THE PENN RADIATION ONCOLOGY SPOTLIGHT
July 2024
Welcome everyone to our latest edition of Spotlight! With graduation season just completed, we now have a number of transitions in the department with new medical and physics residents starting. We will have a new class of Medical Physics Graduate students starting next month. Make sure to take a moment and welcome new individuals to the department and help them transition to the team. We have a number of big projects that our team is executing on currently. Doylestown hospital linac is now being replaced with a Halcyon linear accelerator that includes Hypersight and the ability to perform simulations. Our work groups have all kicked off for the Presbyterian Medical Center addition of two proton rooms. Currently we plan to open the proton portion of the center in Fall 2027. We are also adding an additional linac on this site. We would like to operate for at least 6 months before bringing the Roberts Proton Therapy Center down for upgrades. We will be installing adaptive radiation therapy technology with ETHOS in the Fall at both PCAM and LGH. We will be installing a new ETHOS linear accelerator at Pennsylvania Hospital next fiscal year. We are also working on a new center in Montgomeryville which will likely open in about two years. Thanks to everyone for the submissions to Spotlight. We have moved to every other month editions with all the things going on the department. I hope you are able to stay cool in these Summer months and enjoy some time with friends and family!
Featured in the Media
RadOnc in the PM Report
Rafe McBeth, PhD was highlighted in the PM Report for receiving one of PSOM's inaugural Excellence in Teaching Awards for his ability to inspire students to apply what they've learned in their careers along with exhibiting innovative assessment, effective communication, and impactful course content delivery.
Doris Piccinin, MS, was highlighted in the PM Report for her work with a local scout troop. Doris used funds from her Penn Medicine CAREs grant to provide the troop with camping materials to help make camping more accessible for children from diverse backgrounds.
Abramson Cancer Center Bulletin
The Proton Patient Alumni Reception was highlighted in the May 20, 2024 ACC Bulletin.
CPUP Updates
Dr. Metz gave a keynote presentation at the Ambulatory Manager Summit on June 7, 2024.
Penn Medicine Magazine
Community Engagement
We invite you to visit the site regularly, as we continue to update resources, add information on ongoing initiatives, and expand educational materials.
PennCobalt provides mental health resources for Penn staff and faculty.
Have You Recognized Someone Today?
DON'T FORGET: You can recognize a colleague at any time by submitting the recognition form found at https://redcap.med.upenn.edu/surveys/?s=HPKUea (direct link is below). Bookmark this web page for easy access in the future!
If you would like a copy of the flyer with QR code for your work area, please email RadOnc_ACES@pennmedicine.upenn.edu.
Meet the Newest Members of Our Team!
Jonathan Fu
Jonathan joins the department as a Clinical Research Coordinator. He received his Bachelor of Science in Human Biology from the University of Southern California. Previously, he was a research assistant at USC, where he examined mechanisms of sensory perception and neural processing related to the chemical constituents of foods and fluids in mice and rodent models. In his free time, he enjoys snowboarding, playing tennis, trying new restaurants, and traveling to new countries. Contact Jonathan at jonathan.fu@pennmedicine.upenn.edu.
Matthew Hoffman
Matthew joins the department as a Radiation Therapist. Previously, he worked as chief radiation therapist at Midlantic Urology. Matthew received his Bachelors Degree in Science at Gwynedd Mercy University and in his spare time, he enjoys staying active in sports, renovating his house, and coaching his kids' teams. Contact Matthew at matthew.hoffman1@pennmedicine.upenn.edu.
Ting Jiang
Ting joins the department as a Dosimetrist. Previously, she was a medical dosimetry student at Mount Sinai Hospital. Ting is a graduate of Stony Brook University. In her spare time, she enjoys baking, traveling, and trying out new restaurants. Contact Ting at ting.jiang@pennmedicine.upenn.edu.
Kristen Kitchen, PA-C
Kristen joins the department as a PA on the GU Brachytherapy team at PCAM. Previously, she worked as a PA at Clearway Pain Solutions and New Jersey Urology. Kristen received her Masters of Physician Assistant Studies from Salus University. Contact Kristen at Kristen.Bate@pennmedicine.upenn.edu
Hope Knitowski
Hope joins the department as a Radiation Therapist. Previously, she worked as a beach badge distributor at Spring Lake. Hope received her BS in Health and Rehabilitation Sciences from the Ohio State University and enjoys cooking, working out, and listening to music in her spare time. Contact Hope at hope.knitowski@pennmedicine.upenn.edu.
CRU Summer Research Students
Sanaa Ballenger
University of Pittsburgh, double Bachelor degree in Philosophy and Law (in progress)
Michael Coolidge
Drexel University, degree in General Finance (in progress)
Julania Marechal-Raymond
Occidental College, degree in Media Arts and Culture/Journalism (in progress)
This summer, Sanaa, Michael, and Julania will be spearheading a major file organization and archiving project for the Radiation Oncology department’s Clinical Research Unit. In their roles, they will be responsible for completing an inventory of all currently-archived RadOnc documents, categorizing and organizing study files, and implementing a new organizational system to streamline organization and record-keeping. Along the way, they will be learning how to identify different types of essential study documents, about research file privacy and storage, and about general operations in clinical research.
Appointments
Eric Diffenderfer, PhD
Dr. Eric Diffenderfer has been promoted to Associate Professor in the in the Standing Faculty -Clinician Educator track effective July 1, 2024. He received his B.S. in Physics from Evergreen State College, and his MS in Physics and PhD in Nuclear Physics from Florida State University. After obtaining his PhD in 2007, Dr. Diffenderfer completed a postdoctoral fellowship in Physics, as well as his Residency in Medical Physics at the University of Pennsylvania.
Following completion of his residency, Dr. Diffenderfer was appointed to Assistant Professor on the Clinician-Educator Track in the Department of Radiation Oncology. Since joining the department, Dr. Diffenderfer has been appointed to the role of Proton Research Room Technical Director, Proton SARRP research facility, and serves as the Physics Lead for the Thoracic disease site team. In 2022, Dr. Diffenderfer was awarded the honor of Distinguished Referee for the Medical Physics Journal, AAPM, and in 2023, he joined the National Institutes of Health Center for Scientific Review on their Special Emphasis Panel, ZRG1 ISB-Z(10).
Dr. Diffenderfer’s research is primarily focused on proton therapy, with particular interest in the clinical translation of ultra-high dose rate FLASH proton radiotherapy. In the recently funded NIH P01 "Translational Studies in FLASH Particle Therapy", Dr. Diffenderfer played a significant role as Co-PI of CORE B and Co-investigator of Project 4. Furthermore, he designed a proton FLASH experiment to demonstrate the FLASH in-vivo sparing effects in animal studies. This published research was the most highly cited paper for the International Journal of Radiation Oncology*Biology*Physics in the last three years. Dr. Diffenderfer is also active in researching neutron dose measurements outside of the treatment volume and LET measurements both inside the treatment volume, and outside the treatment volume in the vicinity of the adjacent organs at risk. Dr. Diffenderfer has collaborated with members of the Research Division in developing a Small Animal Proton Irradiation Facility (proton SARRP), as well as on research related to nuclear security, specifically evaluating the feasibility of replacing radioisotope sources with modern accelerator-based solutions in low-income countries.
In addition to his clinical and research achievements, Dr. Diffenderfer continues to play a vital and key role in the Medical Physics Graduate Program (MPGP). He has served as the Chair of the Master of Medical Physics Curriculum Committee and teaches two core courses annually. He is a member of Medical Physics Graduate Program Faculty Advisory Committee, and from 2018-2022 he was a member of the MPGP admissions committee. He also actively participates in the supervision and mentoring of students, which has led to research awards, invited presentations and several publications in journals such as Medical Physics, Practical Radiation Oncology, International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology, Physics, and PLoS One.
Dr. Diffenderfer has made impressive and significant contributions to the field of Radiation Oncology through his research, educational activities and clinical service. Through his leadership and collaborative spirit, he has helped shape the Penn Medicine team to become the international leaders in proton FLASH radiation delivery.
Yi Fan, MD, PhD
Dr. Yi Fan has been promoted to Professor of Radiation Oncology in the Standing Faculty as of July 1, 2024. He is a graduate of Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, where he earned his Bachelor of Medicine (MD); he also earned a PhD in Pathology from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, after which he completed a postdoctoral fellowship in the Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine at the Cleveland Clinic.
Dr. Fan joined the UPenn faculty with an appointment to Assistant Professor of Radiation Oncology, and a secondary appointment as Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery. He leads a fully-funded independent research laboratory supported by diverse funding streams, with a research focuses on cancer stem cells, immunotherapy, and tumor angiogenesis. The overarching goal of his lab is to identify and develop novel cancer therapies, and his primary focus is on the study of GBM, an extremely aggressive cancer of the brain. Dr. Fan is an active educator, spending over 500 hours per year in teaching activities, is a lecturer on cancer biology in the Masters in Medical Physics (MMP) program, and lectures extensively to peers. From 2019 through 2021, Dr. Fan was awarded Sharpe Award (GBM Research Award) by National Brain Tumor Society (NBTS) for his impressive research. This award enables world-class brain tumor research labs to take on innovative glioblastoma-related projects pointed toward the development of new treatments.
Recognized for his contribution to the expanding body of knowledge and understanding of immunotherapy, and the tumor microenvironment, Dr. Fan has secured multiple grants to support this work. He is providing his expertise on 10 grants, is the PI for three grants from diverse funding sources, Co-PI on an RO1 as well as a Contact-PI on another NIH RO1. He has also secured three patents collaboratively with the University of Pennsylvania and other researchers over the past 4 years. Dr. Fan is a dedicated mentor and research, contributing to advancements in the cancer field at Penn, as well as nationally and internationally.
Josh Good
Josh Good has been hired as a Associate Director of Operations and will be joining the Radiation Oncology Department at LGH on June 24rd, 2024. Josh will be accountable for the daily operations of the practice at LGH and will work with the department’s medical director, Pam Boimel to establish and achieve the practice’s clinical, operational and financial goals.
Josh has worked at Lancaster General Hospital for over 22 years. He started working as a Pulmonary Equipment aide while finishing his degree in Biology/Respiratory Therapy at Millersville University. After graduation Josh began worked as a respiratory therapist and progressed to the day shift team leader. In 2019, he became the respiratory therapy manager shortly before Covid-19 and led and supported the clinical team throughout the pandemic. Josh has collaborated with many committees and contributed to various projects during his time at LGH. In addition to this experience, Josh served as the Director at Large in the Leadership and Management Section of the Pennsylvania Society for Respiratory Care and is a current co-chair for the LARS (Leaders Advancing Respiratory Services) Committee.
On a personal note, Josh is married and lives in Mount Joy PA. He has a son and daughter who are active in soccer and gymnastics, respectively.
Goldie Kurtz, MD
Dr. Goldie Kurtz has been promoted to Associate Professor of Radiation Oncology on the Academic Clinician Track effective July 1, 2024. Dr. Kurtz earned her medical degree from the University of Toronto and remained at Toronto for her Residency in Radiation Oncology.
Upon her graduation from Residency, Dr. Kurtz joined the Department of Radiation Oncology at Penn with a focus on the Central Nervous System (CNS) disease site. Within the CNS Division, she treats numerous different histologies including high and low grade gliomas; brain metastases; benign, atypical, and anaplastic meningiomas; spinal neoplasms, both benign and malignant; chordomas and chondrosarcomas; vestibular and peripheral schwannomas and nerve sheath tumors; orbital and pituitary tumors. A large component of her practice involves proton therapy, for which she is a strong advocate for her patient population. Furthermore, Dr. Kurtz’s specialization in proton therapy has led to her successful collaboration with Penn Global Medicine in facilitating the treatment of international patients with proton therapy at Penn. In addition, she specializes in Gamma Knife and Linac-based stereotactic radiosurgery. She also treats patients at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) in the Pediatric Oncology Department as part of her clinical role in the department.
Dr. Kurtz also has a passion for education future radiation oncologists, and is highly regarded among the residents and medical students that she trains. In 2022, was appointed to the role of Associate Program Director of the Radiation Oncology Medical Residency Program for UPenn and was awarded the Giulio D'Angio Teaching Award. Her education activities also extend to hosting and training international colleagues in proton therapy both in the department and at international centers on behalf of Penn Medicine.
Dr. Kurtz epitomizes the qualities that make an excellent clinician and academic model. She consistently upholds the values of the department and provides amazing patient care, while also exceling at teaching the trainees who will one day be the future of Radiation Oncology.
Eric Ojerholm, MD
Dr. Eric Ojerholm has been promoted to Associate Professor on the Academic Clinician track effective July 1, 2024. Dr. Ojerholm is an alumni of Duke University, where he graduated as Valedictorian with a degree in biomedical engineering. He earned his medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania where he also completed his Residency in Radiation Oncology. Dr. Ojerholm remained at Penn and was appointed to Assistant Professor at the Corporal Michael J. Crescenz Veterans Affairs (VA) Medical Center.
Nationally, Dr. Ojerholm has served as a member of the Veterans Affairs National Oncology Program Clinical Pathways in gastrointestinal cancer, helping to create national treatment guidelines for the VA system. Dr. Ojerholm additionally helped bring radiation clinical trials back to the VA for the first time in over 15 years, giving veterans access to this important management option. He is a collaborator on two phase III randomized trials - one testing surgery versus radiation for early lung cancer and one testing radiation versus androgen deprivation for oligorecurrent prostate cancer.
Due of his interest in and contributions to the educational mission of the Department, Eric was selected to serve as the Associate Program Director of the RadOnc Medical Residency Program; the following year, he was promoted to Program Director. In this role, Eric oversees our renowned Residency Program ensuring excellence in resident training, recruitment, and engagement, as well as programmatic budget, and overall strategic direction. Furthermore, Dr. Ojerholm is a PSOM admissions screener and interviewer; he also is an active member on the Graduate Medical Education Committee. Nationally, he writes questions for the main radiation oncology practice board exam.
Dr. Ojerholm is a vital member of the department of radiation oncology, both in education and clinical service. He is highly regarded for his educational contributions, as demonstrated by being twice named “Educator of the Year” from the Association of Residents in Radiation Oncology, receiving the Giulio D'Angio Teaching Award from Penn’s Department of Radiation Oncology, and being selected as a “Mentor of Excellence” by the American College of Radiation Oncology.
Conferences and Speakers
ASCO
May 31-June 4, 2024
Awards & Grants
2024 John Yuhas Award Lecture
Joann B. Sweasy, PhD was the recipient of the 2024 John Yuhas Award. Dr. Sweasy is the Director of the Fred and Pamela Buffett Cancer Center and Eppley Institute for Research in Cancer at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. Her award lecture talk was titled "DNA Repair Variants and Human Disease".
Recent Faculty & Staff Awards
Christina Bach, MBE, MSW, LCSW, OSW-C, FAOSW and Psychosocial Content Editor for OncoLink, received the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society: Hematology-Oncology Lifetime Achievement Award. This award recognizes a professional leader for their career of support for patients with blood cancer and ongoing involvement with The Leukemia & Lymphomas Society.
Christina was nominated by several members of the Philadelphia Multiple Myeloma Networking Group with whom she has volunteered for the past 10 years. She has been a support group facilitator, leader of the programming committee, a steering committee member, presenter of education at meetings, facilitator of virtual meetings since 2020, and a caring, trusted friend to the Multiple Myeloma community in Philadelphia.
The nomination letter submitted by PMMNG members stated that “Christina volunteers her time so generously, giving up her Saturday afternoons once a month to be a part of our group. She has presented at our meetings and is our go-to support person when members need assistance and guidance with insurance and financial issues. When our leader of 18 years stepped down this year, Christina stepped in to guide us and be a part of our steering committee, making valuable decisions. We at PMMNG are extremely lucky to have Christina helping us along our journey with MM. With Christina guiding us, we have been able to add many new members to our group. She has helped with outreach to the community, education, and valuable resources.”
At OncoLink, Christina has led the development of psychosocial patient education for the last ten years. She is a true patient advocate and mentor to many social workers in the oncology field. She also works as a financial navigation specialist at the Cancer Support Community and a field liason at the Bryn Mawr College School of Social Work, further demonstrating her dedication to oncology patients and the future of social work.
Cole Friedes, MD was accepted to the 2024 AACR/ASCO Methods in Clinical Cancer Research Workshop. His project is titled "A prospective, non-interventional, observational trial evaluating the role of ctDNA in patients with oligoprogressive NSCLC recieving ablative radiotherapy"
Emily Smith, CRNP was awarded an ASRM Nursing/Physician Assistant Professionals Research Award recipient from the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) Research Institute. She was awarded $7,500 to support her project entitled “An APP’s Effect on Hormone Replacement Therapy for Radiation-Induced Primary Ovarian Insufficiency After Cervix Cancer Treatment.”
Lean Practitioners
The first cohort of twelve Lean Practitioners are now completing their Lean improvement projects! Each Lean Practitioner has used Lean methodologies to demonstrate the use of lean improvement tools to drive efficiency in processes, including reducing waste and time. Following is a list of the Lean Practitioners and their Lean improvement projects:
The Lean Practitioner program includes a three day in person training program with a certification exam followed by completion of a Lean improvement project which is certified in accordance with the certification criteria found in ISO-13053 & ISO-18404. Lean is a business methodology that promotes the flow of value to the customer through two guiding tenets: continuous improvement and respect for people.
Lean thinking encourages everyone, especially those closest to the work and the customer, to have a voice and is heard. Some Lean tools include A3 (a one-page communication tool that includes background, problem statement, analysis, proposed actions, and the expected results), Fishbone (a visual way to look at cause and effect using brainstorming) and value stream mapping (similar to a process map with customer-value add, business-value add, and non-value add processes identified).
The Lean Practitioner program has been a great step in the RadOnc Improvement journey where we look to continuously improve using Lean Six Sigma methodology with tools that solve team-based problems while driving efficiency in processes. This is part of our departmental strategic goal to support professional and personal development within the RadOnc department.
Quality Management Lending Library
The Quality Management team has opened a lending library to share resources on process improvement, best practices, and more. Special thanks to Edna Volz for sharing some of her books to the library! The lending library is located in room 2-232W at PCAM. Please email RadOnc-QualityManagementStaff@pennmedicine.upenn.edu with questions or for more information!
Clinical Research Unit
RadOnc CRU Invited PI/Speaker Series
This year, the RadOnc Clinical Research Unit (CRU) has launched an Invited Principal Investigator (PI)/Speaker Series in which the investigators of research studies in RadOnc present a research-related topic to the CRU. Recently, we have had the following presentations:
- Neha Vapiwala, MD - "Some PI Perspectives for CRU and Q&A", May 15, 2024
- Edgar Ben-Josef, MD - "Augmentation of Anti-HCC Immune Response with Radiation", June 5, 2024
- Alexander Lin, MD - "The Penn TORS Experience: From Initial Conception to Current/Future Trials", June 26, 2024
Thank you to all the speakers for your time and expertise! The CRU team greatly enjoys these presentations and is looking forward to the speakers we have scheduled for the upcoming months.
Clinical Research Trials Day - May 31, 2024
The RadOnc Clinical Research Unit celebrated international Clinical Trials Day this year with an outdoor picnic at the Penn BioPond.
Did you know that the OncoLink website has been serving up free, reliable cancer information for 30 years? Our website reaches over 5 million people in 230 countries each year. Did you know that our team of 9 also develops and manages several online training programs for healthcare professionals, including PRMI and CAR-T? Our learning management system currently has over 1000 users!
Our team has been providing trainings on trauma informed care throughout the department and health system. If you’d like to have this training in your department, contact us. We have been growing our presence on social media to bring cancer information to a wider audience. You can follow us on Tik Tok, Instagram, and Facebook. Would you like to contribute content for our Tik Tok posts? Maybe you’d like to share a day in the life of your role? We would love to feature the department and our work.
As of July 1st, OncoLink is transitioning from a corporate entity to be an official part of the Radiation Oncology division. Many people in the radiation department have worked with our team over the years to develop educational content for patients and providers, conduct research utilizing one of our datasets, or conduct online surveys.
We welcome anyone interested to meet us to learn more about our work and hear about your work to see how we might collaborate! You can reach our whole team at oncolinkteam@pennmedicine.upenn.edu or stop by our office on 2 TRC on Tuesdays to get to know us!
Thank you, Linda Jefferson for all of your decorations, for holiday celebrations and season changes! In this newsletter we are highlighting Linda's decorations for Juneteenth, Pride Month, and Summer. Be sure to stop by and admire Linda's hard work the next time you are on the second floor of PCAM!
For Pete's Sake Walk
April 28, 2024
Independence Dragon Boat Regatta
June 1, 2024
RadOnc and IBA staff raced in the Independence Dragon Boat Regatta with two teams - Psychotron 1 and Psychotron 2. The Philadelphia Dragon Boat Association hosted 102 teams in the 17th Annual Independence Dragon Boat Regatta, benefiting Team USA Dragon Boat. All teams raced in three heats of 500 Meters each (Qualifying, Semi-Final, and Final), on the classic Schuylkill River race course.
The Beam of Life Team
https://www.ms-stride.org/breakthroughbikechallenge
The Breakthrough Challenge bike ride will be on Sunday, September 15. The Radiation Oncology Beam of Life team is lead by co-captains Bill Barbour, Chris Laskey, and Christina McCrohan. The Breakthrough Challenge donates 100% of participant-raised funds to support breakthrough cancer research at the Abramson Cancer Center. This event has raised more than $2,525,000 over the past ten-years.
Save the Date: This year's Breakthrough Challenge will be on Sunday, September 15, 2024
Registration is now open! Join the team here: https://www.ms-stride.org/breakthroughchallenge/profiles/team/91
There are different ways to participate with the Beam of Life team:
- In-person Cyclist: Sunday, September 15, 2024 in Birdsboro, PA. Choice of 15, 25, or 50 mile ride
- Virtual Challenge: Christina Bach is leading a special Penn RadOnc Beam of Life Pelaton Challenge this year! If you are interested, please reach out to her at christina.bach@pennmedicine.upenn.edu. You can also sign up to do another virtual challenge as a runner, walker, or multi-sport.
- Donor
- Volunteer: free registration
Follow our team Facebook page or go to the ISOCENTER for more details on upcoming Beam of Life team social rides and 3rd Annual Happy Hour Fundraiser at a local Philadelphia Restaurant!
Upcoming Beam of Life Events
Save the Date - Beam of Life Team Fundraiser at Urban Saloon on Friday, August 23 from 5:00 - 7:00pm!
Contact Christina McCrohan for more information!
Beam of Life Team Co-Captain Christina McCrohan shared her story as a rider for the Breakthrough Challenge and what motivates her as a co-captain for the team.
Five Questions With...
Paige Kajkowski, MBA, RT(T)
Radiation Therapist
1. What is a typical work day like for you? A morning at Presby kicks off with our huddle, where the entire department meets in person and sets the tone for the day ahead. My days are dynamic, alternating between delivering radiation therapy on the Halcyon and conducting CT simulations. Though the tasks may seem routine, each day brings new challenges and opportunities because every patient we treat has unique needs. That’s what I find most rewarding about my role – the constant variation and the chance to make a meaningful difference in someone’s life.
2. What led you to work at Penn Radiation Oncology? I started in 2016 as a per diem radiation therapist at Chester County Hospital and transition to Penn Presbyterian Medical Center when we opened in 2020. The teamwork and the support of the department as we provide excellent care for our patients is what has kept me at Penn.
3. What was your first job? My first job was a summer camp counselor at a local playground in Philly.
4. Are you more of a beach person or pool person? Or do you have another favorite spot to relax during the summer? I would have to say pool. While I love the beach, we spend almost every day in our pool during the summertime.
5. What's your favorite ice cream flavor? Black cherry!
PRMI at PTCOG
Courtney Misher, MPH, BS RT(T) was a speaker in the Therapy Education Sessions during PTCOG. She is on the PTCOG planning board and helps coordinate the Therapy Education Sessions, which is a newer addition to PTCOG. The goal is to offer specific education sessions targeted to therapists within the region of the world where PTCOG is located each year.
During the conference, the Penn Radiation Medicine Institute was able to reconnect with so many individuals who have come through our training program. We also had the opportunity to promote our new Proton Therapy 1-week course, which will occur twice each year for radiation oncology professionals. https://rmi.pennmedicine.org/proton-therapy-training-course/ . More details will be announced at ASTRO at our booth!
Special shout out to Sin Sze Yarn, Sr. Radiation Therapist from Singapore, who was the winner of our Meta Headset Raffle!
Global Visitors
Penn Radiation Oncology hosted visitors from Shandong Cancer Hospital & Institute (Varian), Tongji Hospital - Huazhong University of Science & Technology (Mevion), and Shenzhen Cancer Hospital (IBA).
Graduation
June 6, 2024
Graduating Medical Residents:
- Eva Berlin
- Sana Dastgheyb
- William Su
- Jacob Trotter
- Nikhil Yegya-Raman
Graduating Medical Physics Residents:
- Barbara Garcia
- Lin Ma
- Stewart Mac Mein
- Julia Pakela
- Khayrullo Shoniyozov
Graduation Awards
- Dept of Radiation Oncology Medical Physics Division Fundamental Rotation Physics Teaching Award - Austin Kassaee, MS
- Dept of Radiation Oncology Eighth Annual Medical Resident Nursing Award - Brenda Engram, RN, BSN, CMSRN
- Dept of Radiation Oncology Medical Physics Division Advanced Rotation Physics Teaching Award - Wenbo Gu, PhD
- Dept of Radiation Oncology Guilio D'Angio Award - Anish Butala, MD
- Dept of Radiation Oncology Sixth Annual Medical Residency Eli Glatstein Mentorship Award - Michelle Alonso-Basanta, MD, PhD
- Dept of Radiation Oncology Fifth Annual Medical Resident APP Mentorship Award - Samantha Colleluori, CRNP
- Dept of Radiation Oncology ARRO Educator of the Year Award - Michelle Gentile, MD, PhD
- Dept of Radiation Oncology Medical Physics Division Dosimetry Teaching Award - Dennis McDermott, CMD
- Dept of Radiation Oncology Medical Resident Excellence in Dosimetry Award - Dennis McDermott, CMD
Medical Residency
Mentorship Dinners
Mentor dinner at Las Bugambilias on June 5, 2024.
Medical Physics Graduate Program
Happenings
Global Invited Speaker Series: Eric Addison, PhD
On May 2, Dr. Eric Addison visited Penn Rad Onc to give an invited speaker talk on “Capacity Building in Medical Physics for Radiation Therapy and Cancer Control: Collaborative Efforts in Ghana”. Dr. Addison is the chief medical physicist and a senior lecturer qat the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital in Kumasi, Ghana. The Global Invited Speaker Series was funded by a grant from PennGlobal.
MPGP Student Lunch and Discussion with Dr. Eric Addison
Students enjoyed lunch with Dr. Addison on May 3. Topics of conversation ranged from the future of medical physics in Ghana, the role of AI in medical physics, to favorite Ghanaian cuisine. Dr. Addison provided perspective for students as to what the career of medical physics entails in Ghana.
MSMP Thesis Defenses
On May 7 and 8, our Master of Science in Medical Physics students defended their theses. Each MSMP candidate presented their thesis and answered questions from the faculty, staff, resident and student audience. As a requirement of the MS program, masters students must complete a two-semester research project under the guidance of a physics faculty member that culminates in a thesis paper and defense. Many students will present their research as an oral or poster presentation at the upcoming AAPM Annual Meeting in Los Angeles. Congratulations to all our students on excellent presentations!
- Joseph Caletri | Mentor: Michele Kim, PhD & Keith Cengel, MD, PhD - “Dosimetric Comparison of Contrast and Device Artifacts using Proton SBRT Radioablation for Ventricular Tachycardia”
- Grace Chang | Mentor: Lei Dong, PhD -“Robustness of single energy conformal FLASH-RT to geometric alignment of a range modulating hedgehog filter”
- Ila Farhang | Mentor: Kevin Teo, PhD - “Challenges and Limitations of Training an AI Model for Auto-Contouring Cervical Brachytherapy Organs at Risk”
- Mario Gallardo | Mentor: Tim Zhu, PhD - “Study of Cherenkov-to-dose conversion for whole breast radiation therapy using Cherenkov Imaging”
- Elissa Khoudary | Mentor: Kevin Teo, PhD - “CT Sim with Varian HyperSight Cone-Beam CT: Technical Evaluation and Workflow”
- Bolin Li | Mentor: Rafe McBeth, PhD - “Developing a novel framework for enhancing radiation oncology workflow through the integration of large language models”
- Alex Morow | Mentor: Andrew Maidment, PhD “Exploring Scanning Motions Which Promote Magnification Tomosynthesis in Breast Imaging”
- Ellen Park | Mentor: Dimitris Mihailidis, PhD - “Using a simplified gel detector preparation protocol for 3D dose distribution measurements for proton FLASH delivery”
- Joe Shields | Mentor: Rafe McBeth, PhD - “Generating deliverable plans from deep learning to predict 3D dose distributions”
- Hai Siong Tan, PhD | Mentor: Rafe McBeth, PhD - “Exploring active and deep evidential learning in segmentation and radiotherapy dose prediction”
- Chris Tyerech | Mentor: Leonard Kim, MS - “In Vitro Characterization of a Novel Gel Dosimeter for In Vivo Dosimetry in MR Guided Treatments
Our students are off to Ghana!
Global Medical Physics Training and Development Program Update
Following a four-day orientation here in Philadelphia, three of our MPGP students left for Ghana on June 1 to begin their global clinical practicum experience. Students will rotate through four different hospitals in Accra and Kumasi, Ghana, and the trip will conclude with a Global Health Catalyst Summit at the University of Ghana on July 2. We look forward to hearing all about the experience upon their return, but we are enjoying the photos updates! This program is funded by a grant from PennGlobal, the Department of Radiation Oncology and The School of Engineering and Applied Science.
You can read a bit more about each student’s perspective on the experience via their LinkedIn posts on the Penn Medicine Radiation Oncology page:
- Lyna Dinh, 2nd year MSMP student
- Ayoola Okuribido, 2nd year MSMP student
- Andrew Friberg, PhD in Bioengineering – Medical Physics Concentration student
2024 Medical Physics Graduate Programs’ Class of 2024 Graduation
May 17, 2024 in the Rubenstein Auditorium
We are thrilled to celebrate our MPGP Class of 2024 graduates! MPGP hosted a graduation ceremony and reception on May 17 in the Rubenstein Auditorium and Smilow Commons to celebrate the accomplishments of our 10 Master of Science in Medical Physics and 3 Certificate in Medical Physics graduates. This year’s graduation keynote speaker was Mary E. Moore, MS, Radiation Safety Service Chief, Medical Physicist and Laser Safety Officer at the Cpl. Michael J. Crescenz Veteran Affairs Medical Center in Philadelphia. A highlight of the event was student speaker address by MSMP graduate, Mario Gallardo. We wish our graduating class best of luck in their next endeavors!
Graduation Awards
- Jarod C. Finlay Teaching Award: Rafe McBeth, PhD
- Medical Physics Resident Teaching Award: Barbara Garcia, MS
- Student Mentorship Award: Ellen Park
- Student Research Award: Bolin Li
2024 AAPM Annual Meeting – Oral Presentations
Andrew Friberg, PhD in Bioengineering – Medical Physics Concentration student, will present his abstract, “Measurement and Simulation of Ion Recombination Effects Under Ultra-High Dose Rate Proton Beams” at the FLASH Physics session at the 2024 AAPM Annual Meeting in Los Angeles, California in July.
Bolin Li, MS ’24, will present his abstract titled, “Automated Classification of Breast Cancer TN Stage from Pathology Reports Using Large Language Models” at the LLM and ML Developments session at the 2024 AAPM Annual Meeting in Los Angeles, California in July.
Ellen Park, MS ’24, will present her abstract, “3D Imaging of Dose Distributions from Proton Flash Using Laser CT Scanning of New Do-It-Yourself, Reusable, LET-Independent, Polymer-Gel Dosimeter-Phantoms” at the Proton Therapy Imaging session at the 2024 AAPM Annual Meeting in Los Angeles, California in July.
Christopher Tyerech, MS ’24, will present his abstract titled, “Reproducibility of Perfusion Blood Volume and Ventilation Imaging for Lung Function Assessment” at the Quantitative Imaging in Radiotherapy session at the 2024 AAPM Annual Meeting in Los Angeles, California in July.
Hai Siong Tan, PhD, Certificate ’24, will present his abstract, “Deep Evidential Learning for Segmentation and Dose Prediction” at the Segmentation session at the 2024 AAPM Annual Meeting in Los Angeles, California this July.
Weibing Yang, PhD, Certificate ’24, will present his abstract, “Multispectral Singlet Oxygen Luminescent Dosimetry (MSOLD) Using Isotropic Detector for Photodynamic Therapy” at the Novel Imaging and Therapy Developments session at the 2024 AAPM Annual Meeting in Los Angeles, California this July.
2024 AAPM Annual Meeting – Poster Presentations
Najah Curtis, PhD in Bioengineering – Medical Physics Concentration student, will present her poster, “Comparison of Ion Chamber Recombination in High and Low LET Regions for Ultra-High Dose Rate Proton Radiation” at the 2024 AAPM Annual Meeting in Los Angeles, California in July.
Ila Farhang, MS ’24 and Ellen Park, MS ’24, will present their poster, “Bridging the Academic Gap: Implementing a Student Communication Line between Ghana & US Institutions” at the 2024 AAPM Annual Meeting in Los Angeles, California in July.
Mario Gallardo, MS ’24, will present his poster, “Calibrating Energy-Dependent Optical Corrections for Cherenkov Dosimetry” at the 2024 AAPM Annual Meeting in Los Angeles, California in July.
Madelyn Johnson, PhD in Bioengineering – Medical Physics Concentration student, will present her poster, “Tissue Optical Property Correction of Singlet Oxygen Luminescence Dosimetry (SOLD)” at the 2024 AAPM Annual Meeting in July.
Madelyn Johnson, PhD in Bioengineering – Medical Physics Concentration student, will present her poster, “Dependence of Source-Detector Distance on Fluorescence Probing Depth in Mouse and Human Tissue Using Monte Carlo Modeling of Photofrin-Mediated PDT” at the 2024 AAPM Annual Meeting in July.
Joseph Shields, MS ’24, will present his poster, “Developing an Esapi-Based Autoplanning Method for Volume-Modulated Arc Therapy for Accelerated Partial Breast Irradiation on the Halcyon” at the 2024 AAPM Annual Meeting in Los Angeles, California in July.
Other MPGP Student Presentations
Weibing Yang, PhD, Certificate ’24, will present his abstract, “Tissue optical properties correction of multispectral singlet oxygen luminescent dosimetry (MSOLD) for BPD-mediated Photodynamic Therapy” at the Third Britton Chance international Symposium on Metabolic Imaging and Spectroscopy Conference held at the University of Pennsylvania in July.
Weibing Yang, PhD, Certificate ’24, will present his poster, “A comparison of multichannel singlet oxygen luminescence dosimetry (MSOLD) and singlet oxygen explicit dosimetry (SOED) for benzoporphyrin derivative (BPD) -mediated Photodynamic Therapy” at the Third Britton Chance international Symposium on Metabolic Imaging and Spectroscopy Conference held at the University of Pennsylvania in July.
Publications
Yang W., Rastogi V., Sun H., Sharma D., Wilson B.C., Hadfield R.H., Zhu T.C. Multispectral singlet oxygen luminescent dosimetry (MSOLD) for Photofrin-mediated Photodynamic Therapy. Proc SPIE Int Soc Opt Eng. 2023 Jan-Feb;12359:1235908. doi: 10.1117/12.2652590. Epub 2023 Mar 14. PMID: 38419618; PMCID: PMC10901461.
Weibing Yang, Dennis Sourvanos, Madelyn Johnson, Timothy C. Zhu, Andreea Dimofte, Theresa M. Busch, Rodrigo Neiva, Joseph P. Fiorellini, "Red and near-infrared light dosimetry: a comprehensive analysis of tissue optical properties," Proc. SPIE 12826, Mechanisms of Photobiomodulation Therapy XVIII, 1282603 (12 March 2024); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.3005238
Weibing Yang, Dennis Sourvanos, Baozhu Lu, Hongjing Sun, Madelyn Johnson, Brain C. Wilson, Robert H. Hadfield, and Timothy C. Zhu, "A comparison of multichannel singlet oxygen luminescence dosimetry (MSOLD) and singlet oxygen explicit dosimetry (SOED)," Proc. SPIE 12823, Optical Methods for Tumor Treatment and Detection: Mechanisms and Techniques in Photodynamic Therapy XXXII, 1282305 (Presented at SPIE BiOS: January 27, 2024; Published: 12 March 2024); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.3003421.
Weibing Yang, Madelyn Johnson, Baozhu Lu, Dennis Sourvanos, Hongjing Sun, Brian C. Wilson, Robert H. Hadfield, Timothy C. Zhu, "Tissue optical properties correction of multispectral singlet oxygen luminescent dosimetry (MSOLD) for Photofrin-mediated photodynamic therapy," Proc. SPIE 12823, Optical Methods for Tumor Treatment and Detection: Mechanisms and Techniques in Photodynamic Therapy XXXII, 1282303 (12 March 2024); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.3003076
Intercellular pathways of cancer treatment-related cardiotoxicity and their therapeutic implications: The paradigm of radiotherapy. Logotheti S, Pavlopoulou A, Rudsari HK, Galow AM, Kafali Y, Kyrodimos E, Giotakis AI, Marquardt S, Velalopoulou A, Verginadis II, Koumenis C, Stiewe T, Zoidakis J, Balasingham I, David R, Georgakilas AG. Pharmacol Ther. 2024 May 30:108670. doi: 0.1016/j.pharmthera.2024.108670. Online ahead of print. PMID: 38823489 Review.
Navigating the Critical Translational Questions for Implementing FLASH in the Clinic. Loo BW Jr, Verginadis II, Sørensen BS, Mascia AE, Perentesis JP, Koong AC, Schüler E, Rankin EB, Maxim PG, Limoli CL, Vozenin MC. Semin Radiat Oncol. 2024 Jul;34(3):351-364. doi: 10.1016/j.semradonc.2024.04.008. MID: 38880544 Review.