Outreach

The life expectancy of the population has markedly increased due to the progress made in reducing death from acute conditions. However, advances in medicine indirectly led to a major rise in the burden of chronic long-term conditions. It is estimated that 75% of today’s healthcare expenditures are related to chronic diseases. Worldwide, there are approximately 33 million people who have had cancer diagnosed in the last five years. There are additional 37 million people who live with dementia and 8 million with parkinsonism. The financial burden of these diseases in the EU is close to 2 % of the EU BDP with €126 billion total expenditure for cancer, €105.2 billion for dementia, and €13.9 billion for parkinsonism.

Medical Physics Research Program (MPRP) is extremely ambitious in its efforts to address significant socio-economic challenges in healthcare in Slovenia and worldwide, focusing on each of the three MPRP research pillars on:

1. Early and more accurate diagnosis of cancer, neurodegenerative disorders, and inflammatory diseases by developing novel Quantitative Imaging Biomarkers and improved imaging technologies.
2. Personalized medicine accounting for biological heterogeneity by developing innovative treatment strategies spanning from immunotherapies, theranostics, and image-guided interventions.
3. Developing disease models to allow a better understanding of the fundamental causes of diseases and response to treatment, including novel approaches to big data analytics.