Christie Medical Physics and Engineering, The Christie NHS Foundation Trust, Manchester, UK.
Br J Radiol. 2012 Oct;85(1018):1354-62. doi: 10.1259/bjr/61530686.
In 2011, the Clinical and Translational Radiotherapy Research Working Group (CTRad) of the National Cancer Research Institute brought together UK radiotherapy physics leaders for a think tank meeting. Following a format that CTRad had previously and successfully used with clinical oncologists, 23 departments were asked to complete a pre-meeting evaluation of their radiotherapy physics research infrastructure and the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats within their own centre. These departments were brought together with the CTRad Executive Group and research funders to discuss the current state of radiotherapy physics research, perceived barriers and possible solutions. In this Commentary, we summarise the submitted materials, presentations and discussions from the meeting and propose an action plan. It is clear that there are challenges in both funding and staffing of radiotherapy physics research. Programme and project funding streams sometimes struggle to cater for physics-led work, and increased representation on research funding bodies would be valuable. Career paths for academic radiotherapy physicists need to be examined and an academic training route identified within Modernising Scientific Careers; the introduction of formal job plans may allow greater protection of research time, and should be considered. Improved access to research facilities, including research linear accelerators, would enhance research activity and pass on developments to patients more quickly; research infrastructure could be benchmarked against centres in the UK and abroad. UK National Health Service departments wishing to undertake radiotherapy research, with its attendant added value for patients, need to develop a strategy with their partner higher education institution, and collaboration between departments may provide enhanced opportunities for funded research.
2011 年，英国国家癌症研究所的临床与转化放射治疗研究工作组（CTRad）召集了英国放射治疗物理学领域的领导者举行了一次智库会议。该会议采用了 CTRad 先前与临床肿瘤学家成功使用的格式，要求 23 个部门在会议前评估其放射治疗物理研究基础设施，以及各自中心的优势、劣势、机会和威胁。这些部门与 CTRad 执行小组和研究资助者一起讨论了放射治疗物理研究的现状、感知到的障碍和可能的解决方案。在这篇评论中，我们总结了会议提交的材料、演示文稿和讨论，并提出了行动计划。显然，放射治疗物理研究的资金和人员配置都存在挑战。项目和计划资金流有时难以满足物理主导工作的需求，增加在研究资助机构中的代表性将是有价值的。学术放射治疗物理学家的职业道路需要进行审查，并在现代科学职业中确定学术培训途径；引入正式的工作规划可能会允许更多地保护研究时间，应加以考虑。更好地利用研究设施，包括研究线性加速器，将增强研究活动，并更快地将进展传递给患者；研究基础设施可以与英国和国外的中心进行基准测试。希望开展放射治疗研究的英国国民保健制度部门，需要与其合作的高等教育机构制定一项战略，部门间的合作可能为有资金支持的研究提供更多机会。
