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Advanced Oncotherapy (AIM: AVO), the developer of next-generation proton therapy systems for cancer treatment, announces the appointment of Dr. Jonathan Farr as Senior Vice-President of Medical Physics with immediate effect. Dr. Farr will not be taking a Board position.

Dr. Farr is a medical physicist working in the treatment of cancer, specialising in proton therapy. His experience in developing high definition and accurate proton treatment systems, their clinical use and characterisation, advanced radiotherapy treatment planning and novel image guidance and patient positioning, closely matches the Company’s goal of commercialising the next generation of proton therapy systems. He will be based in Geneva and will be leading the clinical application of and further advances in LIGHT’s patient treatment systems.

Technological innovation has been at the forefront of Dr. Farr’s work. He has led teams involved in the development and implementation of beam focusing devices, conversion of research-centred proton accelerators to medical use, integration of robotic technology in precise patient positioning, computer optimised treatment planning, and robust, adaptive treatment.

As the Chief of Radiation Physics and Associate Professor at the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, USA, Dr. Farr developed and opened the first exclusively paediatric proton therapy centre in the world. At the University of Essen-Duisburg, Germany he is a Privat Dozent (Lifetime Associate Professor) in the medical faculty where he was previously Chief Medical Physicist at the Westdeutsches Protonentherapiezentrum, Essen, Germany. Dr. Farr has written many papers on advances in proton, other particle and X-ray radiotherapy, has held a variety of academic posts and is an international leading figure in medical physics.

Commenting on the appointment, Nicolas Serandour, CEO of Advanced Oncotherapy, said: “Jonathan provides us with extensive expertise in proton therapy patient treatment. He has a keen interest in innovation and is ideally suited to maximise the clinical benefits from LIGHT’s next-generation technology. His appointment, alongside Ed Lee’s, which was announced on 13 June, is a further endorsement of the ground-breaking work we are doing at Advanced Oncotherapy.  Jonathan will provide excellent leadership in the clinical application of LIGHT.”

Commenting on his appointment, Dr. Jonathan Farr, Senior Vice-President Medical Physics of Advanced Oncotherapy, said: “The next generation of proton therapy, embodied in AVO’s technologically superior system, will make proton therapy yet more effective and accessible. My new role with AVO is translating the complex proton therapy system into powerful and efficient application at the clinical level. Together with my experienced colleagues, we are working on optimisations to leverage the LIGHT system from clinical, patient access and shareholder points of view.  My international experience, honed in Europe and the United States, provides me with the unique ability to do this. I am delighted to be a part of AVO’s mission in transforming proton therapy for a new generation.”

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