC) simulation, which are currently employed in the optimisation process of radiotherapy treatment (RT) planning.

To reach our goals, we will train a generative Neural Network architecture, that is already adopted in the generation of images, text and sound, to emulate a dose distribution in a homogeneous material conditioned to the beam energy.

Speaker: Dr. Andrea Ciardiello (Postdoctoral Reseacher), Italian National Institute for Nuclear Physics (Istituto Nationale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN) - sezione di Roma)

Host: Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, Santiago de Chile (UC) & German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ)

Date: Thu. Dec. 01st 2022, 9am - 12.30pm (part 1) & 1.30 - 5pm (part 2)

Mode: on-site workshop

Venue: Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile (UC), Campus San Joaquín (Google Maps)

Language: English

Registration is closed!

Each day of our scientific workshops focuses on a different topic. On the first day, the status quo and perspectives in the field of Radiotherapy will be discussed, followed by the topic Imaging for Radiotherapy on day 2. The second day will be concluded by Proton Therapy - Is there a need for Latin America?.

The third day continues with a scientific workshop on Radiobiology and a scientific overview on CAR T Cells. The last day provides an overview on FLASH and Micro beams.

Our international speakers are from Europe (Germany, Switzerland, France) and Chile to provide a wide range of expertise in the respective areas.

 Hosts: German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) & Clínica Alemana Santiago de Chile (CAS)

Dates: Thu. Dec. 01st - Fri. Dec. 02nd 2022 & Mon. Dec. 05th - Tue. Dec. 06th 2022 (Please note that all times are given for Chile! The time difference is 4 hours. E.g. 9 a.m. in Chile correspond to 1 p.m. in Germany/CET!)

Mode: hybrid event with online access via Zoom and on-site participation in Chile. But please note: the first day (Dec. 01st 2022) is hosted online only!

Venue: Auditorium at Clínica Alemana La Dehesa, Av. José Alcalde Délano #12205, La Dehesa, Lo Barnechea, Santiago de Chile (Google Maps)

Language of talks: English (with simultaneous translation into Spanish)

Please feel free to contact us by email to medphyschile@dkfz-heidelberg.de if you have any further questions.

Organising Team

Anna Moshanina, Dr. Simone Barthold-Beß, Marcel Schäfer
Division of Medical Physics in Radiation Oncology

German Cancer Research Center
Im Neuenheimer Feld 280
DE-69120 Heidelberg, Germany