Emmanuel van der Schueren Award
Saturday 3 May | 14:15-14:40 | Plenary Hall
Interview with Dirk Verellen recipient of Emmanuel van der Schueren Award
Dirk Verellen - Iridium Netwerk (ZAS) / Antwerp University, Antwerp, Belgium
What have been the highlights of your career?
It’s been a journey with a continuous succession of highlights and surprises, I enjoyed every step of the way, and the greatest part? It’s a never-ending journey. As Churchill once said: “Every day you may make progress. Every step may be fruitful. Yet there will stretch out before you an ever-lengthening, ever-ascending, ever-improving path. You know you will never get to the end of the journey. But this, so far from discouraging, only adds to the joy and glory of the climb.” Being trained in solid state physics, stumbling into medical physics by sheer luck, I was immediately captivated by the idea that as a physicist I could make a real difference for patients fighting cancer. What fascinated me even more was the realization that it's not just the technology and science but the collaborative efforts across different disciplines that truly make a difference. So, the highlight you ask? The team spirit!
What is your next challenge?
In a way, my professional career can be split into 2 distinct periods. At the UZ Brussel the focus was on being early adopters, pioneering and exploring new concepts and technologies. For a medical physicist this was a true playground. We had to figure out solutions ourselves as there were no textbooks or guidelines to guide us, and we had to reach out to colleagues all over the world that were trying to figure out the same challenges. At that time, we were exploring dedicated solutions that could help a specific group of patients. Arriving in the Iridium Network in Antwerp, being the only radiotherapy provider of the region, the challenge shifted into creating an environment where every patient should have access to state-of-the-art radiation oncology (very much like the ESTRO vision). So, automation and standardization became the focus. Our next step along this amazing journey, is to create automated workflows that can adapt to the individual needs of the patient within a context of a healthcare under pressure.
What do you think are the next challenges in your field?
Quality assurance and patient safety have always been in the centre of our developments. With the increased automation and rapid uptake of artificial intelligence we need to revisit these concepts.
What does the award mean to you?
ESTRO has always been a driving force, a facilitator, in my career. Both the networking and collaboration, but also the ESTRO school are pivotal in the progress of our discipline. Manu Van der Schueren as one of the founding fathers of ESTRO embodies these principles. As such, being recognized by my peers with this award, gives me a warm and grateful feeling that is difficult to describe in words.
What has been your involvement within ESTRO?
Motivating young people has always been one of my greatest joys and the ESTRO school offered the perfect opportunity. My journey as active member began in 2005 with an invitation to chair the pre-meeting IGRT workshop, which immediately evolved into a full course due to its success. After that there were the IMRT course, the SBRT course and Upper-GI, not to mention all the teaching lectures at the annual meetings (often the morning after the social event …). Chairing the 10th Biennial ESTRO Meeting on Physics and Radiation Technology for Clinical Radiotherapy (Maastricht, 2009) and being member in several scientific advisory groups have been extremely valuable experiences. It has also been a privilege to dedicate some of my free time to serve the organization, being member of the physics committee, ROSQC and the board. The latter as membership officer and treasurer. I am also proud with our initiative of the Physics Workshops, where we foster collaboration and networking. What sets ESTRO apart is its embodiment of the team involved in radiation oncology. This collaborative approach is unique, and something we should wholeheartedly embrace and safeguard. ESTRO transcends mere professional networking; it has woven a tapestry of relationships that extend beyond the confines of work. Many of the colleagues I've had the pleasure of meeting through ESTRO have become close friends, turning it into a second family.
To whom would you like to dedicate your award?
First, Chris my partner, this is as much my award as hers. But also, our patients of course. Then there are all the radiation oncology team members that accompanied me on this spectacular journey, my “compagnons de route.” After all, everything we accomplish is a team effort. Last but not least, there is one particular person who pushed me to where I am now and that is Prof Dr Guy Storme. He did not only offer me the possibility to grow beyond my own expectations, but he is also a true coach and mentor.