The European Alliance for Medical Radiation Protection Research (EURAMED) - PDF Version

 

     

 

Introduction

The European Alliance for Medical Radiation Protection Research (EURAMED) was established in 2017 to overcome the fragmented nature of research into protection from medical radiation in Europe and to develop joint research strategies and projects. The umbrella organisation aims to be a single, unified voice that sets and leads a shared research agenda. EURAMED is a non-profit organisation that is registered in Austria.

What are the five founder medical organisations?

The five founder medical associations that established EURAMED are: the European Association of Nuclear Medicine (EANM), the European Federation of Organisations for Medical Physics (EFOMP), the European Federation of Radiographer Societies (EFRS), the European Society of Radiology (ESR) and the European SocieTy for Radiology and Oncology (ESTRO).

Is there a need for another radiation protection platform?

Yes, because without a united voice there is a risk that the needs of the ESTRO community are not well addressed. EURAMED is a member of the MEENAS umbrella group (a consortium of European radiation research platforms) that brings together all existing radiation protection platforms (EURAMED along with the multidisciplinary European low dose initiative (MELODI), the European radiation dosimetry group (EURADOS), the nuclear and radiological emergency response and recovery group (NERIS), the European radioecology alliance (ALLIANCE) and the social sciences and humanities ionising radiation research group (SHARE). This consortium aims to shape the European research landscape in radiation protection through interaction with the European Commission and consolidation of radiation protection research in Europe. EURAMED brings a united voice from the medical community to influence future funding direction.

How does EURAMED complement ESTRO?

EURAMED promotes research and teaching as it publishes scientific and professional information and it has set a strategic research agenda (SRA) in radiation protection. EURAMED can push ESTRO’s strategic objectives in radiation protection research while it benefits from the expertise that is available across the founding organisations. Working together and with the other founder organisations, we have a strong voice that can ensure that the European Commission funds the research we need.

Any achievements so far?

When the five medical societies joined forces, they agreed that collaboration to develop a SRA was necessary. The first edition of the EURAMED SRA for medical radiation protection was approved by the boards of the five societies in November 2015 and published in July 2016 (https://www.euramed.eu/strategic-research-agenda/). EURAMED drafted a first roadmap for the medical field and built on that by obtaining funding from the European atomic energy community EURATOM for its EURAMED rocc-n-roll project under the EURATOM6 Horizon 2020 scheme.

What is the EURAMED ROCC-N-ROLL project?

The three-year EURAMED rocc-n-roll project started on 1 September 2020. The project provides the resources to develop a framework to integrate and coordinate medical radiation protection research based on stakeholder consensus. ESTRO has a seat on the advisory board and radiotherapy expertise is represented among the participating research centres and universities.

What research areas does EURAMED consider most important?

• Measurement and quantification in the field of medical applications of ionising radiation;
• Normal tissue reactions, radiation-induced morbidity and long-term health problems;
• Optimisation of radiation exposure and harmonisation of practices;
• Justification of the use of ionising radiation in medical practice;
• Infrastructures for quality assurance.

How does ESTRO interact with EURAMED?

The first representatives of ESTRO were Professors Wolfgang Dorr and Hans Langedijk, who contributed to the first SRA. I have represented ESTRO on the EURAMED executive board and I am now being replaced by Dr Francois Paris, who is a researcher at Inserm (the French National Institute of Medical Research). He is based at Nantes University. Current tasks are: to link with the EuroSafe imaging CT image quality working group and other radiation protection platforms; to contribute to/review EURAMED rocc-n-roll tasks; to develop a roadmap; and to update the common SRA for radiation protection research.

How can I contribute?

You can contact the new ESTRO representative Francois Paris by emailing francois.paris@univ-nantes.fr and become an individual member in 2021 by following this link https://www.euramed.eu/become-a-member/. Individual members will be invited to the annual meeting of the EURAMED general assembly and may be asked to contribute to specific tasks and to dedicated EURAMED committees as needed.

Professor Catharine Mary Louise West
University of Manchester
Manchester, UK