Faculty of Physics, Astronomy
and Applied Computer Science

On June 15th, the CT (Computed Tomography) machine was delivered to the Center for Theranostics, Kopernika 40. It marks the arrival of the first component for the total-body J-PET, a significant milestone in the center's development. Below please find some photos from the departure of the equipment from Türkiye and its arrival to Kraków.

Opening Ceremony of the Center for Theranostics took place on 5th June 2023 in the Theranostics Center building in Kopernika 40 Street in Kraków. Prof. Paweł Moskal and Prof. Ewa Stępień gave the lectures on the history of the place and planned projects. The ceremony was attended, among others, by Prof. Włodzimierz Bernacki, the vice Minister of Education and Science, and Prof. Piotr Kuśtrowski, the vice Rector of the Jagiellonian University. More informations can be found in https://qlife.cm-uj.krakow.pl/aktualnosci/uroczyste-otwarcie-centrum-teranostyki-uj

Szymon Parzych got distinction for the best talk during conference XVI Rzeszowska Konferencja Młodych Fizyków organized at University of Rzeszów.

Professor Ewa Ł. Stępień, prof. Paweł Moskal, dr Szymon Niedźwiecki and dr Magdalena Marzec, the representatives of the Department of Experimental Particle Physics and Applications and the Department of Medical Physics, building the Theranostics Center, had the pleasure of visiting between March 27 to April 1, 2023 the laboratories of iThemba LABS at the invitation of the directors and Dr. Faical Azaiez and Dr. Rudolph Nchodu and the head of the Radiation Biophysics Laboratory, Dr. Randal Fisher. iThemba LABS near Cape Town (South Africa) is a group of acceleration laboratories (Laboratories for Accelerator Based Science _ iTlemba LABS https://tlabs.ac.za/), where particle accelerators (linear and cyclotrons) are used as research tools to study the structure and properties of matter and for the production of medical radioisotopes used in diagnostics, imaging and therapy. During the 5-day visit, seminars were delivered combined with familiarization with the accelerators located at iThemba LABS, including 200-MeV Separated Sector Cyclotron (SSC) powered by two fixed-pole cyclotrons to pre-accelerate the beam. In 2023, the flagship iThemba South African Isotope Facility (SAIF) project was launched, the aim of which is to increase the availability of beams for research and to develop new research areas on new and innovative solutions in the field of cancer treatment and early diagnosis. In this field, both iThemba LABS and the Center for Theranostics want to establish long-term cooperation, under which new radioisotopes and radiopharmaceuticals will be created, but also the use of innovative techniques for imaging and diagnostics of early stages of cancer.

On 26th of February we had a pleasure of visiting colleagues from Inselspital Bern: Lorenzo Mercolli, Hasan Sari, Kuangyu Shi, Axel Rominger. In collaboration with Will Steinberger from Siemens and Lorenzo Mercolli from Inselspital we performed experiments with modified NEMA phantom in view of ortho-positronium lifetime measurements with 68Ga isotope. During the visit prof. Paweł Moskal and prof. Ewa Stępień delivered a talk about positronium imaging and biomarkers development.

Meysam Dadgar defended PhD thesis entitled: Feasibility study of lesion detection by means of Total-Body Jagiellonian Positron Emission Tomography scanner at 2022.12.21 under the supervision of Professor Pawel Moskal.

Professor Ewa Stępień takes part among 50 invited experts from around the world in Sparks! Forum at CERN.
The theme for the second edition of the Sparks! Forum is Future Technology for Health. CERN has actively pursued medical applications of its technologies since as far back as the 1970s. The tools of experimental particle physics are ubiquitous in hospitals and biomedical research. However, Sparks! goes beyond what is done at CERN.
Spanning the domains of prevention, diagnosis, and treatment, the topics for this edition of Sparks! will spark new questions about the links between medical technologies and fundamental science, globalization, accessibility, trust, ethics, and more. We will be calling on doctors, tech developers, economists, policymakers, ethicists, patient associations, medical researchers, humanitarian organizations, medical foundations, UN agencies, data specialists, climate modelers, AI developers, and journalists to discuss the topics listed below - and any others that arise in the process!
The second edition of Sparks! Future Technology for Health on YouTube

During the National Education Day celebration at the Jagiellonian University professor Ewa Stępień received the Gold Cross of Merit awarded by the president of Poland. This prestigious distinction was awarded to Prof. Ewa Stępień for her outstanding contribution to developing laboratory and imaging medical diagnostics. One of the photos shows from left to right:
Łukasz Kmita, Voivode of Lesser Poland
Prof. Ewa Stepień
Prof. Zdzisław Pogoda
Prof. Jacek Popiel, Rector of the Jagiellonian University

Prof. Piotr Słomka from Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles our distinguished guest and keynote speaker at the Jagiellonian Symposium gave an interview to Radio Kraków about Artificial Intelligence in Medicine.

Prof. Ewa Stępień during Jagiellonian Symposium gave an interview to Radio Kraków about the development of novel biomarkers.

Poster Award Committee Prof. Catalina Curceanu and Prof. Ihor Kadenko announced that there were two 1st prices ex aequo for:

• Monika Szczepanek from Jagiellonian University, Poland: "Determination of 10B concentration in melanocytes and melanoma cells";
• Deepak Kumar from Jagiellonian University, Poland: "Measurement of correlation between polarization of annihilation photons emitted in e+e- system to detect entanglement at subMeV range".

Congratulations!