HITRIplus: Heavy Ion Therapy Research Integration plus

The goal HITRIplus is to integrate and propel biophysics and medical research on cancer treatment with heavy ions beams while jointly developing its sophisticated instruments.
Cancer is a central health problem for our society. Heavy ion beams irradiate tumours by focussing on the ill tissue while sparing the healthy part around, more effectively than any other irradiation treatment. The wider objective of HITRIplus is to provide radiation oncologists with a cutting-edge tool to treat the fraction of tumours that are not curable with X-rays or protons or have better survival rates or lower recurrences with ions.
For this major initiative, HITRIplus has gathered a consortium engaging all relevant stakeholders and for the first time bringing together all four European ion therapy centres with leading EU industries, academia, and research laboratories. A strategic partner is the South East European International Institute for Sustainable Technologies (SEEIIST), which federates eight countries in South East Europe with the ambition to build a next generation heavy ion Research Infrastructure in the area, to boost research and cooperation in a region trying to rebuild after a troubled past.

Coordinator: CNAO, Italy

Scientist in Charge from CERN: 
Maurizio Vretenar

Full costs of the project: 9 M€

EU funding: 5 M€

EU funding for CERN: 342 k€

1 April 2021 - 31 March 2025