International Masterclasses – Particle Therapy

On 31 March 2023 there will be the third edition of the “International Masterclasses – Particle Therapy”, a training event promoted by the IPPOG (International Particle Physics Outreach Group) on the model of the International Masterclasses in Particle Physics.
The aim of this Masterclass is to bring students closer to physics applications to medicine through the treatment of cancer using conventional radiotherapy and hadrontherapy and to show them the importance of fundamental research and its direct impact on society. This branch of science uses the knowledge acquired on the properties of particles, the techniques to accelerate them and the mechanisms of interaction with matter, applying them to human health.
The event carried out in 2021 by the two pilot INFN Section of INFN of Milan and the Physics Department of the University of Milan and by the connected group of the INFN of Frascati in Cosenza and the University of Cosenza met with great interest and over the years it has expanded to include other INFN sections in collaboration with the respective universities.
In Milan, the initiative will involve 20 students of the last year of secondary school of selected schools of the Lombardy Region, who will be welcomed at the Calculus Laboratory of the Department of Physics of UNIMI.
In the morning the students will attend the introductory seminars and a virtual visit of the Adrotherapy Center – CNAO of Pavia,
In the afternoon they will be involved, under the supervision of students of the Health Physics Path as tutors, in the creation of a treatment plan according to traditional radiotherapy with photon beams and hadrontherapy, using the professional research software, matRad, developed by the German Cancer Research Center DKFZ in Heidelberg, Germany and adapted to this experience.
The day will end with the meeting at CERN of all the students of the other Institutes and / or Universities of the different foreign countries where the event takes place simultaneously.
You will find more details at the link:

  https://agenda.infn.it/event/29919/

The activity carried out by students during the “Particle Therapy MasterClasses 2023” event can be recognized among those of the PCTO, for a number of hours equal to eight.