Commenting on the appointment, Michael Sinclair, Executive Chairman of Advanced Oncotherapy LON:AVO said: “Dr Plowman has been a welcome source of expert clinical knowledge through his input to our advisory board and we look forward to extending his contribution to the Company in this new role. Few people in the UK can boast a higher level of expertise in radiation oncology or enthusiasm for supporting and pioneering new radiation technology than Nick and we are delighted to bring these to bear through his position on our Board.”
Also commenting, Dr Nick Plowman said: “It is great news for UK patients that London will spearhead this important advance in proton therapy. It is our mission to make this cutting-edge treatment more readily available to all those who need it and Advanced Oncotherapy are at the forefront with our technology. The next generation ‘LIGHT’ protons look to supplant current generation technology in many ways and we look forward to what we hope will be a great commercial success story with these machines.”
Advanced Oncotherapy (AIM: AVO), the developer of next-generation proton therapy systems for cancer treatment, has told DirectorsTalk about the appointment of Dr Nick Plowman, Senior Clinical Oncologist at St Bartholomew’s Hospital (“Barts”) and the Hospital for Sick Children at Great Ormond Street (“GOSH”) in London, as a Non-Executive Director with immediate effect.
Dr Nick Plowman is the UK’s senior radiotherapist. Qualified through Cambridge (double first: medical sciences and natural sciences), Dr Plowman was appointed as consultant to St Bartholomew’s Hospital and GOSH, London in 1982. He is currently senior physician to both these hospitals. During these 35 years Dr Plowman has pioneered most of the new technologies in the field of Clinical Radiotherapy. He has the longest and widest experience in radiosurgery (Gamma Knife and Cyberknife) of the brain, followed by spine, and then radiosurgery of the body, and is the Medical Director of the Cyberknife Centre, London. St Bartholomew’s Hospital is the only UK centre with both these radiosurgical facilities in the UK.
Early in his career, and with his team at Barts, Dr Plowman introduced lens sparing ocular radiotherapy, the most precise radiation therapy method of its era, the blueprints for which were requested by and given to hospitals in Stanford, California, and Tokyo. This innovative process continued to be used at Barts, for the Moorfield’s ocular tumour practice, up until recently.
Dr Plowman’s team were the first in the UK to publish research on Tomotherapy/IMRT when this new technology became available in the UK at the Cromwell Hospital. He has published widely with over 350 research publications and edited textbooks including one on the complications of cancer management.
Dr Plowman developed an eager early interest in new proton beam technology, as the advantages for this therapy in clinical practice are significant. Dr Plowman became Chairman of the AVO Medical Advisory Board in October 2013 and has gradually acquired a significant personal holding in the company as detailed below.
