Fitxa persona

With regard to indicators of his research career, Dr. Javier Vijande has achieved the maximum number of research merits possible in his field (three). He has supervised six doctoral theses, all of them awarded the distinction of Excellent cum laude. According to the Scopus database, he is the author of 183 publications, most of them in Q1 and Q2 journals, which have accumulated a total of 3,489 citations, with an h-index of 31. Concerning participation in scientific forums, he has been a regular contributor at both national and international conferences, averaging at least one or two international conferences per year, several of them as an invited plenary speaker. His activity is further complemented by numerous research stays at prestigious international institutions and by active collaborations with groups from various organizations.

At present, Dr. Vijande leads a research line focused on medical physics, specifically radiotherapy. He is the head of the Medical Physics Group at the University of Valencia (https://go.uv.es/javia/GIUV-IRIMED), specialized in the application of Monte Carlo simulations to radiotherapy systems, both internal (brachytherapy) and external (teletherapy), with the aim of conducting dosimetric studies in clinical scenarios. Beyond his scientific contributions, this research line has also fostered collaborations with leading companies in the field, resulting in prototypes that are currently commercialized (go.uv.es/javia/Elekta, www.esteya.com, go.uv.es/javia/Inserto, among others).

His international profile is reflected in his active participation in regulatory bodies and major professional societies, particularly the American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM) and the European Society for Radiotherapy and Oncology (ESTRO). Within the AAPM, he chaired the Working Group on Model-Based Dose Calculation Algorithms in Brachytherapy (2017-2023), of which he remains a member, alongside the Brachytherapy Subcommittee and the Brachytherapy Source Registry Working Group. Since 2024, he has chaired the Working Group on Brachytherapy Dosimetry. These groups are tasked with developing test cases to validate new dose-calculation algorithms in clinical practice, reviewing brachytherapy seeds submitted for inclusion in the AAPM Source Registry (a prerequisite for hospital use), and, more broadly, coordinating clinical practice in brachytherapy within the North American and European contexts.

Within ESTRO, Dr. Vijande is a member of the BRAchytherapy PHYsics Quality Assurance System (BRAPHYQS) working group, where he contributes to the development of European recommendations for calibration, traceability, and clinical use of brachytherapy sources, and serves as a representative in the ESTRO Physics Guidelines Sub-Group. In addition, he has been appointed by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) as an expert to collaborate in the program of the Comissão Nacional de Energia Nuclear (IPEN-CNEN/SP, São Paulo) entitled Ensuring High-Quality Production of Brachytherapy Sources for Cancer Treatment.