Could particle accelerators like the Large Hadron Collider really help to cure cancer?
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An advanced form of radiotherapy, proton beam therapy enables tumours to be targeted with greater precision, reducing the collateral damage to surrounding healthy tissue. With two NHS proton beam centres set to open this year, physicist Simon Jolly sheds light on this cutting-edge technique and the technology needed to deliver it.

Watch the Q&A:    • Q&A: How Particle Accelerators Are Us...  

Simon Jolly is currently the leader of the UCL High Energy Physics proton therapy research group where his research focuses on high precision detectors for proton beam Quality Assurance to ensure the treatment is delivered safely. The NHS is building two proton therapy facilities in Manchester and London, to complement the existing ocular facility at the Clatterbridge Cancer Centre. He is also a member of the international AWAKE collaboration that is seeking to develop proton driven plasma wakefield accelerators. He is leading the development of the AWAKE spectrometer to measure the energy of these plasma accelerated electrons.

Simon has played American Football for Great Britain, captaining them in 1996, and also won national titles with Farnham in 1996, Oxford in 2001 and London in 2005. He also made a number of appearances on radio, television and at popular science events.

This talk and Q&A was filmed in the Ri on 12 October 2018.

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