Yves Jongen

TLDR

Yves Jongen is the founder of IBA (Ion Beam Applications), the Louvain-la-Neuve-based company that became the world leader in proton therapy for cancer treatment.

Overview

Yves founded IBA in 1986 as a spin-off of the Cyclotron Research Center at the Catholic University of Louvain (UCLouvain). He graduated cum laude in civil engineering (electronics) from the University of Louvain in 1970 with an additional certificate in nuclear physics. As director of the Cyclotron Research Center, he developed the first compact and financially affordable cyclotron designed for clinical proton therapy applications, a technology that had previously been limited to massive research-scale machines.

His breakthrough enabled IBA's Proteus system to become the first commercially available proton therapy solution. Massachusetts General Hospital commissioned IBA's first cyclotron in 1994, and in 2001 treated its first patient with the Proteus system. IBA went on to become the world's leading proton therapy company, listed on Euronext Brussels.

Career Highlights

• Founded IBA in 1986 as a UCLouvain spin-off, building it into the world leader in proton therapy
• Invented the first compact, clinically deployable cyclotron for proton therapy
• Recipient of the National Association for Proton Therapy Lifetime Achievement Award (2021)
• Nominated for the European Inventor Award (lifetime achievement category) for his proton therapy contributions

Connections

IBA is the flagship deep-tech success story from the Walloon region, anchored in the UCLouvain research ecosystem at Louvain-la-Neuve. Current CEO is Olivier Legrain.