E178: Dylan Callens and Dr. Daniel Portik - Young ESTRO and Early Careers

Trigger Warning: This episode discusses cancer.​​​​Episode 178: part of the leadership series (part 30).​​​​Description: In this entertaining episode, Naman Julka-Anderson and Jo McNamara sit down with Dylan Callens and Dr. Daniel Portik to talk about Young ESTRO and early careers. Dylan is a Radiation Therapist pursuing his PhD at KU Leuven while working clinically at University Hospital Leuven, Belgium. ​🔬​ His research focuses on using AI to implement adaptive radiotherapy (ART) workflows for lung cancer. ​🏥​ Clinically, Dylan works part-time as a Quality Manager and helps introduce ART into practice. ​🤝​ Beyond the clinical, he’s an active member of ESTRO’s Early Career Committee, tackling workforce shortages and contributing to the Position & Immobilization focus group.​​​​​🌟​ Daniel completed his training as a Radiation Oncologist in Romania (2019), where he treated patients in his home region, before joining the Emanuel van der Schueren Radiotherapy Quality Assurance (RTQA) Fellowship at the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC). ​🏥​ He is now transitioning back to clinical practice as a Radiation Oncologist at Maastro. ​🤝​ Beyond the clinical, Daniel is an active member of the Young ESTRO Committee, the ROSQC Committee, the ESTRO Lung Focus Group, and the EORTC Young & Early Career Investigators Group for radiotherapy and lung cancer.CPD Reflection Points:​​Read the research paper linked to this episode on the ESTRO pilot mentoring programme and reflect on how international mentoring initiatives could influence your own professional development, your workplace, and the wider oncology community. ​​How could a mentoring programme (local, national, or international) support your own career development, or that of your colleagues? What challenges might arise in implementing such programmes in your workplace or professional network?​​Complete this form for your accredited digital badge: Digital Badge Form.Links from the Episode:​​Early Career Committee: https://www.estro.org/About/ESTRO-Organisation-Structure/Committees/Young-Committee​​yESTRO - the early career committee: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/12904692/​​Research links from the Episode:​​Professional development through mentoring: Final evaluation of the pilot mentoring programme of the European society of radiotherapy and oncology: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167814024001488​​Young radiation oncology professionals’ perspective on job satisfaction, recruitment and retention: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167814024012337?via%3DihubRad Chat Links:​​Rad Chat Website​​Link Tree​​Facebook​​Instagram​​LinkedIn​​TikTok​​BlueSky​​YouTube​​Credits: Music and jingle credits: Dr. Ben Potts and Adam Cooke.© Rad Chat 2025. All rights reserved.  We (or our licensors) own all intellectual property rights in this podcast and all related content, online and offline.  You may not use, copy, modify, download, archive, reproduce, distribute, display, publish, licence, create derivative works from or commercially exploit any part of our content unless we expressly agree in writing.  You must not use any images, audio, video, graphics or clips separately from their accompanying context.  Please acknowledge Rad Chat (and any identified contributors) clearly whenever referencing or sharing our content.