The presentation ceremony took place at the University of Almería, attended by the rector, José J. Céspedes; the president of the AECC in Almería, Magdalena Cantero; the scholarship recipient, Nelson García Román; and his project directors, professors Ester Martín Garzón and Juana López Redondo, from the Supercomputing and Algorithms Group.
Rector Céspedes highlighted the grant's significance, both for its amount and social impact, congratulating Nelson García for successfully navigating a competitive selection process based on the scientific quality of his proposal and the research group's prestige. He noted that the thesis results could be highly relevant for the treatment of cancer patients.
Magdalena Cantero, president of the AECC in Almería, emphasized that research is crucial for progress against cancer. She detailed that the Association supports Spain's largest cancer research network, with over €157 million awarded and 1,950 advances generated since 2020. In Almería, €500,000 is already allocated to research at the UAL.
Nelson García Román's thesis, titled 'Improving radiotherapy planning with deep learning', will apply artificial intelligence to optimize radiotherapy planning. The goal is to achieve more personalized oncological treatments, reducing planning times and side effects, thereby improving patients' quality of life.
The researcher explained that radiotherapy is a fundamental tool, but anticipating patient changes during treatment is a major challenge. His project aims for more precise, personalized, and adaptive radiotherapy, using AI and high-performance computing to create a 'virtual patient' or 'digital twin'.
Thesis directors Gracia Ester Martín Garzón and Juana López Redondo expressed gratitude for the external support and funding, emphasizing their respect for working with data representing individuals and their enthusiasm for improving the situation of cancer patients.
With this fourth grant, the AECC in Almería has now invested €500,000 in research, encompassing four predoctoral scholarships, two UAL-Transfiere projects, and one summer internship scholarship.
