Award-Winning Excellence in Medicine: MedAustron Experts Honored for Outstanding Achievements
MedAustron’s Medical Director, Prof. Dr. Eugen B. Hug, was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award at this year’s PTCOG-NA Annual Meeting. PTCOG-NA stands for Particle Therapy Co-Operative Group North America, the North American branch of the global association of particle therapy experts, PTCOG. PTCOG-NA was founded in 2012 on Eugen Hug’s initiative; he served as its President until 2019 and remains an active board member.
The Lifetime Achievement Award recognizes Eugen Hug’s decades-long commitment to particle therapy: Since the early 1990s, he has been one of the pioneers in introducing and applying particle therapy for various cancer indications in clinical practice, with a specialization in pediatric malignancies, skull base tumors, and sarcomas. He was instrumental in establishing several particle therapy centers in the U.S. and Europe, some of which he also oversaw as director. He held professorships in Proton Radiation Therapy at the University of Zurich and in Radiation Oncology and Pediatrics at Dartmouth Medical School. Hug is the author of numerous publications, founder of global seminars, and a frequent speaker on particle therapy. Since 2015, he has served as Medical Director of the MedAustron ion therapy and research center.
In addition, several other MedAustron employees received prestigious awards. The global Particle Therapy Co-Operative Group (PTCOG) annually presents the Michael Goitein Award in three categories for the best abstracts. In the “Clinical” category, MedAustron’s Scientific Director and Director of Carbon Ion Therapy, Univ.-Prof. Dr. Piero Fossati, received the award for his work on sacral chordomas. This international, prospective, randomized clinical trial compares surgery and particle therapy in terms of disease-free survival, toxicity, and quality of life. Interim analysis shows that particle therapy is equally effective compared to surgery—without functional loss for patients.
Dr. Yvonne Goy, Radiation Oncologist at MedAustron, won this year’s ÖGRO (Austrian Society for Radiation Oncology) Abstract Prize in the category “Poster Experimental Work in Radiation Oncology” for her research on fertility preservation through particle therapy in adolescent and young adult patients.
DI Patrick Scharpf-Roisl, BSc, Medical Physicist at MedAustron, secured the ÖGMP (Austrian Society for Medical Physics) Abstract Prize for his work on treating choroidal melanomas with protons at MedAustron.
Meanwhile, DI Dr. Lukas Jägerhofer, long-time Head of Radiation Protection Services, was elected Vice President of the Austrian Radiation Protection Association this year.