Grand Challenge Network+ in Proton Therapy

在英国，每两个人中就有一个人在一生中被诊断出患有癌症，在那些幸存下来的人中，41%的人可以将他们的治愈归因于包括放射治疗在内的治疗。质子束治疗(PBT)是一种根本性的新型放射治疗，能够在对周围健康组织造成最小损害的情况下提供靶向肿瘤剂量。英国国民健康保险制度将投资2.5亿英镑，在伦敦和曼彻斯特新建两个“最先进”的PBT中心。此外，牛津大学还为其新的精准癌症医学中心吸引了1.1亿英镑(来自HEFCE和商业合作伙伴)，并纳入了PBT。这项EPSRC Network+提案旨在将EPS社区与临床、消费者和行业合作伙伴聚集在一起，并制定质子疗法的全国性研究基础设施和路线图。它利用了约3亿GB的政府投资，并为那些没有直接参与新质子中心的人提供了一个积极参与这一领域的国家研究努力的机会。该项目得到了NCRI临床和转化性放射治疗工作组和英国NHS的支持，并将与国家物理实验室的国家质子物理研究和实施小组合作。它还涉及行业利益攸关方、消费者团体和国际合作伙伴(包括欧洲和美国的PBT中心和欧洲核子研究中心)。虽然PBT为患者提供了许多优势，但在研究和培训需求尚未得到满足的情况下，它也带来了大量的技术挑战和机会。这就是EPS社区的参与至关重要的地方，因为医疗保健技术领域的这一挑战需要来自EPS领域的专业知识，并映射到ICT、数字经济、工程、数学、制造未来和物理科学的主题，并在量子技术中找到协同效应。它直接映射到医疗保健技术重大挑战中确定的横切能力。这是一个位于物理干预前沿的高度多学科的领域，它以最小的侵入性实现了高精度的治疗。这一网络+特别及时；它将为英国提供机会，发展世界领先的研究能力，为国家议程提供信息，利用现有的研究卓越和通过将临床和EPS领域结合在一起可以发展的协同效应。它还将与现有的博士培训机构合作，在已确定国家需求的地方培训下一代领导人。拟议的Network+将建立一个国家基础设施，以满足国家研究和培训需求，并将允许英国社区在质子研究的多学科领域进行合作。拟议的Network+将创建一个可持续的国家质子束基础设施，方法是将已经有质子束可用(尽管能量较低)的地点聚集在一起，并为研究界提供一条进入这些设施的途径。随着新的质子中心投入使用，它们将增加这一国家资源，这些中心将共同努力，为英国提供一个虚拟的国家基础设施，到Network+结束时，这将是完全可持续的。Network+还将为那些对该领域感兴趣但不需要参与质子实验的人提供一条途径。此外，Network+将向英国和海外PBT中心的临床环境提供借调服务(“学科跳跃”)。Network+将与英国国民健康保险制度合作，开发一项PBT培训计划。这将把现有的NHS规定与EPSRC的博士培训中心联系起来，并允许建立同等的中心，从而为熟练的劳动力和下一代领导人提供一条“快车道”。Network+还将通过联合研究和借调以及与消费者团体、政策制定者和普通公众接触，寻求与业界接触。

In the UK one in two people are diagnosed with cancer during their lifetimes and of those who survive 41% can attribute their cure to a treatment including radiotherapy. Proton beam therapy (PBT) is a radical new type of radiotherapy, capable of delivering a targeted tumour dose with minimal damage to the surrounding healthy tissue. The NHS is investing £250m in two new "state of the art" PBT centres in London and Manchester. In addition, Oxford has attracted £110m (from HEFCE and business partners) for its new Centre for Precision Cancer Medicine, incorporating PBT. This EPSRC Network+ proposal seeks to bring the EPS community together with clinical, consumer and industrial partners and develop a national research infrastructure and roadmap in proton therapy. It capitalises on ~£300m of government investment and affords an opportunity for those not directly involved in the new proton centres to be actively involved in the national research effort in this area. This project has the backing of NCRI Clinical and Translational Radiotherapy Working Group and NHS England and will work with the national Proton Physics Research and Implementation Group of the National Physical Laboratory. It also involves industrial stakeholders, consumer groups and international partners (including PBT centres in Europe and USA and CERN). While PBT offers patients many advantages it also presents a wealth of technical challenges and opportunities where there is an unmet research and training need. This is where there the involvement of the EPS community is vital since this challenge in Healthcare Technologies requires expertise from across the EPS spectrum and maps on to themes in ICT, Digital Economy, Engineering, Mathematics, Manufacturing the Future, and the Physical Sciences and also finds synergies within quantum technologies. It directly maps onto the cross cutting capabilities identified in the Healthcare Technologies Grand Challenges. This is a highly multi-disciplinary area at the frontiers of physical intervention, which achieves high precision treatment with minimal invasiveness. This Network+ is particularly timely; it will afford the UK the opportunity to develop a world-leading research capability to inform the national agenda, capitalising on existing research excellence and the synergies that can be developed by bringing the clinical and EPS areas together. It will also collaborate with existing doctoral training provision to train the next generation of leaders where a national need has been identified. This proposed Network+ will create a national infrastructure to meet a national research and training need and will allow the UK community to work together in the multi-disciplinary field of proton research. This proposed Network+ will create a sustainable national proton beam infrastructure by drawing together sites where proton beams are already available (albeit at lower energies) and providing a route for the research community to access these facilities. As the new proton centres come on line they will add to this national resource and the centres will work together to provide a virtual national infrastructure for the UK, which by the end of the Network+ will be fully sustainable. The Network+ will also provide a route for those interested in the field but not requiring proton experiments to become involved. In addition, the Network+ will offer secondments ("Discipline Hops") into the clinical environment in both the UK and in PBT centres overseas. Working with NHS England the Network+ will develop a PBT training scheme. This will link the existing NHS provision with EPSRC Centres for Doctoral Training and allow equivalencies to be established and so provide a "fast track" to a skilled workforce and the next generation of leaders. The Network+ will also seek to engage with industry through joint research and secondments and with consumer groups, policy makers and the general public.