
About us
Radiotherapy is a very effective and a very commonly used type of cancer treatment where high doses of radiation are targeted to kill tumour cells. However, radiation does not only damage cancer cells; it can also damage nearby healthy cells, leading to side effects of treatment. Children are a patient group particularly vulnerable to side-effects of radiation-, which may appear years to decades later.
At PRIma, our research ultimately aims to reduce the incidence of side effects later in life from having received radiotherapy during childhood for cancer treatment.
Our group has multidisciplinary expertise in physics, engineering, and oncology, and specialises in using medical imaging analysis together with disruptive technologies like 3D-printing and artificial intelligence (AI) to improve the precision of radiotherapy delivery and to understand the development of radiation induced side-effects.
Research topics
- Risk modelling of radiation-induced late effects
Some organs are more sensitive to the harmful effects of radiation than others; likewise, some patients are more sensitive than others. We develop novel methodologies for advanced 3D risk modelling to radiation-induced late effects in children and perform risk assessment studies to support the use of novel radiotherapy techniques in the treatment of some paediatric cancers.
Key publications: Veiga et al (2021) (https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1361-6560/abf010), Taylor et al (2021) (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.phro.2021.06.003)
- Computational and 3D-printed phantom development
Dose measurement in real patients is challenging, so computational and physical phantoms are commonly used in patient and organ motion simulation, dosimetry evaluations, quality assurance of therapeutic and diagnostic irradiation, epidemiological studies, and analysis of dose-response relationships. We develop phantoms of average childhood cancer patients and use them to design novel 3D-printable phantoms that closely mimic how paediatric tissues interact with radiation.
- Monte Carlo dosimetry for proton therapy
Accurate dose calculation is essential for ensuring high-quality treatments in clinical settings. It is also fundamental to develop novel predictive models of radiation-induced toxicity to make future radiotherapy treatments increasingly personalised. We develop accurate Monte Carlo dose model of clinical proton plans for clinical use and for epidemiological data collection.
Key publications: Botnariuc et al 2024 (https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1361-6560/ad1272)
- Image-guided and AI-powered radiotherapy
The precision of radiotherapy delivery is affected by day-to-day changes in patient positioning and internal anatomy. Children are particularly susceptible to daily anatomical variations. We develop AI-powered solutions to image-guidance and treatment adaptation tailored to young patients, ensuring accurate dose delivery verification while minimising long-term risks associated with repeat ionising imaging.
Key publications: Szmul et al (2023) (https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1361-6560/acc921), Taylor et al (2023) (https://doi.org/10.1259/bjr.20230058)
Publications
Research tools
News and events
- Features
Newsletters and blog posts
- "How can we share research together?” – a PPIE co-production activity
- MedPhys Orbyts Hub
- PPRIG Workshop at NPL
- My experience at ESTRO 2023
- A Year in the PGI
- ESTRO 2023 – Young Track - Report from a young principal investigator - Young Corner
- UCL Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering research presented at STEM for BRITAIN 2022
- UCL Engineering PhD Students Research Festival 2022
- Radiation Reveal – PPIE series of workshops
- Atlas construction and spatial normalisation to facilitate radiation-induced late effects research in childhood cancer – ESTRO Physics Corner
Podcasts
- RadChat podcast Bonus Episode: “Helen Haar and Catarina Correia Veloso Da Veiga - Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma”
- “Inside cancer treatment with x-ray and proton beams”
Events
- Made with Patients Awards 2024 - Champion Finalist
- Pint of Science “Touching Tomorrow
- Bloomsbury Festival – The computer will see you now
Video
Funders




National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR )


Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)

FCT: Foundation for Science and Technology (Portugal)
