Joseph Harms, Ph.D.

Joseph Harms, Ph.D., assistant professor of Medical Physics in the UAB Department of Radiation Oncology, is one of six researchers selected to receive a New Era of Radiotherapy grant from the Radiation Oncology Institute (ROI). The award is intended to stimulate research on emerging challenges and cutting-edge methods that are transforming the practice of radiation oncology.

Harms’ research will focus on developing a new detection system to be used with proton FLASH radiation therapy (RT) to measure the radiation dose and how fast the dose is delivered (dose rate).

FLASH RT is an emerging technology that uses ultra-high dose rates to treat cancer and has been shown to reduce radiation damage in healthy tissues.

“Currently, there is no way to verify dose rate from FLASH RT treatment plans, and many of the commonly used radiation detectors do not function at the very high dose rates of FLASH,” Harms said. “The system that we will develop with this grant uses an ultra-fast camera in the treatment room focused on a scintillator, a material that emits light when it is exposed to radiation. The measurement of this light is then converted to the radiation dose, allowing for real-time verification of the dose and dose rate.”

FLASH, still in the early stages of human clinical trials, has the potential to change the game for radiation therapy, compressing treatment from a few weeks into a few seconds.

“The detection system being developed through this grant would play a vital role in patient safety by ensuring that FLASH fields can be delivered with confidence that the planned dose rate distribution matches the radiation treatment received by the patient,” Harms said. “Novel methods for patient-specific quality assurance like this are necessary to fully realize the promise of FLASH RT to reduce treatment-induced side effects and drastically shorten treatment times.”