A group of international students has successfully completed a challenge to come up with unique ways in which particle accelerator technologies can be used to solve some of healthcare’s most pressing issues today, as part of the I.FAST project’s fourth Challenge Based Innovation (CBI) event.

Four teams, made up of six students each, spent nine days learning about accelerators and receiving mentoring on start-ups, pitching, and communication, while preparing their projects at the European Scientific Institute (ESI) in Archamps near Geneva.

The 24 participants came from 14 different countries, holding 18 different nationalities. They were a mix of physicians, life scientists, chemists, physicists, and engineers.

The teams were tasked to come up with theoretical and new ways in which accelerators could be used to tackle healthcare issues, and to think about the viability of the idea to teach them how to pitch to potential investors.

They then proposed their ideas to a panel of expert judges at CERN on 31 July.

The winning team, called IrradiAID+, suggested an innovative approach to combat antibiotic resistance using targeted Auger electron therapy.

Their idea set out a way to tackle methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus – commonly known as MRSA – with targeted radionuclide therapy using very low energy electrons (Auger electrons or AEs). The team suggested a novel radiopharmaceutical for the procedure, based on its optimal properties.

The idea of using AEs for MRSA is new and comes from research on investigations into using a similar approach to treat cancer.

Their idea was praised by the judges for its novelty, while they also received recognition for their deep and up-to-date research around the latest radiotherapy advancements.

Ajla Džaka, who is doing a master’s in electrical engineering at the University of Sarajevo and was on the winning team, said that she was happy and surprised to win.

“We worked a lot and I learned a lot about things that are not in my area of expertise,” she said. “I was really happy to win and to hear the positive feedback from the judges.”

She said the supportive environment throughout the CBI, from the organisers and the other participants, made it an enjoyable experience.

“What I loved was that if we had a problem that we couldn’t solve we could go to another team and ask them – it was a nice environment to work in.”

The three other participating teams received equally high praise from the judges for the quality of their proposals, which were based on:

• BEamWELL: An unique way to improve treatment for restenosis after stent implantations, a possible repercussion of a medical procedure used to manage narrowed or blocked coronary arteries
• The T.E.A.M: A novel bone cement based on a product used in dentistry to treat fractures for patients suffering from osteoporosis, which addresses some of the difficulties caused by the most widely used cement
• Beam of Hope: A therapy involving low-dose radiation and nanoparticles to tackle advanced-stage pulmonary fibrosis using a particle accelerator to break fibrotic tissue, allowing medicine to be effective again

Fourth and final CBI under I.FAST

This fourth edition is to be the final CBI organised under the current I.FAST project, with the European Union-funded project, which seeks to enhance innovation in the particle accelerator community, set to finish later this year. The first two editions of the CBI focused on accelerators for environmental applications, with the latest two tackling healthcare issues.

Healthcare is an area in which particle accelerators play an important role. In a 2020 CERN Courier article, German physicist and former director general of CERN Rolf-Dieter Heuer, makes the point that, as of 2014, there are around 42,200 particle accelerators worldwide, a third of which are used for medical purposes.

The participants of the CBI are encouraged to continue working on their ideas after the CBI ends, and all four teams from this edition expressed an interest in doing so.

Two teams from previous CBIs have carried out validation experiments, with one team forming a start-up. The challenge for the students is to find further funding or partnership opportunities, which the CBI organisers offer help with.

An ‘eye-opening experience’

For the students, the CBI was an opportunity to not only learn more about accelerator technologies, but also to get an insight into how to build a medtech business from the ground up.  Pablo Paisan Garcia, who is pursuing a master’s in neuroscience and artificial intelligence at PSL University in Paris, said this was important knowledge that he was going to take home.

“I’ve learned a lot about how to propose a project. At undergrad level at university we are usually given projects. Here we’ve had to come up with our own project and think about how to pitch it, to sell it, how we would get funding for it,” he said.

For Ali Hamad, who is a qualified physician now pursuing a Master of Science in precision medicine at University College Dublin in Ireland, the chance to meet high-level experts in the accelerator field was invaluable.

“I thought the programme would be purely scientific, but we also delved into how international organisations work, the history of physics and science. We met people who work in these places and some of them hold very important roles – this was really eye opening for me,” he said.

Like Garcia, he said the experience gave him an important insight into entrepreneurship.

“I have always liked medical innovation and entrepreneurship, but I didn’t know where to start. I think now I have a clue. The programme was just 10 days but it was very intense, and I can imagine what it is like to be in medical entrepreneurship. I hope in the next couple of years I can be a part of such innovative solutions in medicine.”

Raileen Lelle, who is doing a master’s degree in physics and engineering at TalTech in Estonia, said interdisciplinary communication was one skill she had to work hard on during the experience.

“Speaking with some people who are not experts specifically in accelerators, it was hard at the beginning, but we managed quite well,” she said. “Overall, it was a great experience.”

Nicolas Delerue, accelerator specialist working at CNRS and Université Paris-Saclay and coordinator of the CBI, said he was impressed with the participating students.

“A month ago they did not know each other but in each team they worked hard, with everyone bringing knowledge from her or his academic field. The projects they suggested are impressive,” he said.

“I am convinced that this is a great investment for their future and for Europe's future."

This edition of the CBI was supported by I.FAST, TIARA, EPS-AG, CERN-ATS, Eddy Offerman, HITRIplus, SEEIIST, European Spallation Source, CNRS IJCLab, ArchParc, ESI Archamps, Kyma, and the Communauté de Communes du Genevois.

The I.FAST project received funding from the European Commission’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation programme under Grant Agreement No. 101004730. I.FAST aims to enhance innovation in the particle accelerator community, mapping out and facilitating the development of breakthrough technologies common to multiple accelerator platforms. Within CERN, the project is coordinated by the EU Projects Office.