Jay Flanz

After receiving his PhD in nuclear physics, Dr. Jacob Flanz became accelerator physics group leader and principal research scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), USA. There he designed the recirculator and the GeV stretcher/storage ring. He joined Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and Harvard and became project and technical director of proton therapy and Associate Professor, with responsibility for specifications, integration, and commissioning ensuring safe clinical performance. He invented the symmetry corrected second order achromat, universal nozzle and led the design and implementation of beam scanning at MGH in 2008, including quality assurance techniques. Dr. Flanz has been involved in several FDA applications for particle therapy including safety analyses and device validation. He has concentrated on a program of continual upgrades and improvements to ensure safe, state-of-the-art treatment for particle therapy patients. He developed and taught the US Particle Accelerator School course "Medical Applications of Accelerators and Beams." He was co-chair of education and is currently the president of the Particle Therapy Co-Operative Group an international organization of more than 4,300 members.