Charged particle radiobiology in Italy and the role played by INFN: from an historical overview to the recent opportunities in the European context

by Mauro Belli (Istituto Superiore di Sanità (ISS) and INFN-Roma1, Roma National delegate at the Consultative Committee Programme Euratom-Fission)

Wednesday 10 Jul 2013, 11:00 → 12:00 Europe/Rome

Rostagni meeting room (INFN-LNL)

Radiobiology with charged particles was started in Italy since many decades at physics laboratories where accelerators were available for interdisciplinary applications such as those in Milan, Naples, and Legnaro. The peculiar spatio-temporal properties of accelerated charged particles were found the key for interpreting the radiobiological effectiveness of densely ionizing radiation.
A special role has been played by LNL, where a radiobiology facility for low energy light ions was set up in 1985. Examples of findings obtained there will be described in this talk.
Charged particle radiobiology was stimulated by the development of hadrontherapy centres and by the increasing interest in radiation protection during manned space flights.
Recently, the radiation quality issue was addressed as part of the European effort for assessing the  health effects of low dose and/or protracted exposures. The opportunities given by the Euratom Programme and the so-called MELODI initiative will be described also in relation to the INFN activities in this field.