On 16th April 2019 the first industry workshop of the format bionection meets…, organized by biosaxony, with 30 international participants took place in Dresden. The host OncoRay, National Center for Radiation Research in Oncology, presented its projects relevant for the development of new devices, software and methods especially in the field of imaging.

Selected guest speakers - from basic research to application - were invited to this exclusive workshop. Together with OncoRay they discussed their ideas after a short presentation and in matchmaking sessions.

Stefan Pieck, OncoRay, and André Hofmann, biosaxony, welcomed the participants and opened the event. After Dr. Jörg Pawelke, OncoRay, gave an overview of the activities in the experimental area for proton research, the participants could get a look behind the scenes and visit the experimental area. The core of the OncoRay research building is an innovative proton facility. While patients are being treated, OncoRay scientists can concurrently conduct research on and improve the use of protons in cancer therapy. To this end, the proton beam is directed via separate beamlines to an experimental area. Whenever the proton beam is not needed for treating patients it can be used to investigate the impact of the particles in vitro or in vivo or to address physical and technical issues.

In the morning sessions the following speakers of OncoRay presented their projects:

• PD Dr. Steffen Löck: "Artificial intelligence for personalised radiotherapy"
• Dr.-Ing. Aswin Hoffmann: "MR-guided Radiation Therapy Research at OncoRay"
• Dr. Christian Richter: "Challenges for the development of the future proton therapy: Online monitored, online verified & online adapted"
• Dr. Damian McLeod: "Sono-Ray: Thermo-radiotherapy"
• Prof. Esther Troost: "Getting a picture of tumor volume and normal tissue reactions"

Afterwards the following invited participants pitched their ideas in 8-minute presentations:

• Claudia Salwiczek-Majonek, Raylytic GmbH, Leipzig/Germany
• Daniel Lichterfeld, AICURA medical GmbH, Berlin/Germany
• Kerstin Åkesson, Kongsberg Beam Technology, Kongsberg/Norway
• Christoph Gulich, DeveriTec, Dresden/Germany
• Jogundas Armaitis, Oxipit, Vilnius/Lithuania

In the afternoon session Dr. Guntram Pausch, OncoRay, gave the keynote to "Higher Precision in Proton Therapy: In-vivo Dosimetry and Range Verification".

Afterwards all participants took the opportunity to discuss their ideas in the matchmaking and networking session and to initiate new collaborations.

The program was completed by the lectures of Dr. Annett Berthold, Wirtschaftsförderung Sachsen, and Katharina Amsel, European Project Center, on funding opportunities in Germany and Europe.

The Cluster for Innovation in Smart Medical Devices and Therapies (SMDT) run by biosaxony is collaborating with OncoRay to support international companies, start-ups and research groups in clinical development. The format bionection meets… continues single topics of the annually partnering conference bionection in a workshop style to deepen these topics together with a project partner. The aim of this event series is to pursue and develop the topics also beyond the two conference days.

With registrations from various European countries, the workshop emphasized the need to offer technology transfer services that go beyond the national perspective.

In cooperation with:

About OncoRay
OncoRay – National Center for Radiation Research in Oncology combines cancer research across the boundaries of disciplines and institutions for the benefit of patients. The vision its scientists pursue is to significantly improve the treatment of cancer by administering radiation therapy that is biologically personalized and technically-optimized. At OncoRay, about 80 scientists cooperate in cross-disciplinary research groups focusing on medicine, physics, biology and information science. The focus of activities is translational research from bench to bedside (2D/3D cell cultures, animal models, clinical trials), which means that lab results should reach the patient as quickly as possible. OncoRay combines the strengths of the three supporting institutions: University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus Dresden, Medical Faculty Carl Gustav Carus of the Technical University Dresden and Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden - Rossendorf (HZDR). www.oncoray.de

About biosaxony
biosaxony is the Saxon association for the biotechnology and medical engineering sector, whose members include the various corporations and companies, scientific institutions, lobbyists and suppliers working in biotech. biosaxony’s responsibilities include initiating projects between industry and research, pinpointing services and know-how, and highlighting regional expertise in order to support the value-added development of these cross-cutting technologies and strengthen Saxony’s economy. Another of its main aims is to support young, innovative companies. biosaxony is a member of the go-cluster program and has been awarded the Silver Label of the European Cluster Excellence Initiative. www.biosaxony.com

Photo credits: Frank Grätz BLEND3 // bionection meets oncology - Workshop Cancer Imaging Research 2019