Doctoral contract (M/F) : Development and evaluation of carbon ion FLASH radiotherapy beams for dosimetric and radiobiological studies on a brain model

Job Description

Thesis Subject

** SCIENTIFIC CONTEXT **

The main goal of cancer therapy is to eliminate all the cancer stem cells in a primary tumor and regional lymph nodes while minimizing the damage to the residual healthy tissue. Nowadays, radiotherapy is one of the essential components of cancer treatment, with the number of particle radiotherapy patients rapidly increasing every year. Notably, heavy ions – such as carbon ions (12C) – demonstrate high precision and optimal biological effectiveness, making them a very attractive solution for treatments of radioresistant tumors in head and neck region.

FLASH is a novel form of cancer radiotherapy where the treatment is delivered with ultra-high dose rates that are hundreds of times higher than conventionally used. Since over a decade, FLASH has received increased attention thanks to preclinical studies demonstrating that ultra-high dose rates substantially reduce side effects while maintaining the tumor killing.

In this context, the goal of this translational project is to prepare and evaluate experiments to demonstrate the 12C-FLASH effect in a brain model in vitro. This interdisciplinary work is based primarily at institutions in Caen and involves the initial development and optimization of clinical and experimental beamlines, followed by biological characterization in close collaboration with the radiobiology team. The successful candidate will join a group of physicists, medical physicists, and radiation biologists working on this and similar projects.

** ABOUT THE POSITION **

Main goals of PhD thesis:
- Develop irradiation set-ups in CYCLHAD and GANIL facilities for 12C radiobiology FLASH studies,
- Investigate 12C-FLASH effect in brain model in vitro and analyze biological data.

Candidate's tasks:
- Design, implement, and validate the CYCLHAD experimental room beamline (GATE-10 simulations, dosimetry measurements),
- Optimize and validate GANIL beamline (GATE-10 simulations, dosimetry measurements),
- Contribute to radiobiology experiments with in vitro brain model (cell culture, organotypic brain slices, immunostaining) and take charge of related data analysis (microscopy images),
- Give presentations at collaboration meetings and international conferences,
- Write reports and scientific papers in high impact journals,
- Write thesis for a PhD degree at University of Caen,
- Support of other projects in the laboratory.

The radiobiological protocols will be developed in collaboration with researchers at ISTCT in Caen.
The CYCLHAD experimental room is expected to open in in 1-2 years.
Depending on the development of the thesis and availability of the beam, the following supplementary tasks related to heavy ion FLASH might be considered:
- Preparation and participation in 12C-FLASH experiment at CNAO (National Center for Oncological Hadrontherapy, Pavia, Italy) with the same in vitro brain model,
- Geant4/GATE-10 simulations of reactive oxygen species in 12C-FLASH experimental conditions,
- Geant4/GATE-10 simulation and measurements of patient radioactivity induced by 12C-FLASH beam,
- Participation in development and testing of prototype detectors for heavy ion FLASH.

** CANDIDATE'S PROFILE **

Required:
- Obtained or soon to be obtained Master's degree in relevant field (fundamental/medical/nuclear physics, biomedical engineering, etc),
- Very good programing skills (e.g. Python),
- Basic knowledge in radiation physics, in particular interaction of particle beams with matter,
- Experience in data analysis and statistics,
- Proficiency in English at level at least B1 (according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages).

Desirable:
- Knowledge in medical physics, dosimetry, nuclear instrumentation and radiobiology,
- Experience in Monte Carlo codes (e.g. GATE-10) and image processing,
- Irradiation, dosimetry and in vitro laboratory experience,
- Proficiency in French.

Thesis financed by the ANR : ACT1_ANR-25-CPJ1-0194-01

Your Work Environment

The successful candidate will work in a highly interdisciplinary team with physicists, medical physicists, and radiation biologists. He/she will profit from systematic training on the job, in addition to personal development possibilities and extensive professional networking opportunities.
The candidate will be assigned to the team AMIE (Applications in Medicine, Industry and Environment), within the Laboratoire de Physique Corpusculaire de Caen (LPCC - UMR6534). The LPC CAEN, with about 120 staff, is a joint research unit (UMR6534) depending on three supervisory bodies: the CNRS, the University of Caen Normandy (UNICAEN) and the Ecole Nationale Supérieure d'Ingénieurs de Caen (ENSICAEN). It is located on Campus 2 of the University of Caen Normandy (Campus Côte de Nacre) and is part of the research park of ENSICAEN (www.lpc-caen.in2p3.fr/).
The candidate will also collaborate with other institutions in Caen, in particular:
- ISTCT (Imaging and Therapeutic Strategies for Cancers and Brain Tissues, UMR 6030, https://www.istct.cyceron.fr/index.php/fr/),
- CYCLHAD (International Hadrontherapy Center, https://cyclhad.fr/),
- GANIL (French Large Heavy Ion National Accelerator, https://www.ganil-spiral2.eu/fr/).
Depending on the development of the thesis and availability of the beam, a collaboration and an experimental campaign at CNAO (National Center for Oncological Hadrontherapy, Pavia, Italy) will be considered.

Constraints and risks

Part of the work will involve experiments with ionizing radiation using clinical and pre-clinical equipment. Travel within France and internationally is also planned, to participate in scientific conferences and experiments in collaborating institutions.

Compensation and benefits

Compensation

2300 € gross monthly

Annual leave and RTT

44 jours

Remote Working practice and compensation

Pratique et indemnisation du TT

Transport

Prise en charge à 75% du coût et forfait mobilité durable jusqu’à 300€

About the offer

About the CNRS

The CNRS is a major player in fundamental research on a global scale. The CNRS is the only French organization active in all scientific fields. Its unique position as a multi-specialist allows it to bring together different disciplines to address the most important challenges of the contemporary world, in connection with the actors of change.

CNRS

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