A former Newport resident has played a huge part in bringing proton beam therapy - a sophisticated form of targeting radiotherapy in cancer treatment - to these shores. The former Burton Borough School pupil, Richard Amos is now the lead proton beam therapy physicist for University College London Hospitals (UCLH).
Richard emigrated to Canada in 2000, but it wasn’t long before his work in proton beam therapy commenced in the US at Loma Linda University Medical Center (LLUMC), California, in 2002. Three years later he made his way to University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center (MDACC). The facility is based in Houston, where he now resides with wife Wendy, also a specialist in cancer treatment, and children Siona, Lara and Alex.
His work means he is often 5,000 miles away from his wife, children and home in Houston. “I believe in the profound benefit that proton beam therapy will have for select NHS patients. That is why I am committed to my role,” he said.
The NHS has had an overseas proton beam therapy programme since 2008. This has allowed children, and some adults, to fly to the US or Switzerland for treatment. In 2013, NHS England and Department of Health announced a £250 million investment to develop a national proton beam therapy programme. This national service is to be based on two sites – UCLH NHS Foundation Trust in London, and The Christie NHS Foundation Trust in Manchester.
“I am the lead proton beam therapy physicist at UCLH, but I work very closely with the Christie too,” explains Richard. “I am the only person in the UK with hands-on experience with proton beam therapy.”
