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.

Appointments

Kate Gray, MSN, RN

Kate Gray, MSN, RN, has been appointed to the role of Senior Clinical Director of Nursing of Radiation Oncology overseeing nursing and clinical ancillary support teams across all Penn Radiation Oncology locations.

Kate joined the department in 2017 as the Nurse Manager for PCAM. In 2021, she was promoted to Director of Nursing, and transitioned into the role of Clinical Director in 2023, where she provided leadership and oversight for nursing, social work, and registered dietician teams across the department.

Kate earned her undergraduate degree from the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing and went on to complete her Master’s degree in Healthcare Administration with a minor in Education. She began her nursing career as a Pediatric Oncology RN at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, later serving as a Charge Nurse in the Oncology ICU at the Children’s Hospital of Orange County. Upon returning to the East Coast, she held Nurse Manager roles in Medical Dermatology at Penn and Inpatient Oncology at CHOP before joining the Penn Radiation Oncology team.

As a cancer survivor herself, Kate brings a unique and deeply personal perspective to her work. She is a passionate advocate for enhancing clinical resources, education, and workforce development to better support patients throughout their treatment journey.

This well-deserved promotion reflects Kate’s exceptional dedication, leadership, and continued contributions to the department. Please join us in congratulating Kate on her well-earned achievement.

Michelle Iocolano, MD

Michelle Iocolano, MD has joined the department as an Assistant Professor on the Clinician-Educator track. Dr. Iocolano will provide clinical expertise on the pediatric site team while also offering clinical coverage at Penn Presbyterian Medical Center. Having completed her Radiation Oncology Residency at Penn in June 2025, where she was Chief Resident from 2023-2024, Dr. Iocolano brings valuable experience to our team. Throughout her residency, she demonstrated exceptional commitment to patient education through her work with OncoLink, while simultaneously making significant contributions to protocol development through our Departmental Clinical Trials Research Track. In her faculty position, Dr. Iocolano will serve as the Associate Editor for OncoLink, complementing her clinical, educational, and research responsibilities.

John Nikitas, MD

John Nikitas, MD has joined the department as an Assistant Professor on the Clinician-Educator track from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). At UCLA, Dr. Nikitas completed his Residency in Radiation Oncology in June 2025, which incorporated a dedicated year of Theranostics Research Fellowship. His clinical expertise and research interests are primarily focused on genitourinary (GU) malignancies, with particular emphasis on enhancing quality of life outcomes for patients undergoing prostate radiotherapy. Dr. Nikitas will be a valuable addition to the GU disease site team at the Perelman Center for Advanced Medicine (PCAM), where he will contribute significantly to our ongoing research initiatives and educational programs.

Shervin Tabrizi, MD

Shervin Tabrizi, MD, has joined our department as an Assistant Professor on the Tenure track, following his distinguished tenure at Harvard. Dr. Tabrizi most recently held positions as an Instructor and Attending Physician in the Department of Radiation Oncology at Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School, while concurrently serving as a Postdoctoral Scholar at the prestigious Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research at MIT. His academic credentials include completion of his Radiation Oncology Residency and selection as an American Board of Radiology Holman Pathway Fellow from 2020-2022. Dr. Tabrizi's innovative research focuses on elucidating the biology of circulating biomarkers and developing sophisticated methodologies to enhance their application in cancer diagnostics and personalized treatment selection. In his role at Penn, Dr. Tabrizi will establish and lead his research laboratory while providing clinical expertise one day per week at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center.

Conferences and Speakers

AROPA 3rd Annual Medical Physics Meeting

Andrea Radine was a Presenter and Lea Della Vecchia was a Breakout Room Facilitator at the AROPA 3rd Annual Medical Physics Meeting on the Academic Year Timeline Management.

Canadian Association of Radiation Oncology

September 10-13, 2025

Debra Stephen, Director of Business Development, and Christina McCrohan, Director of Global Education and Patient Programs, were thrilled to attend the Canadian Association of Radiation Oncology September 10-13 in Calgary, representing Penn Medicine Radiation Oncology and sharing information on the department’s proton therapy educational programs and other educational resources to support radiation oncology in Canada.

Uri Amit, MD, PhD, MPH, a recent Proton Fellow in the Department of Radiation Oncology at the University of Pennsylvania, delivered an Oral Presentation on his research with our department, titled Flash Proton Radiation Reduces Ocular Toxicity and Preserves Vision by Minimizing Corneal Cell Death in a Preclinical Model

Goldie Kurtz, MD's research was represented through a poster presentation titled Life-Threatening Malignancy in Pregnancy: A Case Series of Three Patients Treated with Proton Radiotherapy with Long Term Follow-Up

Join the Global Health Catalyst Summit 2025

September 19-21, 2025 | Harvard/MIT & Online

Stephen Avery, PhD, Director of Global Radiation Physics, invites you to the Global Health Catalyst Summit, a premier gathering of leaders in oncology, AI, education, and global health. Enjoy TED-style keynotes, networking, and collaboration opportunities, plus the launch of the world’s first collaboration-driven C4 AI platform. Registration is free for online participation.

Awards & Grants

Melanie Berger, MD was the Recipient of Resident Research Award. Under the mentorship of Dr. Emily Lebow, Melanie will be looking at the feasibility of adaptive radiotherapy for glioblastoma.

Melanie Berger, MD received an Invited Speaker Travel Grant. The grant will be used to present at the Society for Neuro-Oncology (SNO) annual meeting in November in Honolulu, HI.

Abigail Pepin, MD received the RSNA 2025 Roentgen Award

Clinical Research Unit

RadOnc CRU's first HydroSpace trial patient completed the procedure on Tuesday, 8/26/2025. We successfully completed HydroSpace procedure for our first HydroSpace trial patient on Tuesday, 8/26/2025. This picture was taken after the patient procedure, and includes Thalita Adkins, Clinical Field Manager and Amy LeBlanc, Associate Director Clinical Strategy (both from Boston Scientific), as well as Arun Goel (Sub-Investigator at UPenn) and Snehal Somalwar (Lead Clinical Research Coordinator of the trial at UPenn).

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 Halloween and Thanksgiving. Be sure to stop by and admire Linda's hard work the next time you are on the second floor of PCAM!

National MS Society - City to Shore Cycling Event

Lauren Carden is participating in the National MS Society fundraiser - City to Shore Cycling event with the Penn Medicine team to come together and pedal for a cure in the fight against MS. The race is from Cherry Hill (Woodcrest Station) to Inner Boardwalk of Cape May NJ. Donations support the cause we all come to work for every day: "Making a Difference in people’s lives and healthcare!”.

No donation is too small. Every dollar raised brings us closer to a world free of MS and helps fuel Lauren's motivation as she rides. Lauren wants to say: Thank you for your generosity, encouragement, and belief in this mission. I couldn’t do it without you!

Kickball Tournament

Saturday, October 4 (Rain Date: Saturday October 11)

ACES is excited to announce the date of the second annual department kickball tournament! The tournament will be held Saturday, October 4 from 1:00 - 6:00pm with a rain date of Saturday, October 11th. The first game will start at 1:30pm and the event will take place at the softball/multipurpose field at Penn Park on the university's campus.

We are looking to create teams of at least 10 people for the tournament. If you would like to be on a team, please reply to this email with the following information by Friday, September 19th:

• If you would like to be on a team with a group of colleagues and/or family members, please reply with ALL names in your group and their Penn Medicine email. If you do not have at least 10 team members, we will add individual players to create a group of 10.
• If you do not have a team, but would like to be placed on a team, please send us your name and you will be added to a team.
• If there are extra players and all groups have at least 10 players, extra players may be added to your team. Please wait until you hear from ACES with your finalized team members.

We will also need volunteers to assist with umpiring and scorekeeping. Please let us know if you would like to volunteer - this ensures the games run smoothly! All are welcome to attend even if you are not planning on joining a team.

Please email RadOnc_ACES@pennmedicine.upenn.edu to sign up or if you have any questions!

Thoracic Team Barbecue

Steve Feigenberg, MD hosted the Thoracic team for a barbecue on September 13.

The Beam of Life Team

https://www.breakthrough-challenge.org/

The Breakthrough Challenge bike ride was on Sunday, September 14, and the Radiation Oncology Beam of Life team is proud to celebrate this year’s incredible impact. Co-captains Bill Barbour, Chris Laskey, and Christina McCrohan extend their heartfelt thanks to every rider, donor, and supporter who made this event possible. With 29 team members participating, Beam of Life raised an outstanding $9,242! Thanks to the commitment of all involved, the Breakthrough Challenge contributed over $335,000 this year alone — bringing the event’s total to more than $3 million over the past twelve years. Every dollar raised directly supports groundbreaking cancer research at the Abramson Cancer Center.

Join the team here: https://www.breakthrough-challenge.org/

Follow our team Facebook page

Five Questions With...

Melissa Frick, MD

Physician @ LGH

1. What is a typical work day like for you?

My typical day starts with a cup of coffee before seeing a handful of consultations and follow-ups in clinic, most of which include patients with lung, CNS, GU, or breast malignancies. Scattered amongst those visits are simulation scans, SBRTs, and/or adaptive treatments. Most days, there is a multi-disciplinary tumor board to attend. In my non-scheduled time, I am often working on treatment planning in collaboration with my dosimetry and physics teams.

2. What led you to work at Penn Radiation Oncology?

As a sophomore at Swarthmore College, I had the opportunity to do a one-week externship during winter break. Interested in exploring a medical career, I was matched with Swat alumni John Christodouleas (you may have heard of him) and was introduced to the field of medicine via Penn Radiation Oncology. A few years later, I found myself as a medical student at Penn and was presented with the opportunity to act as a clinical research coordinator in the department and, at the same time, contribute to some Oncolink projects on the side. Any and all experiences I had had within the department exposed me to team members who carried a deep responsibility in providing excellent clinical care while making strides towards innovation and carrying our practice into the future. Although I took an extended trip to the west coast for residency, deep ties and a stroke of luck brought me back when a position opened up at Lancaster General Health, this allowing me to practice in a rich community based setting with strong ties to the downtown family. A professional “homecoming” of sorts.

3. What was your first job?

Lifeguard at Swarthmore Swim Club.

4. Do you have any pets? If you don't, what kind of animal would you like as a pet?

Yes! We have two Bernese Mountain dogs – Moby and Bruce. They are big house cats, did not inherit either of their human parents’ athletic abilities, and are happiest when sitting on laps.

5. Do you have any favorite fall activities?

Enjoying more temperate golf outings, watching Eagles games, taking dogs out to Franklin & Marshall fields.

Rad Recommendations

Michele's Menu Musings by Michele Kim, PhD

Borromini – 1805 Walnut St, Philadelphia, PA 19103

Stephen Starr is no stranger to Philadelphia’s restaurant scene. In fact, he has had quite the hand in making it what it is today with 20 restaurants in the area under the Starr Restaurant group umbrella (including Parc, Barclay Prime, the Love, Dandelion, Morimoto, Buddakan, to name a few). His latest creation is Borromini, the “Italian counterpart to Parc” as the staff described. Borromini is located right on Rittenhouse Square, taking over the Barnes and Noble location (thankfully they’re not gone, just relocated to Chestnut Street). I was fortunate enough to be able to go there for dinner on opening weekend for this highly anticipated restaurant.

The space is large, spanning both the first floor and most of the second floor. The buzz from opening weekend was palpable. The cocktail menu has classic Italian drinks and variations that are creative and delicious. In case you are wondering, the “Borro-mini Tini” is not just a fun use of the restaurant’s name in a martini drink – it’s actually a mini martini that is half the size of a typical martini. This one was flavored with burrata brine and garnished with a provolone stuffed olive, making the drink taste like you were eating cheese (a good thing). If you’re into negronis like me, they have some exciting versions including one with mezcal. We started the meal with the focaccia di recco which was not your typical focaccia. This one was warm cheesy, thin, and crispy and an absolute delight that disappeared from our table in a heartbeat. From the antipasti section of the menu, we had the tuna tartare served with crisp pappardelle, the arancini (made with saffron rice, mozzarella, fontina, and green peas), the squash blossoms, and the sea bream crudo. In an effort to try as much of the menu as possible, we ordered four pasta dishes to share: the cacio e pepe, the oxtail mafaldine, the tortelloni di ricotta, and the sicilian lifeguard pasta with calamari, capers, and breadcrumbs. All of these dishes were very well-executed, full of flavor, and the seafood was perfectly cooked. I personally keep an ongoing list of great cacio e pepe spots in the city (always looking for suggestions!) and this one certainly made the list. The notable dish of the restaurant is the 100-layer lasagna, and while seemingly simple, the flavors were spectacular. The creation of this dish is described as a “feat of engineering” – it needs long wooden spears to hold the many layers of pasta, bechamel, tomato sauce, and cheese together.

Reservations might be a little hard to get for a little while, but the bar is walk-in only. They will also be opening for brunch hours in the future. With a little bit of pre-planning, you may be able to acquire a reservation and prove all the doubters wrong. I can’t wait to go back and try some of the secondi.

Do you have any recommendations you'd like to share with the Spotlight? Email your reviews for movies, TV shows, books, and podcasts to RadOncSpotlight@uphs.upenn.edu

On-Site Clinical Proton Education Course at Penn Medicine

Registration is open for the Principles of Proton Therapy Clinical 1-Week Course at the Roberts Proton Therapy Center in Philadelphia, PA. Space is limited! Register now at https://rmi.pennmedicine.org/proton-therapy-training-course

Designed for Radiation Oncologists, Physicists, Treatment Planners, Radiation Therapists, and Industry Vendors. Course includes: prerequisite role-specific recorded modules, hands-on learning opportunties, certificate upon successful completion, networking opportunities with peers and industry leaders.

Upcoming Course Dates:

• Winter Course Date: November 3-7, 2025 / Registration Deadline: September 22, 2025
• Spring Course Date: April 13-17, 2026 / Registration Deadline: March 2, 2026

Upcoming Conferences

Learn about the Penn Radiation Medicine Institute at ASTRO! We will be in the exhibit hall at booth 2211.

Beam Time with Penn Experts at ASTRO:

• Sunday, September 28 from 1:30-2pm PT: Fabian Marechal, MS & John Plastaras, MD, PhD, FASTRO
• Monday, September 29 from 1:30-2pm PT: Rafe McBeth, PhD & Courtney Misher, MPH, BS RT(T)
• Tuesday, September 30 from 1-1:30pm PT: Jim Metz, MD