LhARA Executive Board 17Sep25; 16:00 BST

Present: RA, RB, TG, AG, KL

Notes

1. Notes and actions: All
   
   • KL: Share ITRF PA close-out thread and draft email to ITRF AC and draft email to collaboration.
     • Done.
   • RA: Share planning document for first peer-group meeting.
     • Done.
   • KL: Update Frontiers editor on progress with CDR.
     • Done.
   • CW/KL: Progress CM meeting agenda.
     • Ongoing.

2. CDR update: KL
   
   • CDR coming to a conclusion. Peer-group consultation and costing now only sections that are missing. Complete as soon as possible after CM#8.

3. Peer-group meetings update: KL
   
   • “Particle therapy international meeting”
     • Targeting the pre-clinical/clinical researcher and clinical communities, the meeting will review the state of the art in particle beam therapy and explore incremental and transformative R&D paths to improved techniques, better clinical outcomes, and enhanced patient treatment. The ideal outcome would be the formation of an International Advisory Group to guide the development of the LhARA initiative in radiation biology, clinical applications, and the development of particle therapy.
   • “Cylindrically-symmetric strong focusing of ion beams”
     • Targeting the laser-plasma and novel accelerator communities, the meeting will review current research directions in the development non-magnetic strong focussing devices. The ideal outcome would be the formation of a consortium to bid for the resources to investigate the fundamental physics underlying the stable operation of such devices and, eventually, to develop practical solutions for deployment on laser-driven proton and ion beams and elsewhere.
   • “Novel time-resolved and high-resolution imaging”
     • Targeting the developers of instrumentation and diagnostics necessary to understand the biology of radiation therapy, the meeting will review the state of the art in high resolution and time resolved imaging of structures within cells and the study of cellular dynamics. The ideal outcome would be the formation of a consortium to bid for the resources necessary to develop practical solutions that would allow the time-resolved study of biological processes induced by ionising radiation.
   • “Biology, measurement, simulation and interpretation of radiation biology”
     • Targeting the radiobiology community and the community developing conventional and AI-based biological simulation tools, the meeting would review the state of the art in numerical simulation of cellular dynamics. The ideal outcome would be the formation of a consortium to bid for the resources necessary to incrementally advance current simulation tools, exploit AI/ML techniques and advanced computing infrastructures to transform the accuracy of the simulations, and to develop pathways to the deployment of the advanced algorithms to enhance the performance of practical treatment-planning software.
   • Status of first one; key speaker identified; focus in on 13Feb26 or 27Feb26.

4. Articles: RB, KL
   No update this week.
   • Frontiers in Physics
   • Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion
   • Ion-acoustic
   • Accelerator papers (WS)

5. Brm collaboration meeting update: JPar, KL
   Note we are in a transition from UKRI/IF funding to finding our own way. Key topics to raise at CM:
   • Industry/Philanthropy & portfolio funding model.
   • Funding/EU
   • Logo update as part of rebrand
   • Check whether present structure is fit going foward
   • With CDR complete, do author list refresh

6. Collaboration meeting dates: All
   • Sep25, Birmingham
     • 18/19 Sep;
       • Brm colleagues will update indico.
   • Spring 2026
     • Agreed to go to RAL.

7. DONM
   
   • Date of next meeting: 01Oct25 -- 16:00 BST

8. AoB
   
   • Actions for KL:
     • Date for PPD seminar
     • Check on NLRC presentation
     • Liaise with TG re Liverpool dates

---