Om mig
I am a physicist from Italy, specialized in Medical Physics. I moved to Sweden in 1988.
I am associate professor at Stockholm University since 2008, where I also got my PhD in 1998 (Thesis title: Modelling heart and lung complication data in radiation therapy of the breast).
Since 2010 I am employed as Head of the Section of Radiotherapy Physics and Engineering at Karolinska University Hospital. The section is part of the Medical Radiation Physics and Nuclear Medicine Unit. The group comprises about 40 people; they are medical physicists and engineers providing medical radiation physics and Hardware/Software competence to the Radiotherapy Medical Unit and to the Gammaknife department at Karolinska University Hospital, to the Skandion proton center in Uppsala and to St Erik Ophthalmologic Hospital (St Erik Ögon Sjukhus) in Stockholm.
My position as Head of department started in 2010. Earlier I was employed for several years as Medical Physicist at Karolinska Hospital.
My tasks as head of department focus on management of clinic, research and education within the discipline. This includes identification of research- and development goals relevant to the clinical activity, and in alignment with the research and development goals of Karolinska University Hospital and of Karolinska Insititute
· My scientific production has led to 42 articles in peer-reviewed journals, three reports for SSM (Swedish Radiation Safety Authority), one report for the European Union, 1 book chapter.
By August 2022 I had 5826 citations and an h-index of 28 (Scopus).
· I am currently co-supervisor of two KI PhD students, a medical oncologist and a medical physicist, respectively. I have been co-supervisor of 1 PhD student at KI, supervised 5 MSc students at Stockholm University and 1 Speciality Student in Medical Physics at Milano University.
I am member of the radiotherapy R&D group at Karolinska/KI
I am member of the Swedish Society of Radiation Oncology since 2021
I am member of the ESTRO Physics Leadership group since 2021
· I have acted as opponent of 2 PhD theses, in the Netherlands and in Denmark, respectively, and been part of the examination Committee of 4 PhD theses.
· I have been a member of the Scientific Council on ionizing radiation within Oncology for the Swedish Radiation Safety Agency (2010-2012)
· I have been a member of the ESTRO board - European SocieTy for Radiotherapy and Oncology (2003-2006)
· I lecture at graduate and post-graduate courses within curricula for medical physicists, radiation therapists and oncologists at international academic sites. I have been part of the Faculty of the ESTRO course on Advanced Radiotherapy Modalities and of the Royal Marsden course in Medical Physics. I have been invited lecturer up to now in 20 national and European conferences, and at 25 national and international courses.
· I have been the organizer of several European courses and have been the scientific chair, i.e- chair of the scientific program committee, for two ESTRO conferences (European SocieTy for Radiotherapy and Oncology) in 2003 and 2006 respectively.
In my affiliation to KI, I am committed to
1.Strengthening the research profile of radiation therapy within KI, in line with the Cancer Comprehensive Center strategy plan
2.Facilitating the integration and implementation of basic research and development of radiation therapy in the clinic, with special focus to Medical Radiation Physics
3. Reinforcing the dialogue and the interaction between clinic, education and research from the Medical Physics Science perspective
Forskningsbeskrivning
Modelling of radiation therapy side effects
I have been involved in several projects within modelling of radiotherapy side effects, a field where I have actively worked since the early period of modern 3D conformal therapy.
Cardiac and lung complication after radiation therapy of the breast have been the core of my studies, which have followed the changes and the implications for the field introduced by the technologic evolution in radiation therapy during almost three decades. The research has contributed to the identification of constraints, i.e. numbers which drive the optimization of treatment plans for heart and lung to be used in the clinical practice. The analyses have been performed initially in terms of literature studies and later on large patient groups, which was necessary for the modelling of such severe and late complications. The studies have been performed in collaborations, one of them was the EU project RACE, together with UK, Denmark and Italy. I have also been involved in several studies modelling lung complications after Stereotactic Body RadioTherapy (SBRT) and actively worked on the modelling of normal tissue complications following prostate radiotherapy in collaboration with Italian centers.
I am currently part of a study which investigates the normal tissue complication following Head and Neck radiation therapy, based on real life data collected from a large cohort of patients. Predictive models of Xerostomia, identification of organs at risk for swallowing dysfunction, re-irradiations issues are the main goals of the research project which is entirely conducted within Karolinska University Hospital and KI (dr Eva Onjukka is the project PI).
Over the years I have organized the scientific program of several courses on normal tissue complication modeling issues and have lectured on this subject, mostly in international conferences and courses.
Radiotherapy in the treatment of Oesophageal cancer
Radiotherapy plays a major role in oesophagus cancer treatment, either with curative or palliative intent. A collaboration with Clintec on this subject has started, where high definition radiotherapy data for different studies and analyses are provided.
In particular a randomized international multicenter study, the NEEDS trial (NEoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy for Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma versus Definitive chemoradiotherapy with salvage Surgery as needed), has recently started under the lead of prof Magnus Nilsson, Clintec. In this study curative chemoradiotherapy with selective surgery when needed for local tumour control will be compared to nCRT and planned surgery for all. The participation in the study of several centers from all over the world requires a robust Quality Assurance program for Radiation Therapy (QA RT) in order to ensure that the participating centers deliver the prescribed radiation doses in compliance with the clinical protocol. The QA RT program has been set up and is run by the Medical Physics group in collaboration with the Radiation Therapy medical unit.
Imaging and motion management in high-precision radiotherapy
During the last two decades there has been increased use of high-precision radiotherapy by SBRT for the treatment of small tumours in lung and liver with ablative dose of about 7-20 Gy per fraction, compared to the conventional daily fraction of 2 Gy. The approach shift differs also when it comes to the radiobiological effect. When treating central lung tumours, serious side effects, such as bronchopulmonay haemorrage, can occur and have to be taken into account in treatment planning. The tumour movements, e.g. due to breathing, need to be characterized and incorporated into the treatment planning with procedures which limit as much as possible the irradiated normal tissue volume. In a PhD project on this subject, where I act as co-supervisor, the main addressed questions are the accumulated dose to bronchi in the treatment of central lung tumors; the development of a method to define individualized safety margins around the tumour, based on 4D_CT image series; and the estimation of breathing-related tumor movements based on dynamic MR imaging.
These studies are partly included in a PhD program, where I am co-supervisor.
Selected publications
Neoadjuvant Chemoradiotherapy and Surgery for Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma Versus Definitive Chemoradiotherapy With Salvage Surgery as Needed: The Study Protocol for the Randomized Controlled NEEDS Trial
Front. Oncol., 13 July 2022, https://doi.org/10.3389/fonc.2022.917961
- LO.A, Ronckers C, Aznar M.C, Avanzo M, van Dijk I, Kremer L.C.M, Gagliardi G, Howe,, R, Rancati T, Constine L.S
Breast hypoplasia and decreased lactation from radiotherapy in survivors of pediatric malignancy: A PENTEC comprehensive review
Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 2021, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijrobp.2021.08.032
- Cella L, Gagliardi G, Hedman M, Palma G
Injuries from Asymptomatic COVID-19 disease: new hidden toxicity risk factors in thoracic radiation therapy
Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 2020 Oct 1; 108(2): 394–396, doi: 10.1016/j.ijrobp.2020.06.055
- Onjukka E, Mercke C, Björgvinsson E, …Gagliardi G, et al
Modeling of Xerostomia After Radiotherapy for Head and Neck Cancer: A Registry Study
Frontiers in Oncology 10, 2020, DOI: 10.3389/fonc.2020.01647
- Clark C, Gagliardi G, Heijmen B, Malicki J, Thorwarth D, Verellen D, Muren LP
Adapting training for medical physicists to match future trends in radiation oncology (Editorial)
Physics and Imaging in Radiation Oncology, 11, 2019, 71-75
- Onjukka E, Fiorino C, Cicchetti A, Palorini F, Improta I, Gagliardi G et al
Patterns in ano-rectal dose maps and the risk of late toxicity after prostate IMRT
Acta Oncol 2019 Jul 12:1-8 doi: 10.1080/0284186X.2019.1635267
- Bjöhle J, Onjukka E, Rintela N, Eloranta S, Gagliardi G, Liljegren A
Post-mastectomy radiation therapy with or without implant-based reconstruction is safe in terms of clinical target volume coverage and survival - A matched cohort study.
Radiother Oncol. 2019 Feb;131:229-236. doi: 10.1016/j.radonc.2018.07.005.
- Moiseenko V, Einck J, Murphy J, Ödén J, Bjöhle J, Uzan J, Gagliardi G.
Acta Oncol. Dec;55(12):1506-1510, 2016
- Nyholm T, Olsson C, Agrup M, Björk P, Björk-Eriksson T, Gagliardi G, et al
A national approach for automated collection of standardized and population-based radiation therapy data in Sweden
Radiother Oncol 119 344-50, 2016
- Bortfeld T, Torresin A, Fiorino C, Andreo P, Gagliardi G, Jeraj R, et al
The research versus clinical service role of medical physics.
Radiother Oncol. 114(3):285-8, 2015
- Darby SC, Ewertz M, McGale P, Bennet ..Cutter D, Gagliardi G et al:
Risk of ischemic heart disease in women after radiotherapy for breast cancer.
N Engl J Med. 368(11):987-98, 2013
- Wennberg B, Baumann P, Gagliardi G, et al
NTCP modelling of lung toxicity after SBRT comparing the universal survival curve and the linear quadratic model for fractionation correction
Acta Oncol.;50(4):518-27, 2011
- Gagliardi G, Constine L, Moiseenko V, Correa C, Pierce LJ, Allen AM, Marks LB
Radiation associated heart injury
Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys, 76, 3, S77-S85, 2010
- Baumann P, Nyman J, Hoyer M, Wennberg B, Gagliardi G et al
Outcome in a prospective phase II trial of medically inoperable stage I NSCLC patients treated with stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT).
Journal of Clinical Oncology, 2009, 27 (20):3290-96
- Taylor CW, Nisbet A, McGale P, Goldman U, Darby SC, Hall P, Gagliardi G.
Cardiac doses from Swedish breast cancer radiotherapy since the 1950’s
Radiotherapy and Oncology, 90, 127-135, 2009
- Rancati T., Wennberg B., Lind P., Svane G., Gagliardi G.
Early clinical and radiological complications following breast cancer radiation therapy: NTCP fit with four different models
Radiotherapy and Oncology, 82: 308-316, 2007
- Lax I., Panettieri V, Wennberg B, Duch MA, Näslund I, Baumann P, Gagliardi G
Dose distributions in SBRT of lung tumors - Comparison between two different treatment planning algorithms and Monte-Carlo simulation including breathing motions
Acta Oncol. 45(7):978-88, 2006
- Rancati T., Fiorino C., Gagliardi G., Cattaneo G.M. et al.
Late rectal bleeding: fitting late rectal bleeding data using different NTCP models: results from an italian multicentric study (AIROPROS0101)
Radiotherapy and Oncology, vol 7: 21- 32, 2004
- Gagliardi G., Lax I, Rutqvist LE
Partial irradiation of the heart
Seminars in Radiation Oncology, vol 11, No 3: 224 – 233, 2001
- Gagliardi G, Bjöhle J, Ottolenghi A, Lax I, Lidberg A, Erikkson F, Lind P, Rutqvist LE
Radiation pneumonitis after radiotherapy for breast cancer: analysis of the complication probability using the relative seriality model
Int. J. Rad. Onc. Biol. Phys, 46 (2): 373 - 381, 2000
- Eriksson F., Gagliardi G., Liedberg A., Lax I., Lee C., Levitt S., Lind B., Rutqvist L.E.
Long-term cardiac mortality following radiation therapy for Hodgkin’s disease: analysis with the relative seriality model.
Radiotherapy and Oncology, 55 (2): 152 – 162, 2000
- Gagliardi G, Lax I, Ottolenghi A, Rutqvist L.E
Long term cardiac mortality after radiotherapy of breast cancer - Application of the relative seriality model.
British Journal of Radiology, 69: 839-846, 1996
Reports
- 2011:25, Report from SSM’s scientific council on ionizing radiation within oncology, 2010
http://www.stralsakerhetsmyndigheten.se/Publikationer/Rapport/Stralskydd/2011/201125/
- 2012:20, Report from SSM’s scientific council on ionizing radiation within oncology, 2011, 2012:20
http://www.stralsakerhetsmyndigheten.se/Publikationer/Rapport/Stralskyd…
- 2014:03 Report from SSM’s scientific council on ionizing radiation within oncology, 2012
http://www.stralsakerhetsmyndigheten.se/Publikationer/Rapport/Stralskyd…
- Cardiovascular disease after radiotherapy
EU Scientific Seminar 2013 - “Radiation induced long-term health effects after medical exposure", Luxembourg
https://ec.europa.eu/energy/sites/ener/files/documents/RP182web.pdf ISSN 2315-2826 (published 2015)