MEDIRAD project "implications of medical low-dose radiation exposure": Enhancing the protection of patients and health professionals from exposure to low-dose medical radiation

The EC-funded project MEDIRAD addresses numerous low-dose exposure situations for patients and workers in the medical context, to further develop risk models and draw operational recommendations for improving radiation protection. The four-year project (2017-2021) relies on a 33-partner consortium from 14 European countries and is coordinated by the European Institute for Biomedical Imaging Research (EIBIR, AT). Prof. Elisabeth Cardis (ISGlobal, ES) and Prof. Guy Frija (Universite Paris Descartes, FR) are the scientific coordinator and the clinical coordinator, respectively. The MEDIRAD Project consists of six interdependent and complimentary Work Packages (WPs). WP1: project management and dissemination; WP2: dose evaluation and optimisation in medical imaging; WP3: impact of low-dose radiation exposure from I-131 radioiodine in thyroid cancer treatment; WP4: breast radiotherapy and secondary cardiovascular risks; WF5: possible health impact of paediatric scanning; WP6: bringing together medical and nuclear scientific communities for radiation protection purposes. The Italian National Institute of Health (ISS), thanks to its consolidated experience in the field of quality assurance in radiological sciences, will contribute to the latter issue coordinating a Working Group to develop recommendations on patient radiological protection, directed to the medical communities, considering the scientific outcomes of the MEDIRAD WPs and the stakeholders'comments.