Dr. Jonathan Berthold, research associate at CASUS, receives the Christoph Schmelzer Prize 2023 for his dissertation entitled “Evaluation of a detector system for prompt gamma radiation for treatment monitoring in clinical proton therapy irradiation”. In it, he deals with the use of gamma radiation, which is generated by the interaction of proton beams with the irradiated tissue, to verify the spatial distribution of the dose. The prize money amounts to 1,500 euros.

The Christoph Schmelzer Prizes were awarded for the 25th time at a ceremony on November 20, 2023. They are presented each year by the Verein zur Förderung der Tumortherapie mit schweren Ionen e.V. for outstanding master’s and doctoral theses in the field of tumor therapy with ion beams. The association is closely associated with the GSI Helmholtz Center for Heavy Ion Research in Darmstadt, where the award ceremony also took place. The Christoph Schmelzer Prize is named after the first Scientific Director and founder of GSI.

Berthold studied physics. He wrote his dissertation as a doctoral student at the HZDR and earned his doctorate at the Technical University of Dresden. He then joined CASUS. As part of the Open Project “AI-supported decision support for treatment interventions and approvals within an adaptive online workflow for proton therapy”, he works closely with the OncoRay – National Center for Radiation Research in Oncology in Dresden, focusing on data science issues raised by his doctoral thesis.