Purpose: This extraordinary woman worked her professional way from a radiation protection engineer to become the successful principal investigator of a prestigious international European project for a new radiation therapy (ERC Synergy grant, HORIZON 2020). The evaluation of the submitted proposal was very positive. The panel proposed that it be funded. Elke tragically passed away a few days before this conclusion of the panel. The present account describes her gradual career development; it includes many episodes that Elke personally chronicled in her curriculum of 2017.
Methods: An internet literature search was performed using Google Scholar and other sources to assist in the writing of this narrative review and account.
Conclusions: In parallel to the development of the new Biomedical Beamline ID17 at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility in Grenoble in the late nineties, Elke focused her interest and her personal and professional priorities on MRT, particularly on its clinical goals. She outlined her main objectives in several documents: (1) develop a new paradigm of cancer care by broadening the foundation for MRT. (2) Filling the gaps in basic biological knowledge about the mechanisms of MRT effects on normal and neoplastic tissues. (3) Broaden the preclinical level of evidence for the low normal organ toxicity of MRT versus standard X-ray irradiations; preclinical experiments involved the application of MRT to animal tumor patients, to animals of larger size than laboratory rodents, using larger radiation field sizes, and irradiating in a real-time scenario comparable to the one planned for human patients. (4) To foster the specific purpose of radiosurgical MRT of tumor patients at the ESRF that required development of new, specific state of the art modalities and tools for treatment planning, dosimetry, dose calculation, patient positioning and, of particular importance, redundant levels of patient safety. Just as she was about to take responsibility as principal investigator for a prestigious international European project on a new radiation therapy, death called Elke in.
Keywords: Synchrotron X-ray; clinical trial; microbeams; microdosimetry; patient safety system; treatment planning.