François Vander Stappen, Research Scientist at IBA, holds electrical engineering and medical physics degrees from Université catholique de Louvain (UCLouvain – Belgium). Since 2008, he has had various experiences with IBA, from beam calibration in treatment rooms to cutting-edge research projects like prompt-gamma imaging and proton radiography. François works on-site at the University of Pennsylvania, upgrading the IBA treatment rooms to allow for the use of ConformalFLASH® in pre-clinical and clinical studies.

Anastasia Velalopoulou is a Research Associate in the Department of Radiation Oncology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania. Born and raised in Tinos island located in the Aegean Sea, in Greece, Anastasia received her B.Sc. (with a recognized integrated M.Sc.) in 2008, from the Department of Biological Applications and Technology of the University of Ioannina, Greece. In 2013, she earned her Ph.D. in Physiology, from the School of Medicine of the same University. Anastasia continued with her postdoctoral studies in the United States and the University of Pennsylvania and joined the field of FLASH radiotherapy in 2019, while jointly working in the labs of Constantinos Koumenis and Theresa Busch. In 2021, she reported the sparing properties of proton FLASH radiotherapy of the epithelial and mesenchymal tissues of the murine limb in the context of a sarcoma tumor. Her research efforts now focus on the elucidation of the underlying mechanisms of FLASH proton radiotherapy in various models of acute and chronic normal tissue toxicities

Ioannis Verginadis is an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Department of Radiation Oncology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania. He is a molecular and radiation biologist by training, and he has extensive experience and publications in the fields of normal tissue response to radiation, FLASH proton radiotherapy and tumor microenvironment (TME). His primary research interests are a) the investigation of the role of the Integrated Stress Response in malignant, and untransformed stromal and immune cells in the TME, as a driver in tumorigenesis and metastasis, b) the increase of the therapeutic effectiveness of radiotherapy by modulating the TME and c) the understanding of the molecular mechanisms involved in the initiation and progression of radiation-induced fibrosis. He has received several awards including the Career Development Award from the Radiation Research Foundation, the Early Career Investigator (ECI) Award from the Radiation Research Society, and the Best Oral Presentation Award from the scientific committee of the Flash Radiotherapy & Particle Therapy Conference. In the past few years, he has been investigating the effects of FLASH proton radiotherapy using tumor and normal tissue models.

The research projects that I develop with my team aim at finding innovative tools able to protect normal tissue and enhance tumor control. In this context, we have developed a novel modality of radiation therapy called FLASH-Radiotherapy that minimizes normal tissue toxicity and eradicates tumors in various organs including the brain, lung and skin and in various species including mice, zebrafish, pigs and cats. Much of our recent work has focused on investigating the entirely different biological response induced after FLASH exposure. Importantly, we have worked to secure the translation of FLASH-RT into clinical trials for human patients with cancer.