Petra Kok received her MSc in Computational Science from Utrecht University in 2002. She started her professional career as a PhD student at the department of Radiation Oncology of the Academic Medical Center in Amsterdam (AMC; currently Amsterdam UMC) and received her PhD degree in 2007 (PhD thesis “Treatment planning for locoregional and intraluminal hyperthermia”).,

After that, she continued her research in the field of hyperthermia as a postdoc and she is presently a principal investigator and appointed as an associate professor at Amsterdam UMC. She leads several multidisciplinary research projects and has a main focus on hyperthermia treatment planning for various heating techniques, including loco-regional, superficial, capacitive heating and HIPEC for clinical application, as well as small scale phased-array heating for preclinical research. Another important research topic is biological modeling to translate radiosensitization by hyperthermia into an equivalent radiation dose.

The versatile and flexible hyperthermia treatment planning software developed, Plan2Heat, has been commercialized by Med-Logix Srl, Rome, Italy. Biological modeling research has led to a collaboration with RaySearch Laboratories, and a recently implemented framework for combined treatment optimization in a research version of RayStation.

She has more than 100 peer reviewed publications in PubMed.
H-index google scholar; July 2025: 41.
H-index web of science; July 2025: 33.
Full list of publications: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=Cu5bAJ8AAAAJ&hl=nl

Biography

Dr. Emanuel Stutz is Head of the Hyperthermia Unit and Consultant in the Department of Radiation Oncology at the University Hospital Inselspital Bern, Switzerland. He established the hospital’s superficial and deep hyperthermia program, which has treated approximately 250 patients—each in combination with radiotherapy—since its clinical launch three years ago. Actively engaged in both patient care and the clinical application of superficial and deep hyperthermia, Dr. Stutz is also the principal investigator of a national, multicenter Phase II trial funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation. This study evaluates a multimodal, total neoadjuvant treatment for Sarculator-defined high-risk soft tissue sarcoma, combining chemotherapy and hyperthermia, followed by radiotherapy and surgery. His clinical and research interests focus on sarcomas, bulky tumors, and the identification of predictive factors for hyperthermia response. He serves on the boards of the Swiss Hyperthermia Network (SHN) and the European Society of Hyperthermic Oncology (ESHO), and is a member of the Hyperthermia Focus Group within the European Society for Radiotherapy and Oncology (ESTRO).

Biography

Professor in Biomedical Engineering with a focus on biomedical applications of electromagnetic fields. My research is dedicated to the engineering and development of microwave hyperthermia systems, including technology for focalized heating of tumours in difficult-to-treat regions such as the brain and head and neck, as well as the application of microwaves in medical diagnostics and treatment. I currently serve as Chair of the Technical Committee of the European Society for Hyperthermic Oncology, where I lead the development of standards for hyperthermia devices, including their testing protocols and clinical implementation.

Quentin Pankhurst (QP) is Professor of Physics and Director of Healthcare Biomagnetics Laboratory at University College London – one of the top universities in the UK, and consistently rated one of the top 20 higher education institutions in the world.

QP has published more than 250 papers in peer-refereed international journals, with 21,500+ citations to date and an h-index of 52.

QP is a co-founder of three spinout companies: Endomagnetics Ltd in 2007; Resonant Circuits Limited in 2009; and MediSieve Ltd in 2014.

• • Endomagnetics received a Queen’s Award for Enterprise in 2018; a Queen’s Award for International Trade in 2021, and a King’s Award for International Trade in 2024; has ca. 150 employees; and has brought cancer treatment interventions to more than 800,000 patients to date. In 2024 it was acquired by Hologic Therapeutics Inc. for ca. $310M.

• • Resonant Circuits Limited has just completed a clinical trial in Barcelona, evaluating magnetic thermotherapy as an adjunctive intervention alongside standard-of-care chemotherapy to the treatment of pancreatic cancer patients with non-resectable locally-advanced tumours.

• • In 2020 MediSieve received a £2.2M UK Government grant to adapt its cytokine-cleansing haemofiltration technology to the battle against Covid-19 and successfully completed initial clinical investigations on healthy volunteers in 2022. To date his companies have generated 200+ FTE new jobs in the UK, Europe, and the USA.

QP was born and raised in New Zealand and has lived in England since 1983. He is married and has two daughters.

PROFFESIONAL EXPERIENCES

• 2023- Clinical Professor, Department Chair of Therapeutic Radiology, University Hospital of Occupational and Environmental Health.
• 2017-2022 Associate Professor, Department Chair of Therapeutic Radiology, University Hospital of Occupational and Environmental Health, Kitakyushu.
• 2016 Department of Radiology, University Hospital of Occupational and Environmental Health.
• 1997-1999 Resident, University Hospital of Occupational and Environmental Health

EDUCATION

• 2003 Graduate school at University of Occupational and Environmental Health, Department of Pathology and Oncology
• 1991 Medical school, University of Occupational and Environmental Health

MEMBERSHIPS

Editorial board of International Journal of Hyperthermia
Member of the Japanese Society for Thermal Medicine
Member of the Japanese Society of Radiation Oncology

HONORS and AWARDS

Japanese Society for Thermal Medicine (JSTM), Society Award 2020
Int. J. Hyperthermia, Informa-Yamamoto Editorial Award 2011

MAJOR RESEARCH INTERESTS

Hyperthermic Oncology, especially for deep regional hyperthermia, and Radiation Oncology
especially for Re-irradiation, IMRT, Stereotactic Radiotherapy and Oligometastases.

Dr. Ashish Ranjan is an Endowed Professor and Vice Chair of Comparative Oncology & Research Innovations, and Director of the Veterinary Research & Oncology Center (VROC) within the Department of Radiation Oncology at UT Southwestern Medical Center. Prior to joining UTSW, he held the Kerr Foundation Endowed Chair at the College of Veterinary Medicine, Oklahoma State University, where he also directed the INTERACT program.

Dr. Ranjan’s laboratory is internationally recognized for advancing device–drug combination strategies in comparative oncology, with translational studies spanning murine models and companion animals with naturally occurring cancers. At UTSW, he is leading the development of a cross-species clinical trial platform that embodies the One Medicine/One Health paradigm.

His research portfolio focuses on integrating focused ultrasound with nanomedicine to reprogram the tumor microenvironment in treatment-resistant cancers such as melanoma, soft tissue sarcoma, and metastatic disease. His lab is supported by federal, state, and private foundation funding and maintains active collaborations with both academic and industry partners.

A veterinarian by training with deep expertise in translational oncology, Dr. Ranjan is committed to bridging animal and human health through innovative cancer therapies. He is the recipient of numerous honors, including the NIH MERIT Award, and serves on advisory boards for several research foundations.