September 2023 Newsletter

The iia continues to evolve and be very active in supporting the safe and beneficial applications of irradiation.

This month we have announced the date and location of IMRP2024 which is now confirmed as 4-8 November 2024 in Costa Rica. IMRP is the leading international event for those involved in the application or science of irradiation.  The iia will release further details as the arrangements are finalised with the venue and sponsors.

The iia also announced it’s new structure that will strengthen our operational capabilities and follows the planned retirement of members of the iia management team.  We welcome Arthur Dumba as the new iia General Manager.  Arthur brings extensive experience in the irradiation and healthcare industries and was the driving force behind SfSAP. This new structure includes the formation of iia’s Technical Advisory Group (TAG), see below, and the appointment of Riaz Bandali of Nordion to the iia board.

We are currently hosting a series of webinars ‘Phytosanitary Irradiation: Understanding & Unlocking Potential’ to promote collaboration and communication around PI and the food irradiation community. The iia will soon be announcing details of its webinar ‘Gamma Irradiation for today and the future’ that will update and share new information on topical gamma irradiation issues.

We welcome iia member participation in our activities so pease do not hesitate to contact iia if you would like to contribute or propose new initiatives and other ideas. We look forward to hearing from you.

• PsIP live webinar series ‘Phytosanitary Irradiation: Understanding & Unlocking Potential’
• “Phytosanitary Irradiation: An Australian Perspective” Live webinar, the second in the PsIP’s ‘Understanding & Unlocking Potential’ webinar series
• Phytosanitary Irradiation in Latin America
• X-Ray Sterilisation of Single Use Bioprocess Equipment
• Cobalt-60: Investing for the Future of Gamma Sterilization
• Review of the 20th International Meeting on Radiation Processing (IMRP20)
• i.FAST Challenge Based Innovation Project 2023
• International Food Ionizing Symposium (IFIS) – September 2023
• NUTECH – September 2023
• Fermilab Medical Device Sterilization Workshop – September 2023
• RADECS 2023 – September 2023
• Irradiation Platforms of the Gamma Community – November 2023

Please visit the iia website regularly to keep updated on news and events

International Irradiation Association– LinkedIn
International Irradiation Forum– LinkedIn
International Irradiation Association – YouTube

Technical Advisory Group

The iia Technical Advisory Group (TAG) has been formed by the iia to strengthen the connection between the iia and its membership. The primary roles of TAG will be to provide guidance and advice to the iia’s board and operation team, and to form the basis of the Program Committee for future IMRP meetings. TAG will also help iia to engage with its geographically diverse membership within the irradiation industry and scientific community.

TAG provides a forum for discussing topical issues and opportunities within irradiation and for membership to have a greater input in the important activities of iia.

The following members of the irradiation community have agreed to be members of TAG:

• Brian McEvoy (STERIS) – Ireland
• Christoph Herkens (IONISOS) – France
• Jeremy Brison (IBA) – Belgium
• Ben Reilly (Steritech) – Australia
• Richard Wiens (Nordion) – Canada
• Samuel Dorey (Sartorius) – France
• Simone Schoph (Fraunhofer FEP) – Germany
• Bryon Lambert (Abbott) – USA
• Paul Wynne (iia) – United Kingdom
• Rob Edgecock (iia) – United Kingdom
• Arthur Dumba (iia) – Switzerland

iia Leadership Program

The first stage of the Leadership Program was a series of webinars about the science, technology and applications of iradiation. The iia thanks Dagmara Chmielewska-Śmietanko, Xavier Coqueret, Samuel Dorey and Yves Henon for their presentations that are available to view on the iia website.

The second stage was a workshop at the University of Reims attended by 9 selected participants. The participants received further lectures, presentations from the Program sponsors and hosts, practical demonstrations, and undertook team work on projects proposed by the Program hosts. The iia thanks Prof Xavier Coqueret and his team from the University of Reims for support in organising this workshop.

Following the completion of the workshop, two participants have been selected to undertake summer placements. They are Adrián Arias Blanco from the University Carlos III de Madrid, Spain, and Emily Glowski from Texas A&M University, USA.

Adrián will work on Medical Device Sustainable Sterilization with Abbott at their site at Temecula, Ca, USA. Emily will work with IBA on studies of the removal of PFAS contaminants from wastewater at their site in Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium.

The iia congratulates Adrián and Emily on their selection. We would also like to thank the other participants in the 2023 program, all the lecturers and Abbott, IBA Industrial, Nordion, Sterigenics and STERIS who are supporting the 2023 Program.

Preparations are underway for the 2024 Leadership Program. If you would be interested in hosting a placement or participating in the program, please feel free to get in touch by contacting Rob at redgecock@iiaglobal.com.

Membership has Benefits: Join iia

The iia has been active in representing the interests of the radiation processing industry for over 40 years.  The Association is highly respected and its members are leaders in the irradiation community.  Our membership is structured into categories in order to meet the needs of each type organisation involved in the irradiation community.

For full details about the work of iia, who we represent and the advantages of membership, please read our membership brochure.

If you have any questions or would like to discuss membership of iia then please follow this link. Alternatively, contact us and we will respond to you or arrange a call.