Current projects
EFOMP is very delighted to be invited to take part in a project as a cosortium member or endorse different projects that have an impact on and connection to medical physics profession, research, education as well as to the field of radiation protection.
However, we need time to evaluate and discuss the project before endorsing or joining projects. Please see the procedure and related documents at Projects committee subpage.
EFOMP as a Consortium Member (2022-2026)
1. ENER / D3 / 2021 / 253-3 'SAMIRA study on the implementation of the Euratom and the EU legal bases with respect to the therapeutic uses of radiopharmaceuticals-SIMPLERAD'
According to the SAMIRA Action Plan, the consortium of the SIMPLERAD project aims to ensure EU citizens have access to high-quality and safe nuclear technologies in medicine. The general objectives pillars to be addressed to meet this challenge are the following:
- Improve the understanding of the links and interdependencies between the European pharmaceutical legislations and Euratom radiation protection requirements
- Highlight potential barriers to implementation
- Propose practical guidance and recommendations to advance a coherent implementation of these requirements with respect to the therapeutic use of radiopharmaceuticals
- Address quality and safety issues related to the current use and introduction of novel therapeutic radiopharmaceuticals into clinical practice, including requirements for dosimetry, the role of MPEs, release of patients from hospital, and management of radioactive waste
2. HORIZON-EURATOM-2021-NRT-01-13 'ENEN# ENENplusplus: Building European Nuclear Competence through continuous Advanced and Structured education and training actions'
- A detailed insight into the EU supply and demand of nuclear human resources for power and non-power applications will be developed. This will include industries, academia, technical safety organizations and regulators.
- Higher number of nuclear talents will be achieved through dedicated career-related events and competitions for high school pupils and teachers, students (BSc, MSC, PhD), postdocs and lifelong learners.
- A strong mobility program will support over 100 person-years of nuclear career-enhancing experience to about 1.000 learners with over 2,5 million EUR.
ENEN2plus project kicked off at the end of June 2022. With an hybrid meeting held in Brussels, 53 partners came together to present their actions for the next 4 years of nuclear education and training.
ENEN2plus will be the largest cross border mobility action to date. 2.5 Million euros are expected to finance the mobility of more than 1000 people doubling the figures of the previous ENENplus project.
3.HORIZON-EURATOM-2021-NRT-01-10 'SECURE: Strengthening the European Chain of sUpply for next generation medical RadionuclidEs”
SECURE project aims to make a major contribution to the sustainability of medical isotope production and its safe application in Europe. It is focusing on promising developments in the design of irradiation targets, production routes for existing and new isotopes in nuclear therapy and diagnostics. Isotopes critical in the success of nuclear medicine are selected and research activities are identified to address some of the major challenges in securing its future availability, with the objectives:
- to remove critical barriers along the production of its selected alpha and beta emitting isotopes that restrict a sustainable production,
- to develop a framework of guidance and recommendations that enables exploring the full clinical potential of alpha and beta particle therapy and its safe application
- to provide important lessons learned that act as a demonstration case for addressing issues in upscaling and sustained isotope production.
At present, Ra-223 is the only radiopharmaceutical which has been granted marketing authorization to treat adults with prostate cancer. This has paved the way for a wider use of other alpha emitters such as Ac-225 or Bi-213. The expected demand of nuclear medicine for novel alpha emitters and beta- emitters requires re-evaluation of their production methods and inventories of target materials and parent radionuclides.
The ambition of SECURE consortium is to identify and efficiently use the current resources for new radionuclides, in particular for alpha emitters and the relevant beta emitting theranostic radionuclides. The development of alternative technologies for production of such therapeutic radionuclides for improved patient treatment requires multidisciplinary scientific and technological knowledge including physics, chemistry, material science, machining of target materials, chemistry, biology and radiobiology, radiopharmacy and nuclear medicine. All this chain of expertise is present in SECURE consortium.
4. ENER/D3/2021-253-2 'SAMIRA Study on the Implementation of Council Directive 2013/59/Euratom Requirements for Medical Equipment with Respect to Monitoring and Control of Patient’s Radiation Exposures'
The specific objective of the study is to support Member States in the implementation of the Council Directive 2013/59/Euratom requirements for medical radiological equipment.This project aims at:
- Collecting and analysing up-to-date information on the implementation of the Council Directive 2013/59/Euratom requirements for medical radiological equipment, with respect to controlling, recording and reporting of patients’ radiation exposures.
- Developing best-practice guidance on the implementation of the above requirements.
- Discussing the results of the work with Member States, with the view of stimulating further national and EU-level efforts in this area.
5. HADEA/2022/OP/0003 'EU-REST Analysis on workforce availability, education and training needs for the quality and safety of medical applications involving ionising radiation in the EU'
The EU-REST study is part of the SAMIRA Action Plan and is being carried out on behalf of the European Commission. This study aims to provide an analysis of workforce availability, education, and training needs to ensure quality and safety aspects of medical applications involving ionising radiation in the EU.
- To provide an analysis on workforce availability, education and training needs to ensure quality and safety aspects of medical applications involving ionising radiation in the EU.
- To develop staffing and education/training guidelines for key professional groups involved in ensuring radiation safety and quality of medical radiation applications in the EU Member States.
EU-REST project kicked off in the beginning of September 2022.
6. ENER/D3/2022-402 (ENER/LUX/2022/OP/0008) 'MARLIN -Safety in Medicine by Incident Learning in Ionising Radiation Applications in Europe'
SAMIRA Study on reporting and learning from patient-related incidents and near misses in radiotherapy, interventional cardiology, nuclear medicine and interventional and diagnostic radiology.
The MARLIN project is a EC funded initiative awarded by contract to a joint EFOMP/ESTRO consortium. The purpose is to
“Support the implementation of Council Directive 2013/59/Euratom by providing a comprehensive description of the current status of incident reporting and develop consensus guidelines on reporting and learning from patient-related incidents and near misses in radiotherapy, interventional cardiology, nuclear medicine, and interventional and diagnostic radiology in Europe”
It is a 2 year project with 4 elements
WP1 – to design, circulate and analyse a survey and conduct interviews on the implementation of Incident Learning Systems in Europe
WP2 - to write a guideline on best practice for hospitals, professional societies and regulators
WP3 – to carry out consultations on the draft guidelines developed in WP2 with the relevant Member States’ competent authorities and European professional organisations
WP4 – to organise a workshop to present the results of the work carried out under WP 1-3
The convenors of WP1 have now designed 3 surveys on the practice and regulation of incident learning systems (ILSs) in Europe (EU-27 plus Norway and Switzerland) in all areas using ionising radiation in medicine, with regard to the implementation of Directive 2013/59/Euratom – one for regulatory authorities, one for hospital departments and one for professional societies.
7. ENER/D3/2022-105 (ENER/LUX/2022/OP/0009) “Review and analysis of the transposition and implementation of the Basic Safety Standards provisions on Radiation Protection Expert (RPE), Radiation Protection Officer (RPO) and Medical Physics Expert (MPE) in EU MS”
The objective of this study is to review and assess in detail the transposition and implementation of the requirements for Radiation Protection Experts (RPE), Radiation Protection Officers (RPO) and Medical Physics Experts (MPE) of the BSS Directive (Council Directive 2013/59), in the EU-27 Member States and in the United Kingdom, Norway and Switzerland. This study is intended to be an essential part of the transposition and conformity checks. It shall have a particular focus on the practical implementation of the Articles providing for the definition, roles and responsibilities, as well as education, training, and retraining of RPE, RPO and MPE as well as the detailed arrangements for their recognition.
8. EURAMED: European Alliance for Medical Radiation Protection Research
The European Alliance for Medical Radiation Protection Research (EURAMED) represents a consortium of associations involved in the application of ionising radiation in medicine, namely the European Association of Nuclear Medicine (EANM), the European Federation of Organizations for Medical Physics (EFOMP), the European Federation of Radiographer Societies (EFRS), the European Society of Radiology (ESR) and the European Society for Radiotherapy and Oncology (ESTRO) with the goal of jointly improving medical care and its medical radiation protection issues through sustainable research efforts. Since October 1st, 2017 EURAMED is a non-profit organisation registered in Austria.