International Women's Day Spotlight: IUPESM Speakers
ACPSEM is thrilled to celebrate the inspiring innovations of women in science this International Women's Day (March 8).
We're fortunate enough to have Profesor Marie-Catherine Vozenin, Dr Fiona Adshead, and Dr Marianne Sowa scheduled to speak at the World Congress, IUPESM 2025 from 29 September - 4 October in Adelaide, South Australia.
Learn more about these inspiring women and their achievements - and don't miss the early bird registrations for IUPESM!
Professor Marie-Catherine Vozenin
Professor Marie-Catherine Vozenin, trained as a Radiation Biologist at the Commissariat à L’Énergie Atomique in France (PhD, 1999), has had a distinguished career establishing radiobiology laboratories in France and Switzerland. In August 2023, she was appointed as an invited Professor at the University of Geneva (UNIGE) and recruited by the Geneva University Hospitals (HUG) to establish the first research laboratory dedicated to Innovation in Radiobiology applied to Radio-Oncology (LiRR).
Her research, supported by 34 collaborative and personal grants, spans both pre-clinical and clinical model systems, including approaches that simulate normal tissue and tumor responses to radiotherapy, including FLASH. Professor Vozenin holds three patents and is deeply involved in national and international collaborations with academia and industry. Her work has positioned her to share her expertise with the CRTOH community and contribute to integrating radiotherapy into novel treatment strategies.
One of her most notable achievements is the development of FLASH-Radiotherapy, a revolutionary technique that reduces normal tissue toxicity while effectively targeting tumors across various organs and species. Her team’s current focus is on bringing this promising therapy into clinical practice, specifically for brain tumors, including rare pediatric cancers that urgently need advancements. This research is being carried out in collaboration with prestigious institutions such as the PSI and CERN, exploring proton and VHEE FLASH therapies, and working on the implementation of conformational FLASH radiotherapy with X-rays.
Professor Vozenin's ongoing work continues to explore how FLASH exposure triggers distinct biological reactions in both normal tissue and tumors, including overcoming radiation resistance. Ultimately, her goal is to ensure the safe implementation of FLASH-RT in clinical trials, offering a transformative treatment for cancer patients worldwide.
Dr Fiona Adshead
Dr. Fiona Adshead is a leading expert in sustainability and health, currently serving as Chair of the Sustainable Healthcare Coalition. This pioneering organisation fosters partnerships to advance sustainable healthcare practices. Additionally, Dr. Adshead provides expert advice as an independent advisor and board member for various national and global organisations, focusing on well-being and sustainability.
Dr. Adshead's career spans several prominent roles across government, healthcare, and the private sector. She has held senior positions in the UK Government, including Deputy Chief Medical Officer and Director General. She also served as Director of Chronic Disease and Health Promotion at the World Health Organisation and as Bupa’s Chief Wellbeing Officer. Dr. Adshead's work has been pivotal in developing innovative strategies and programmes that integrate well-being and sustainability at the heart of both business and government.
In addition to her professional roles, Dr. Adshead is a visiting Professor at University College London (UCL) and a Senior Associate at the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership. She has served on various boards, including British Land’s Sustainability Advisory Panel, Marks and Spencer’s Sustainable Retail Advisory Board, and Business in the Community’s Wellbeing Leadership Team. Recently, Dr Adshead also joined the Health System Taskforce of the Sustainable Markets Initiative.
Through her vast experience, Dr Adshead continues to inspire action and collaboration to drive sustainable healthcare and improve well-being globally.
Dr. Marianne Sowa
Dr. Marianne Sowa earned her Ph.D. in physical chemistry from the State University of New York, Stony Brook, where she utilized both experimental and theoretical approaches to study the reaction dynamics of size-selected carbon and boron cluster ions. Following her Ph.D., Dr. Sowa completed post-doctoral training at the University of California, San Diego, focusing on electron photodetachment spectroscopy and transient photokinetics of molecular absorption in human blood substitutes.
Dr. Sowa’s next role took her to the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland, Washington, where her research concentrated on radiation biology and biophysics. During this time, she designed and developed a pulsed electron beam single-cell irradiator capable of exposing a single cell to low-dose, low-linear energy transfer (LET) radiation. This device played a pivotal role in investigating radiation-induced bystander effects for low LET exposures.
Building on this, Dr. Sowa’s research shifted towards understanding radiation-induced effects in three-dimensional culture models that better replicate the cellular environment in situ. Using an integrated approach of theory and experimentation, she has focused on examining the role of track structure and energy deposition patterns on cellular processes in a spatially heterogeneous manner. Her work also explores the subtle changes that low-dose radiation exposure causes in homeostatic regulation within complex human tissue models.
Dr. Sowa has contributed significantly to the scientific community, serving on the Scientific Advisory Board for Radiation Research for NASA’s Space Radiation Research Laboratory at Brookhaven National Laboratory. She was also recently appointed to the editorial board of THREE (The Health Risks of Extraterrestrial Environments), a widely respected, peer-reviewed, encyclopedic source of information on space radiation.
In 2015, Dr. Sowa began her role as Chief of the Space Biosciences Research Branch at NASA, where she led a team of 17 civil servant scientists and affiliated staff. Her team conducted biological research crucial to NASA’s human exploration mission, advancing the understanding of space-related biological challenges.
Don't miss seeing Profesor Marie-Catherine Vozenin, Dr Fiona Adshead, and Dr Marianne Sowa speak at the World Congress, IUPESM 2025!
Click here to register with early bird discounts now (further special pricing for students also available!).
