Research projects

Overview of the research projects related to radioecology in which ALLIANCE is participating (or has participated in the past) as a Platform.

  • PIANOFORTE ‘Partnership for European research in radiation protection and detection of ionising radiation: towards a safer use and improved protection of the environment and human health’ is 5 years long Euratom funded project that started in 2022 and comprised of 58 partners representing 22 European Union countries, United Kingdom and Norway. Partnership aims to contribute improving the protection of the public, workers, patients and the environment from environmental, occupational and medical exposure to ionizing radiation. R&I Open Calls for research projects, integrative activities regarding stakeholders’ engagement, infrastructure, education and training and outcomes dissemination are planned and now ongoing. It is coordinated by the French Institute for Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety (IRSN). Through the different activities, carried out within its framework, PIANOFORTE will contribute to the implementation of European policies such as the European plan to combat cancer, the green pact for growth, and the implementation of the roadmap for reducing industrial and natural risks.

    The European Radioecology ALLIANCE as a MEENAS member is represented in the Executive Board of PIANOFORTE, actively involved in the major decisions of importance for the project. In early, application phase, ALLIANCE participated in creating and organizational activities of the PIANOFORTE partnership. The ALLIANCE members (WG SRA) are included in the several steps in the prioritization process for the research topics for R&I Open Calls organized within the partnership framework. ALLIANCE will also contribute to updating the Joint Roadmap for radiation protection research. In addition, ALLIANCE has representatives in the Working Packages in charge of Education & Training, Infrastructures and Stakeholders.

  • The EURAMED Rocc-N-Roll (EURopeAn MEDical application and Radiation prOteCtion Concept: strategic research agenda aNd ROadmap interLinking to heaLth and digitisation aspects; 2020-2023) is a European project that will produce a strategic research agenda (SRA) in the field of medical applications of ionising radiation and related radiation protection. Input for the SRA will be based on wide stakeholder input and consultation, a corresponding roadmap, and an interlink document, integrating the views and identifying synergies from the areas of radiation protection, health research and digitization with impactful guidance to the EC and stakeholders on future research. A fully integrated and coordinated European approach based on stakeholder consensus and existing activities in the field will be ensured. The EURAMED rocc-n-roll consortium brings together relevant disciplines including radiation biology, dosimetry for medical applications, ethics, and clinical expertise, complemented by regulatory and health policy, AI, and industry experts.

    ALLIANCE will participate in Task 2.4. Identification and prioritisation of ALLIANCE and NERIS SRA topics, relevant to medical radiation protection research. The work will be compiled in the rocc-n-roll D2.4 Identification and prioritisation of ALLIANCE and NERIS SRA topics relevant to medical radiation protection research.

    The European Radioecology ALLIANCE as a MEENAS member is represented in the Executive Board of PIANOFORTE, actively involved in the major decisions of importance for the project. In early, application phase, ALLIANCE participated in creating and organizational activities of the PIANOFORTE partnership. The ALLIANCE members (WG SRA) are included in the several steps in the prioritization process for the research topics for R&I Open Calls organized within the partnership framework. ALLIANCE will also contribute to updating the Joint Roadmap for radiation protection research. In addition, ALLIANCE has representatives in the Working Packages in charge of Education & Training, Infrastructures and Stakeholders.

  • The 4-year SINFONIA project is Euratom programme funded research project (2020-2024) for developing tools for comprehensive risk appraisal for detrimental effects of radiation exposure.

    The main objective of the project is to develop novel methodologies and tools that will provide a comprehensive a risk appraisal for detrimental effects of radiation exposure on patients, workers, carers and comforters, the public and the environment during the management of patients suspected or diagnosed with lymphoma and brain tumours. The scientific work will (1) develop novel AI-powered personalised dosimetry and risk appraisal methods and tools to estimate the radiation burden on patients undergoing state-of-the-art radiological, nuclear medicine and radiation therapy procedures, (2) reinforce risk appraisal for exposed staff, comforters, the public and the environment during nuclear medicine and proton therapy procedures, (3) determine the degree of patient variability in radiation sensitivity for the risk of developing secondary malignancies and (4) design and develop data management techniques for managing data from imaging and non-imaging examinations and radiation therapy sessions. A data repository will be developed for storing data as well as for the deployment of AI algorithms on an online platform.

    ALLIANCE will contribute in defining the assessment approach for people and environment though: (i) the development of hypothetical scenarios with relevant radionuclides and environmental conditions likely to be found downstream from the source point; (ii) setting up a method to estimate the activity levels of radiopharmaceuticals in water and sediment at different points of the sewer and surface water systems; (iii) the calculation of transfer and resulting dose to human and biota ; (iv) providing radionuclide dispersion simulations results for a proof-of-concept case (Geel and Mol hospitals in the Kempen region).

Previous projects

  • The CONCERT European Joint Programme for the Integration of Radiation Protection Research’ under Horizon 2020 aims to contribute to the sustainable integration of European and national research programmes in radiation protection. CONCERT as a co-fund action strives to achieve the attraction and pooling of national research efforts in Radiation Protection with EURATOM research programmes in order to make better use of public R&D resources and to tackle common European challenges in radiation protection more effectively by joint research efforts in key areas. In order to rise to this challenge CONCERT is operating as an umbrella structure for the research initiatives of the radiation protection research platforms MELODI, ALLIANCE, NERIS, EURADOS and EURAMED.

    In EJP CONCERT, ALLIANCE was member of the Management Board and participated, together with other European research platforms, in integrating the research efforts of all platforms to jointly address common research needs in radiation protection and to organize funding of research projects. In the course of the partnership, the SRA of ALLIANCE was updated, and Joint Roadmap of radiation protection platforms was made. The outputs from all the CONCERT funded projects are available from here.