During his career, Durante gained extensive experience in the
biophysics of heavy
ions and
space radiation protection[1] performing experiments in top-level institutes all over the world. He developed a new method for biodosimetry of charged particles in order to estimate the late risks of patient undergoing radiotherapy, as well as to predict the consequences of long-term exposures for the astronauts. Concerning space research, he also developed a technique to evaluate the shielding effectiveness of different materials using high-energy ions.[2]
Full professor at the
Technical University of Darmstadt, Durante is president of the Particle Therapy Co-Operative Group (
PTCOG) from July 2022 and previously served in the
European Space Agency (ESA) Life Sciences Advisory Group, in the Human Exploration Science Advisory Committee (HESAC) and in the program advisory committees of the
GANIL center (France) and
KVI Center for Advanced Radiation Technology (Netherlands)
particle accelerators. He is currently director of the
biophysics department of
GSI Helmholtz Centre for Heavy Ion Research, and is responsible for the biophysics research in the future
FAIR accelerator in Darmstadt. He was previously director of
TIFPA in Trento and is a member of the scientific committee of the
Italian National Centre of Oncological Hadrontherapy (CNAO, Pavia, Italy).
During his studies he developed strong interest in charged particle therapy, cosmic radiation, radiation cytogenetics, radiation biophysics. With his research, he gave outstanding contributions in radiation biophysics.[4]
Currently, Durante's research efforts are directed toward the optimization of charged particle therapy, mainly focusing on reducing the costs and increasing the benefits of this treatment.[5] Concerning radiation risk during space exploration, Durante is involved in experimental and theoretical studies aiming at the improvement of the risk assessment.[6]
He is recipient of a 2020
European Research Council Advanced Grant on radioactive ion beams in radiotherapy (
BARB).
Awards
International Association for Radiation Research 2023
Henry S. Kaplan award
Galileo Galilei prize from the European Federation of Organizations for Medical Physics (2005).
Publications
Durante is co-author of over 450 papers in peer-reviewed scientific journals (Scopus h-index=61),[7] including high-impact factor reviews on
Nature Journal,
Lancet Oncology,
PNAS, and Reviews of Modern Physics, and is member of the Editorial Board of several of them.
Selected recent publications:
C. Graeff, L. Volz, M. Durante, Emerging technologies for cancer therapy using accelerated particles, Prog. Part. Nucl. Phys. 131 (2023) 104046. [8]
M.-C. Vozenin, J. Bourhis, M. Durante, Towards clinical translation of FLASH radiotherapy, Nat. Rev. Clin. Oncol. 19 (2022) 791–803. [9]
M. Durante, J. Debus, J.S. Loeffler, Physics and biomedical challenges of cancer therapy with accelerated heavy ions, Nat. Rev. Phys. 3 (2021) 777–790. [10]
M. Durante, A. Golubev, W.-Y. Park, C. Trautmann, Applied nuclear physics at the new high-energy particle accelerator facilities, Phys. Rep. 800 (2019) 1–37. [11]
M. Durante, R. Orecchia, J.S. Loeffler, Charged-particle therapy in cancer: clinical uses and future perspectives, Nat. Rev. Clin. Oncol. 14 (2017) 483–495.[12]
F. Natale, A. Rapp, W. Yu, A. Maiser, H. Harz, A. Scholl, S. Grulich, T. Anton, D. Hörl, W. Chen, M. Durante, G. Taucher-Scholz, H. Leonhardt, M.C. Cardoso, Identification of the elementary structural units of the DNA damage response, Nat. Commun. 8 (2017).[13]
R.L. Hughson, A. Helm, M. Durante, Heart in space: effect of the extraterrestrial environment on the cardiovascular system, Nat. Rev. Cardiol. 15 (2017)[14]
J. Mirsch, F. Tommasino, A. Frohns, S. Conrad, M. Durante, M. Scholz, T. Friedrich, M. Löbrich, Direct measurement of the 3-dimensional DNA lesion distribution induced by energetic charged particles in a mouse model tissue, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 112 (2015) 12396–12401.[15]
Durante M., Reppingen N., Held KD. Immunologically augmented cancer treatment using modern radiotherapy Trends Mol. Med. 19 (2013) 565-582.[16]
Loeffler JS., Durante M. Charged particle therapy - optimization, challenges and future directions Nat. Rev. Clin. Oncol. 10 (2013) 411-424.[5]
Pignalosa D., Durante M. Overcoming resistance of cancer stem cells Lancet Oncol. 13 (2012) e187- e188.[17]
Durante M., Cucinotta FA. Physical basis of radiation protection in space travel Rev. Mod. Phys. 83 (2011) 1245-1281.[6]
Newhauser WD., Durante M. Assessing the risk of second malignancies after modern radiotherapy Nat. Rev. Cancer 11 (2011) 438-448.[18]
Durante M., Loeffler JS. Charged particles in radiation oncology Nat. Rev. Clin. Oncol. 7 (2010) 37- 43.[19]
Jakob B., Splinter J., Durante M., Taucher-Scholz G. Live cell microscopy analysis of radiation-induced DNA double-strand break motion Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 106 (2009) 3172-3177.[20]
Durante M., Cucinotta FA. Heavy ion carcinogenesis and human space exploration Nat. Rev. Cancer 8 (2008) 465-472.[21]
Cucinotta FA., Durante M. Cancer risk from exposure to galactic cosmic rays: implications for space exploration by human beings Lancet Oncol. 7 (2006) 431-435 [22]
^Durante, Marco; Orecchia, Roberto; Loeffler, Jay S. (2017-03-14). "Charged-particle therapy in cancer: clinical uses and future perspectives". Nature Reviews Clinical Oncology. 14 (8). Springer Science and Business Media LLC: 483–495.
doi:
10.1038/nrclinonc.2017.30.
ISSN1759-4774.
PMID28290489.
S2CID23284361.
^Hughson, Richard L.; Helm, Alexander; Durante, Marco (2017-10-20). "Heart in space: effect of the extraterrestrial environment on the cardiovascular system". Nature Reviews Cardiology. 15 (3). Springer Science and Business Media LLC: 167–180.
doi:
10.1038/nrcardio.2017.157.
ISSN1759-5002.
PMID29053152.
S2CID3357440.