EXTENDED for ACTIVE PARTICIPANTS until April 1st 2025

Only active participants with >20% completion have been granted extension

REGISTRATIONS CLOSED



Historically,  Brachytherapy achieved 75-95% local control  in early and 30-65% in advanced cervical tumours. 

With MRI guided Brachytherapy, local control in EMBRACE 1 study was 98% for stage IB1 to 90% for stage IV. Morbidity was favourable.

CT guided Brachytherapy is a low-cost alternative to MRI. 

This course helps with implementation of CT & MRI guided Brachytherapy.


  • Target Audience

    Radiation oncologists • Medical physicists • Radiation therapy technologists

  • Format

    Online pre-recorded Lectures • Videos • Demonstrations • Links to Resources

  • Timing

    Open 6 months! Learn when it suits you.

  • Course Director

    Assist.professor Olivera Ivanov, MD, PhD, radiation oncologist

Course curriculum

    1. Disclaimers, Conditions, and Conflicts of Interest

    1. Welcome & Overview of RT in Serbia by the president of Serbian Radiotherapy Society Dušanka Tešanović

    2. Introduction by the course director Olivera Ivanov

    3. Course Overview. Primoz Petric

    1. Pre-Course Survey (takes approximately 5 minutes)

    2. INSTRUCTION

    3. Pre-course Quiz

    1. Oncology Institute of Vojvodina. Jelena Ličina

    2. The Institute for Oncology and Radiology of Serbia (IORS). Predrag Petrašinović

    3. University Clinical Center Kragujevac. Marija Živković Radojević

    4. University Clinical Center Niš. Milana Ristić

    5. Health Center Kladovo. Ana Barbulović

    6. Clinical Centre Banjaluka. Kata Dabić Stanković

    7. Clinical Centre Skopje. Violeta Klisarovska

    8. Clinical centre Podgorica. Dragana Ognjenović Nikčević

    1. Anatomy of female pelvis. Aleksandar Tomašević

    2. Radiology of cervical cancer. Olivera Ivanov

    3. Clinical examination and drawings. Umesh Mahantshetty

    4. Pathology of cervical cancer. Tatjana Ivković Kapicl

    5. Epidemiology. Emphasis on Serbia. Marija Živković Radojević

    6. Vaccination. Emphasis on Serbia. Boško Miljković

    1. CHOICE OF IMAGING MODALITY at Diagnosis / EBRT from perspective of radiation oncologist. Primoz Petric

    2. NORMAL IMAGING FINDINGS at Diagnosis/EBRT from perspective of radiation oncologist. Primoz Petric

    3. Imaging findings: PRIMARY TUMOUR at Dg/EBRT from perspective of radiation oncologist. Primoz Petric

    4. Imaging findings: NODAL METASTASES at Dg/EBRT from perspective of radiation oncologist. Primoz Petric

Contents at a glance

  • Free
  • 122 lessons
  • 29.5 hours of video content

Assist.professor Olivera Ivanov, MD, PhD, radiation oncologist

Course Director

Ass.professor Olivera Ivanov is currently Head of the Radiation Oncology Department at Oncology Institute of Vojvodina and assistant profesor at Faculty of Medicine, University of Novi Sad. She gained her medical degree in 2008. and started as medical doctor at Oncology Institute of Vojvodina. PhD thesis „Importance of positron emission tomography-computed tomography examination in initial colorectal cancer staging “she defended in 2014. and in 2016. she specialized in Radiation Oncology. She was appointed teaching assistant at at Department of oncology, Faculty of Medicine in 2016, PhD assistant at Department of oncology in 2020, and assistant professor in 2023. Assistant professor Olivera Ivanov is member of the The European Society for Radiotherapy and Oncology (ESTRO), and active member of the Breast working group of the GEC-ESTRO. She is member of the Association of Radiotherapy and Oncology of the Mediterranean Area (AROME) and Member of the presidential board of Serbian Medical Society- Radiotherapy Section. She is head of the National Guideline in Breast cancer Radiotherapy and head of the breast cancer radiotherapy group in front of Serbia in Central and Eastern European Academy of Oncology. She is regional trainer in implementing 3D brachytherapy. Assistant Professor Olivera Ivanov is from 2020. Deputy Provincial Secrretary for Health, Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, Republic of Serbia. Olivera Ivanov's clinical research interest include brachytherapy, the management of breast, gynecological and rectal cancers, stereotactic radiotherapy and radiosurgery and new technologies development in radiation oncology. She is author and co-author of 46 peer-revieved publications and Editor of the monography Contemporary Radiation Oncology, the only educational monography for radiation oncology in Serbian language. Assistant professor Olivera Ivanov is married and mother of two children.

Ass. Prof Aleksandar Tomasevic, MD, PhD

Ass. Prof Aleksandar Tomasevic, MD, PhD, Head of Department of Radiation Oncology, Institute for Oncology and Radiology of Serbia (National Cancer Research Center), Belgrade. Six years of teaching experience as an Ass. Prof. in Radiology, and Clinical Oncology with Radiotherapy, at the University of Belgrade, Faculty of Medicine. More than 20 years of experience in radiotherapy, mostly of gynecological malignant tumors, with extensive clinical expertise in gynecology 3D MRI-based brachytherapy, and several published papers in that field. Many GEC ESTRO and IAEA supported educations.

Ana Barbulović, MD

Ana Barbulović,MD,radiology specialist since 2016,graduated from Medical University of Belgrade,department of radiology.Currently working in Health Centar Kladovo,department of radiotherapy.In 2018,completed observership in 3D image guided brachytherapy at Institute of oncology Ljubljana,department of brachytherapy.After that,implemented CT guided 3D brachytherapy at our Health Centar,department of brachytherapy.

Boško Miljković, MD

Boško Miljković (1984) from Niš, Serbia, graduated at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Niš, after which he completed an internship at the University Clinical Center and the Health Center in Niš. He completed his specialization in radiation oncology in 2024 at the Faculty of Medicine in Novi Sad, Serbia. He has been employed at the Oncology Clinic of the University Clinical Center in Niš, in the radiotherapy department since 2018, where his primary field of work is gynecological and urological oncology pathology.

Dragana Ognjenovic-Nikcevic, MD

Radiation Oncologist MD, Dragana Ognjenovic-Nikcevic, Department of Radiation Oncology, Institute for Oncology and Radiology of Montenegro, Podgorica.More than 20 years of experience with 12 years of experience in gynecological malignant tumors, with extensive clinical expertise in gynecology-based brachytherapy and many GEC ESTRO and IAEA supported education.

Jelena Licina, MD

Dr. Jelena Licina graduated at Faculty of Medicine, University of Novi Sad, in 2006. She has been working at the Clinic of Radiation Oncology at the Institute of Oncology of Vojvodina since 2007 and Faculty of Medicine, Novi Sad, since 2015. Specialization in radiation oncology she completed in 2015. She has specialized particularly in teletherapy and brachytherapy for gynecological cancers. Since 2022, she has been the head of the Clinic of Radiation Oncology.

Assoc.Prof. Kata Dabic-Stankovic MD, PhD

Assoc.Prof. Kata Dabic-Stankovic MD DSc Radiation oncologist/Brachytherapist/Radiologist consultant at IMC Affidea, Banja Luka, Republic of Srpska and Associated Professor at Medical School University of Banja Luka, presently holds position as Head of Dept. for Radiation technology. She is memeber of the ESGO and local professional societies in Serbia. Her primary clinical interests are focused in Radiation oncology for gynecologic and prostate tumors. She authored many scientific papers, book chapters and conference lectures.

Assist. Prof. Marija Zivkovic Radojevic, MD, PhD

Assist. Prof. Marija Zivkovic Radojevic, MD, PhD, Radiation oncologist at the Brachytherapy Department of the Center for Radiation Oncology of the University Clinical Center Kragujevac, Serbia. Assistant Professor at the Clinical Oncology Department, Faculty of Medical Sciences of the University of Kragujevac, Serbia. Awards: scholarship recipient of the Fund for Young Talents of the Ministry of Youth and Sports, which provided scholarships to 800 of the best students in their final years of study. Awarded a post-graduate scholarship entitled ESO - USI Certificate of Advanced Studies in Gynecological Cancers (CAS-Gyn) at Universita Svizzera Italiana in Lugano, Switzerland from 2023-2025 year. ESCO Fellow at the College of the European School of Oncology for the year 2023. Publications: More than 23 full papers, 15 abstracts and poster presentation at congresses with international participation. Participation in projects: Construction and development of the Balkan questionnaire with translation and transcultural validation of the QLQ CX24 questionnaire for measuring the quality of life of patients with cervical cancer. Areas of Interest: Gynaecological malignancies, Brachytherapy, Urological malignancies, Radiation Toxicity, Radioprotectors. Membership: ESTRO, ESMO, ESO, ESCO, Association for Gynecological Oncology of Serbia, Serbian Medical Association - Radiotherapy Section, Medical Chamber of Serbia.

Milana Ristic, MD

Dr Milana Ristic is specialist in Radiation Oncology working in the Departament of Radiation Oncology at the Medical University Center of Niš- Serbia. Interest: Gyneacological malignances, Brachytherapy and Breast cancers.

Ass. Professor Predrag Petrašinović

Ass. Professor Predrag Petrašinović is radiation oncologist, Chief of Brachytherapy Department at Institute for Oncology and Radiology of Serbia in Belgrade. One year of teaching experience as an Ass. Professor in Clinical Oncology with Radiotherapy at the University of Belgrade, Faculty of Medicine. More than 10 years of experience in radiotherapy, mostly of gynecological and prostate malignancies. Extensive clinical expertise in 3D MRI based gynecological and prostate brachytherapy, and several published papers in that field. Many ESTRO and IAEA supported educations.

Prof. Tatjana Ivković-Kapicl

Tatjana Ivković-Kapicl is Professor of Pathology at the University of Novi Sad, Serbia. She has been head of the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the Oncology Institute of Vojvodina since 2015. In the year 2007 she was awarded the Fellowship by European Society of Breast Cancer Specialists, realized at the Medical University of Heidelberg, under the supervision of Prof. Peter Sinn. In the year 2009 she was awarded the Fellowship by the Serbian Ministry of Health, realized at the Falun University Hospital in Sweden under the supervision of Prof. Tibor Tot. She is the president of the Breast Cancer Group at the Serbian Pathologists and Cytologists Association. She is co-director of the Serbian senologic Association. She has mentored numerous student papers, graduate theses and seven successfully defended Ph.D, and has acted as the principal investigator in two projects. She is repeatedly invited to lecture at the national and international congresses, symposia and teaching courses. She is the editor-in-chief of Archive of Oncology, the official journal of Oncology Institute of Vojvodina, published since 1994. Professor Ivković-Kapiclʹs scientific interests include the prognostic and predictive markers in breast cancer, gynecological malignancies, as well as the abnormal expression of oncogenes and tumor-suppressor genes in malignancies, and the tumor progression.

Ass. Prof. Violeta Klisarovska, MD, PhD

Ass. Prof. Violeta Klisarovska, MD, PhD, Head of Department of Brachyterapy, University Clinic of Radiotherapy and Oncology – Skopje, North Macedonia. Five years of teaching experience as an Ass. Prof. in Radiotherapy and Oncology, at the University of Skopje, Faculty of Medicine. More than 15 years of experience in radiotherapy, mostly of gynecological malignancies, with clinical expertise in gynecological 3D CT-based brachytherapy, with several publications and IAEA supported educations.

Primoz Petric

Founder & BrachyTerra Program Director

I founded BrachyTerra. I am Radiation Oncologist at the University Hospital Zürich, Switzerland, and Assoc. Prof. at the Aarhus University Hospital, Denmark. From 2009-2022 I was teaching at the ESTRO course on gynaecological cancer. I teach at other events, including IAEA courses and several workshops. I am member of Gyn GEC ESTRO Working Group and EMBRACE study group. I was consultant to the ICRU 89 Report, and authored many scientific works, book chapters, guidelines, and conference lectures.

Christian Kirisits

BrachyTerra Program Director

I am lead Brachytherapy Physicist at the Department of Radiation Oncology, Comprehensive Cancer Center, Medical University of Vienna. I (co-)authored >150 peer-reviewed articles and made numerous contributions to conference proceedings, as a book editor and as invited speaker at international conferences. I was chairman of the GEC ESTRO Committee. I was faculty member at the ESTRO Course on Gynaecological cancer and several other periodic and non-periodic teaching courses. I was Coordinator of the Committee for the ICRU 89 report and I am one of Coordinators of the EMBRACE I & II studies.

Ina J Schulz

BrachyTerra Program Director

Ina Jürgenliemk-Schulz graduated in Biology at the University of Bochum, Germany in 1983. After medical study she received her MD from the same University in 1989 and completed her PhD in 1990. She is staff radiation oncologist at UMCU in The Netherlands. Concerning clinical interest she specialized in external beam radiotherapy and brachytherapy for gynecologic primary tumors and nodal disease. With respect to technical developments she was leading physician during the implementations of MRI guided brachytherapy and of MR Linac at UMCU. From April 2020 to May 2022 she was chair of GEC-ESTRO.

Taran Paulsen Hellebust

BrachyTerra Program Director

Taran Paulsen Hellebust is a medical physicist that has been involved in GEC ESTRO gyn network since the start in 2005 and are participating in many of the activities that are run in this framework. She was part of the faculty of ESTRO gyn course until 2018. At the moment she is head of the Section for Research and Development (Department of Medical Physics) at Oslo University Hospital and an Associate Professor at the University of Oslo.

Umesh Mahantshetty

BrachyTerra Program Director

I am Director of Homi Bhabha Cancer Hospital & Research Centre, Visakhapatnam. When I worked at Tata Memorial Centre, Mumbai, I led the GYN Radiation Oncology group. I have been the Secretary of Indian Brachytherapy Society & member of Executive Committees of Association of Radiation Oncologists and GYN Oncologists of India since many years. I delivered many lectures at various forums. I am faculty member at ESTRO School for GYN cancers, Advanced Technologies, IAEA training Activities and Director of AROI – ESTRO Course in India. I have ~200 publications, book chapters and international guidelines for Gyn Cancer. I was consultant to the ICRU 89 Report. January 2021 I was labelled “world expert” by Expertscape for being in the top 0.1% scholars in the field of Uterine Neoplasms in the past decade.

Maximilian Paul Schmid

Maximilian Paul Schmid, radiation oncologist and head of brachytherapy at the Department of Radiation Oncology at the Medical University of Vienna, part of the coordinating team of the EMBRACE studies

Monica Serban

Monica Serban is working at Department of Oncology, Medical Physics Unit, McGill University in Montreal General Hospital, Radiation Oncology Division at Canada. Monica Serban international experience includes various programs, contributions and participation in different countries for diverse fields of study. Monica Serban research interests reflect in wide range of publications in various national and international journals. Her research and clinical interests include MR-guided brachytherapy optimization of technique and applicators, mixed modality, photon and electron treatment , planning, deformable image registration, morbidity, & risk factors in cervical cancer patients treated with radiation therapy, automated knowledge based treatment planning, ...

Peter Hoskin

Peter Hoskin trained in clinical oncology at the Royal Marsden Hospital London and has been consultant in clinical oncology at Mount Vernon Cancer Centre, Northwood UK since 1992. He is Professor in Clinical Oncology in the University of Manchester and honorary consultant in clinical oncology at the Christie Hospital, Manchester and University College Hospital, London. In the MCRC he leads the Radiotherapy Related Research Group (RRR) and personal research interests focus on radiosensitisation, biomarkers, radiotherapy quality assurance, palliative radiotherapy, and brachytherapy. He is a member of the GEC ESTRO committee and past member of the ESTRO Board. In the UK chairs the Fellowship Examination Board and the Academic Committee for the Royal College of Radiologists. He has published extensively and was Editor of Clinical Oncology for 15 years. He is now Clinical Editor for Radiotherapy and Oncology and sits on several journal editorial boards.

Martina Frei

Martina Frei studied medicine at the University of Bern, Switzerland, and graduatet 2014. She completed her residency as an anaesthesiologist in various hospitals in Switzerland. During this time, she also gained experience in intensive care medicine, emergency medicine, general surgery and internal medicine. She has been working as an anaesthesiologist at the Department of Anaesthesia and Pain Medicine at Inselspital Bern since April 2023. As part of her work, she performs anaesthesia during brachytherapy for patients with cervical cancer. She also works as an emergency physician for Rega (air ambulance).

Alina Sturdza

I trained in Radiation Oncologist at the University of Toronto, understanding early on that gynaecological oncology is my favourite specialty, strongly influenced by my mentor - Prof Gillian Thomas, and by the multidisciplinary approach of this specialty. In 2008 I started a fellowship in gynaecological radiation oncology at the Medical University of Vienna, through a grant from the National Cancer Institute of Canada. Multi-disciplinary, multi-institutional studies are the backbone for new and better treatments. I am the PI of the RetroEMBRACE study (12 institutions), local PI for EMBRACE I/II (24/44 centres) and co-investigator in the development of new gynaecological brachytherapy applicators (Vienna II, Venezia). Currently I focus on gynaecological cancers in the elderly and together with colleagues from the Austrian Society of Gynecologic Oncology participate in Portec 4a, MK-3475-A18 and in many institutional studies. I am a passionate teacher, especially on radiotherapy in cervical cancer. One of my other projects is the refreshment of brachytherapy training, a joint project with ESTRO/GEC ESTRO and the American Society of Brachytherapy. Being involved with the WHO ‘Global Strategy to Accelerate the Elimination of Cervical Cancer’ I strongly advocate HPV vaccinations in Austria and my mother country, Romania. I have also been fortunate to be part of the team developing the ESGO/ESTRO/ESP guidelines for endometrial cancer and the DEGRO guidelines for cervical cancer.

Jacob Christian Lindegaard

Jacob Christian Lindegaard (1959), consultant, MD, DMSc, Department of Oncology, Aarhus University Hospital (AUH), Denmark. Educated at Aarhus University. Preclinical research with professor Jens Overgaard. Past president of GEC-ESTRO. Since 2005 responsible for image guided adaptive brachytherapy at AUH.

Nicole Eder-Nesvacil

Nicole Eder-Nesvacil, DSc, Associate Professor at the Medical University of Vienna, Department of Radiation Oncology. Since 2016 member of the faculty at the ESTRO course on advance brachytherapy physics, since 2019 member of the faculty at the ESTRO course on gynaecological malignancies. Member of the Gyn GEC ESTRO Working Group, the EMBRACE Study Group and the EMBRACE study office. Her main research interest is image-guided adaptive brachytherapy with MRI, CT and ultrasound, and evidence-based decision support.

Rien Moerland

Rien Moerland graduated in Physics at the Technical University of Delft, The Netherlands in 1986 and worked since then as Medical Physicist at the University Medical Center Utrecht, The Netherlands until 2024 when he retired. He completed his PhD on the use of Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Radiotherapy Treatment Planning in 1996 and became lead Brachytherapy Physicist. He was faculty member at the ESTRO teaching course on Brachytherapy for Prostate Cancer. He (co-)authored about 100 peer-reviewed articles and contributed to the AAPM-ESTRO task groups on Robotic Brachytherapy and Needle Tracking.

Elena Riggenbach

Dr. Elena Riggenbach is a Consultant at the department of Radiation Oncology at the University Hospital Bern, Switzerland. Since 2021 she is in the executive committee of the Scientific Association of Swiss Radiation Oncology and an active member of ESTRO. She has set up and organized educational national contouring workshops and helped co-author several peer-reviewed scientific manuscripts and the GEC-ESTRO handbook on gynecological brachytherapy. Her clinical practice and research focus is brachytherapy for gynecological and head and neck cancers, intraoperative radiotherapy and sarcoma.

Harjot Kaur Bajwa

Dr Harjot Kaur Bajwa is a Consultant Radiation oncologist and Brachytherapy specialist working at American Oncology Institute, Hyderabad, India. After her residency training, she completed her Fellowship in Interstitial Brachytherapy at UCSF, USA. Apart from being awarded the AROI- American Brachytherapy Society fellowship, she was also a brachytherapy visiting scholar at Washington University, St Louis, USA. She has received numerous meritorious Awards at national conferences including best oral paper (IBSCON 2015), GC Pant Young Oncologist Award (AROICON 2017) and innovative brachytherapy video award (IBS workshop 2015). Dr Harjot is also an executive committee member of the IBS. She has numerous publications on brachytherapy and is a speaker for various topics related to brachytherapy at national and international meetings. She has been working in implementing advanced brachytherapy services at her institute

Raviteja Miriyala

I am currently working as an Associate Professor in the Department of Radiation Oncology, at Homi Bhabha Cancer Hospital and Research Centre (a unit of Tata Memorial Centre), Visakhapatnam, India. After completing my residency in Radiation Oncology from PGIMER, Chandigarh, India (2012 to 2018) and a short-term rotation in California Protons Cancer Therapy Centre (San Diego, CA), I joined as an Assistant Professor in Radiation Oncology at PGIMER, Chandigarh in 2018. Subsequently, I moved on to the newly established Radiation Oncology facility at Tata Memorial Centre in Visakhapatnam, in 2019. I handle a disease-specific practice with Gynaecological Cancers as my primary area of interest, in addition to Thoracic and Gastrointestinal malignancies. I am particularly interested in Gynaecological Brachytherapy, with special focus on MR and CT/TRUS based IGABT. I am actively involved in protocol development for the upcoming international multicentre CT-EMBRACE registration study. I enjoy teaching as much as I enjoy practising Radiation Oncology. I have been associated with AROI-ESTRO Gyn teaching course and AFRONET as a guest faculty, and with Stanford-NCG India EqUIP (Quality Improvement Initiative) as a mentor for the regional QI Hub.

Bhavana Rai

Bhavana is a Professor in Radiation Oncology at the Department of Radiotherapy & Oncology, Tertiary Cancer Centre, Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education & Research, Chandigarh, India. Her areas of interest include treating gynecological cancers and palliative care. She has been actively involved in gynecological cancer research and is a collaborator with various national and international research projects including the EMBRACE studies.

Sree Lakshmi KK

K K Sreelakshmi is a Medical Physicist with five years of clinical experience, currently working at the Homi Bhabha Cancer Hospital and Research Centre in Visakhapatnam. She completed her Masters in Physics from the University of Delhi and received her training in Radiological Physics from Bhabha Atomic Research Centre in Mumbai. She is particularly interested in Brachytherapy and is involved in its routine work in the department. In addition, she has a keen interest in dosimetry and enjoys teaching physics concepts to students and is passionate about physics pedagogy.

Lavanya Gurram

POSITION TITLE: ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, DEPT OF RADIATION ONCOLOGY, TATA MEMORIAL HOSPITAL, Mumbai, India. M.B.B.S 2007 MEDICINE MYSORE MEDICAL COLLEGE, INDIA. M.D 2012 RADIATION ONCOLOGY KIDWAI MEMORIAL INSTITUTE OF ONCOLOGY, INDIA. SENIOR RESIDENT at TATA MEMORIAL HOSPITAL, RADIATION ONCOLOGY, MUMBAI, INDIA, from 01.08.2012-31.07.2015. JUNIOR CONSULTANT MAZUMDAR SHAW MEDICAL CENTER, RADIATION ONCOLOGY, BANGALORE, INDIA 21.09.2015-07.01.2017. ASSISTANT PROFESSOR TATA MEMORIAL HOSPITAL, RADIATION ONCOLOGY, MUMBAI, INDIA 01.02.2017-31.01.2021. ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR at TATA MEMORIAL HOSPITAL, RADIATION ONCOLOGY, MUMBAI, INDIA 01.02.2021-Present. Honours and awards: o 2nd prize winner of Quiz at ICRO Teaching Programme (AROI), Varanasi 2011. o Completed Certificate course in Palliative care by IAPC, 2011. o 3rd Prize winner for best paper presentation at Indian Cancer Congress, Delhi 2013. o 1st Prize winner for best poster presentation at Cancer CI, Hyderabad 2015. o ICMR grant for conducting a prospective study in HIV positive cervical cancer. 39 Scientific publications. Principal investigator in 5 studies. Co-mentored several MD dissertations. Reviewer for several journals. Speaker at >30 conferences.

Michael Baumgartl

Michael Baumgartl was trained as aircraft mechanic and then studied physics at Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich. After completing his studies, he was a medical physics trainee at the University Hospital Basel and attended the Master of Advanced Studies ETH programme in Medical Physics in Zurich. He has worked at the University Hospital Zurich as an SSRMP-registered medical physicist since 2018. His focus is on MR-guided adaptive radiotherapy in brachytherapy and EBRT with a MR-Linac.