THE PENN RADIATION ONCOLOGY SPOTLIGHT
March 2023
A Message from Dr. Metz
Spring is finally here in the Philadelphia region! As the weather gets warmer and the flowers bloom I expect we will see more opportunities to get together at outside venues in the coming weeks. We are thrilled with the medical residents and physics residents that have matched to our program! Thanks to everyone that participated in the organization, meetings, and interviews with all the trainees. They are a big part of our future in the department. We have seen tremendous accomplishments this year with the FDA approval of the proton system at LGH and most recently the HyperSight linear accelerator at PCAM. Both resulted in first in the world treatments for Penn Medicine Radiation Oncology. We expect the Penn Medicine Virtua proton center to deliver the first treatments around April 4th, 2023. We just received the final Department of Health approvals this week along with all sign offs on the technology. Chester County Hospital has ramped up use of the new ETHOS linear accelerator, which has been a welcome addition to shorten the length of day. Adaptive Radiation will be starting soon as we just finalized the internal approvals of the technology through our NPR committee. In the coming months we are focused on optimizing the experience of our staff. We have had retreats with our physics, dosimetry, and therapy teams respectively over the past couple of months that has led to the creation of task forces who are working on recommendations moving forward. I am thrilled to have our staff involved and engaged in these efforts! I have been meeting weekly for lunch with small groups of staff to discuss what works well, where we can improve, and how we can continue to evolve in our ever changing environment. I want to thank everyone that has participated thus far and I look forward to continued discussions moving forward. I hope you enjoy the newest edition of the Spotlight! Happy Spring Everyone!!
IVRHA Conference
March 3 - 5, 2023
Radiation Oncology co-hosted the 7th Annual Virtual Reality & Healthcare Symposium with the International Virtual Reality & Healthcare Association (IVRHA). We hosted over 425 attendees from more than 20 countries featuring 50+ exhibitors, and 110+ speakers which included 15 Penn speakers. The conference featured 5 educational tracks including Patient Engagement & Training, Practitioner Training, Surgical Training, Maternal Health & Health Equity, and The Market & Financing. The conference was planned by Fern Nibauer-Cohen, Shelley Saunders, and Mary Callahan, and co-chaired by Fern Nibauer-Cohen & Bill Levin, MD.
First HyperSight Treatments at PCAM
The first patients in the world were treated on February 1, 2023 on the new Varian HyperSight Linear Accelerator at Penn Medicine PCAM. For the number of months, we have had a team working to bring this new technology to patients. It included members from physics, dosimetry, therapy, physicians, and administration to bring this to reality. Our department has once again led the way in new linear accelerator development. As a reminder, a few years ago we treated the first patients in the world at Penn Medicine with the Halcyon linear accelerator after developing the technology with Varian. This is a next generation linear accelerator with superior image quality and speed. It required both hardware and software updates to one of our Halcyon linear accelerators.
Why is this important?
- The imaging quality is superior to conventional linear accelerators - in fact, it is of the same quality as a CT Simulator.
- It is very rapid - taking only about 6 seconds to acquire a CBCT image - dramatically reducing the time for a patient image acquisition. It can be done in a short breath hold for patients
- Our team is leading the way with a clinical trial looking at the imaging capabilities with a large group of patients
What does it mean for the future?
- We believe this machine, with image quality of a CT Simulator, will have the ability to perform simulation and treatment on the same machine, potentially in rapid time.
- This technology can significantly compress planning time and help a number of our patients—particularly those that need rapid turn-around like palliative patients.
- In the future, we may no longer need simulators to perform radiation treatment planning in some settings—this will take a while to prove- but our team is working on it!
Opening Reception for Penn Medicine | Virtua Voorhees
As we look forward to the first proton treatments at Penn Medicine | Virtua Voorhees later this spring, take a moment to revisit the opening reception and watch the video below.
Department Retreats
Over the past few weeks, the physics, dosimetry, and therapy teams each held retreats. Each retreat was kicked off by Dr. Jim Metz, and department COO Fabian Marechal, MS co-led each retreat with senior management and clinical chiefs. Special thanks to Desiree Huber who helped coordinate each retreat!
Physics Retreat Co-Leads: Lei Dong, PhD, Sebastian Haines, MHA, Alex Lin, MD
Dosimetry Retreat Co-Leads: Sebastian Haines, MHA, Will Dyson, MBA, and Michelle Alonso-Basanta, MD, PhD
Therapy Retreat Co-Lead: Sarah Lowitz, MBA, RT(T)
Featured in the Media
Good Taste: Oncology Dietitian Prepares Foods That Comfort and Nourish
Audrey Caspar-Clark, MA, RDN, LDN was featured in the Winter edition of Immaculata Magazine, discussing her path to becoming an oncology dietitian and how she helps our patients.
How One Doctor-Patient Relationship Could Change How Women Are Treated for Gynecologic Cancers
Neil Taunk, MD and one of his patients were highlighted in a Penn Medicine blog post. Dr. Taunk's grateful patient created a fund to research how treatment can be improved for uterine cancer.
RadComp Clinical Trial Compares Proton Therapy with Standard Radiation for Breast Cancer Patients
Justin Bekelman, MD and the RadComp clinical trial were highlighted in an Inquirer article, discussing the importance of this trial and how advanced breast cancer is treated in the future. The study seeks to answer three central questions in the debate over proton therapy vs. traditional radiation: Which has fewer side effects? Which is better at keeping the cancer from coming back? And, since radiation can cause heart damage in breast cancer patients, which leads to fewer heart problems later in life?
Valley Forge Patient Featured in People Magazine
Et-tsu Chen, MD's patient at Valley Forge was featured in People Magazine recently as the 10,000 Traveler with For Pete's Sake Cancer Respite Foundation.
Pet Therapy at Chester County
Kate Spillane, PhD, DABR, a senior physicist at Chester County Hospital, and her dog, Tia, were highlighted in the Penn Medicine blog for their pet therapy work.
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
We invite you to visit the site regularly, as we continue to update with resources and videos, add information on ongoing initiatives, and expand educational materials.
PennCobalt provides mental health resources for Penn staff and faculty.
Announcements
Save the Date - All Department Meeting
The next RadOnc all department meeting will be on Tuesday, April 25 at 11am. There will be both in-person and virtual options.
Have You Recognized Someone Today?
Congratulations to the following individuals and groups who were recognized by a colleague from October to December 2022!
Erica Bates, Amber Blatt, Michael Brown, Anish Butala, Rose Catarambone, Hongyu Chen, Shalonda Clark, Amber Clemmer, Karima Cooper, Anthony DelTufo, Meg Garrett, Tanya Goodwin, Alyssa Green, Celia Johnston, Laura Kendrick, Chris Kennedy, Taoran Li, Evan Loundas, Erin Mensch, Alex Milone, Nikki Mulholland, Danny Pastor, Mimi Perlingiero, Zackary Pittman, Maureen Rogers, Christine Lombardi Sbarra, Bridget Shinkle and the Quality Team.
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!
Aliyaah Bazemore
Aliyaah joins the department as a Patient Services Associate at Doylestown. Previously, she worked as a disease investigator for HIV within the City of Philadelphia. Aliyaah has her Bacherlor's degree from West Chester University.
Julia Bouchat
Julia joins the department as a Social Worker. Previously, she worked at Magee Rehabilitation Hospital as a case manager. Julia graduated with her Master's from Widener University. In her spare time, Julia enjoys reading, cooking, and riding her bike around the city.
Kelly Clark
Kelly Clark joins the department as a Research Project Manager. She earned her Master’s degree in Psychology from American University in 2013 with a specialization in clinical psychology and the assessment of body image and muscularity and her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Wake Forest University in 2010. Prior to joining the team at Penn, she worked as a Program Manager in pediatric health research at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Her passion for oncology-related research was fostered during her time spent working with the non-profit Cancer Support Community, where Kelly helped to expand a cancer patient and caregiver registry and conducted psychosocial research on the cancer experience. She is originally from the Philadelphia area and currently resides in Roxborough where she lives with her senior rescue dog Ginger and enjoys reading, spending time with family and friends, and following Philadelphia and Wake Forest sports.
Nathan McGovern
Nathan McGovern joins the department as a Dosimetry Treatment Planner at Virtua Voorhees. Previously, he worked as a Medical Dosimetrist at Jefferson Health System - Washington Township. Nathan earned his BA in Medical Dosimetry/Radiation Therapy from Thomas Jefferson University. In his spare time, Nathan enjoys spending time with his children, staying active, and reading.
Abhirup Sarkar
Abhirup Sarkar joins the department as a Medical Physicist at Chester County. Previously, he worked as a Medical Physicist at Christiana Care Hosptial. Abhirup earned his MS in Medical Physics from the University of Pennsylvania and his MSc in Physics from IIT - Bombay in India. In his spare time, Abhirup enjoys playing tennis and swimming.
Appointments
Jeffrey Bradley, MD
Jeffrey Bradley, MD has been hired as a Professor (CE Track) and will be joining the Radiation Oncology Department in June 2023. He will be leading efforts with our three Proton Centers as the Vice Chair of Proton Therapy & Technical Development. His recruitment comes at a critical time, as our two new Proton centers at Virtua and LGH begin seeing their first patients.
Dr. Bradley has a national reputation and is highly respected in our field. He earned his medical degree at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences and completed his residency at the University of Chicago Medical Center. As a board certified radiation oncologist, Dr. Bradley specializes in thoracic malignancies with a focus on stereotactic body radiation therapy and proton beam therapy. Dr. Bradley joins us from Emory University, where he was the James W. Keller Distinguished Professor, Executive Vice Chair, and Interim Chair for their Radiation Oncology department. Prior to Emory, he was at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis where he was the S. Lee Kling Endowed Professor of Radiation Oncology, clinical director of the Kling Proton Center, and chief of the Radiation Oncology Thoracic Cancer Service. At Barnes Jewish in St Louis, he led the development of the first single room proton center in the world.
Dr. Bradley is Lung Cancer Committee Chair at NRG Oncology, the largest of the four adult National Clinical Trials Network Groups supported by the National Cancer Institute. He was named a fellow of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) in 2017. He served as chair of the lung/sarcoma section of oral boards with the American Board of Radiology for 10 years, and he is also a founding member of the Particle Therapy Oncology Group of North America. Dr. Bradley also holds professional memberships with American Society for Radiation Oncology, American Society for Clinical Oncology, and International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer. Dr. Bradley' s research focuses on clinical trials that have determined the radiation dose and radiation volume for patients with unresectable stage III lung cancer. He has authored a series of multi-institutional trials that have helped to set the standard of care for this patient population. Dr. Bradley will join us in June 2023, as a Professor, Vice Chair and an attending on the thoracic team.
Alex Lin, MD
Alex Lin, MD was awarded the Morton M. Kligerman Professorship. Many of the treatments Dr. Kligerman pioneered - including 3D CT treatment planning, 3D conformal radiation therapy, and patient immobilization before treatment - are all still used today. This Professorship, established in his name, is awarded to a nationally prominent educator and physician, focusing particularly on continued research and innovation in the field of radiation oncology.
Dr. Lin is currently a Professor and Vice Chair of Faculty Affairs. He earned his BA from Yale University and his MD at the University of Michigan, where he also completed his residency in radiation oncology. Dr. Lin joined the our Department in 2009 and is actively engaged in both clinical and translational research, which has been funded by NIH grants since 2014. His clinical work centers on treating patients with head and neck cancers with radiation therapy. His research has focused on innovative approaches to precision head and neck radiotherapy, such as dose de-escalation for patients with favorable prognosis, as well as combining novel drugs that can modulate the tumor microenvironment to increase the efficacy of radiation in those with radioresistant disease. More recently, Dr. Lin has been investigating the use of ultra-high dose rate proton radiation (FLASH) to improve the therapeutic ratio of treatment, and is actively involved in clinical trials to study this approach.
Dr. Lin demonstrates outstanding qualifications as an educator and physician, focusing particularly on continued research and innovation in the field of radiation oncology. He has upheld and elevated the reputation of the University of Pennsylvania and the Department of Radiation Oncology overall.
Christina McCrohan, MBA
Christina McCrohan, MBA has accepted the position of Associate Director of Global Education. In this newly created role, Christina will be responsible for overseeing the development, implementation, and day-to-day management of all departmental global education and consultancy initiatives. She will work closely with the Director for Business Development, Senior Director of Patient Engagement, and Oncolink leadership in efforts to manage programming logistics related to all initiatives and inbound/outbound partnership visits.
Christina joined Penn Medicine in 2013 and has advanced her career over the last 9 ½ years. She joined the Radiation Oncology Department in 2019 as Manager of Patient Engagement & Global Education. In partnership with OncoLink, she organized in-person and virtual Penn proton training for newly established proton centers nationally and internationally. With her passion for customer service excellence and innovation, Christina is thrilled to bring the Global Education program to the next level in collaboration with OncoLink, Business Development and Vendor Relations. Christina received her Bachelor of Science in Business and Design from Philadelphia University and her Master’s in Business Administration from Jefferson University.
Conferences and Speakers
MyVarian Webiniar Presentation
Ontida Apinorasethkul, MS, CMD presented at a MyVarian webinar on January 18, 2023. Ontida presented on the Penn Experience with gEUD Optimization.
ACRO Conference - March 15 - 18, 2023
Penn Radiation Oncology was well represented at this year's ACRO conference! Several members of our faculty and staff gave presentations or moderated sessions. Congratulations to Amanda Munter, BSN, RN, OCN for winning the award for Best SEALS Poster, and Eva Berlin, MD for winning the MIM Software/eContour Travel Grant.
Department Recognition
In December, Radiation Oncology was highlighted in the CPUP Newsletter:
Andre Konski, MD, MBA, MA, MSc, FACR, FASTRO recently graduated with a MSc in Economic Evaluation for Health Technology Assessment with Merit form the University of York, York, England.
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 Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. Valentine's Day, Black History Month, and St. Patrick's Day. Be sure to stop by and admire Linda's hard work the next time you are on the second floor of PCAM!
Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
Valentine's Day
Black History Month
St. Patrick's Day
For Pete's Sake Fashion Show
November 2022
For Pete’s Sake (FPS) Cancer Respite Foundation held its annual fashion show and dinner at Presidential Caterers in November 2022. Dr. Et-Tsu Chen sponsored a table and was very excited to see patients Nicole Whalen and Jen Aldred on the runway modeling beautiful fashions from Louella (in Wayne).
The event raised more than $85,000 to help families take a break from cancer! FPS enables cancer patients and their loved ones the opportunity to strengthen, deepen and unify their relationships by creating respite vacations to select destinations along the east coast.
Dosimetry Gathering
December 10, 2022
Radnor Shows Off Their Eagles Spirit
The RadOnc team at Radnor showed their support for the Eagles before the Super Bowl in their Eagles swag.
For Pete's Sake Gala
March 4, 2023
Radiation Oncology was proud to support the annual For Pete's Sake Gala. The For Pete’s Sake Cancer Respite Foundation’s mission is to allow cancer patients and their families to take a break from cancer and provide opportunities to create memorable and lasting moments. Each year, the For Pete’s Sake Annual Gala raises funds to contribute to cancer respites.
Attendees from RadOnc: Et-tsu Chen, MD, Suneel Nagda, MD, Meg Garrett, Kate Gray, Mary Thomas, Christina McCrohan, Nicole Marchesani
Philly Spin In
March 12, 2023
A few physicians joined Team Alice and helped raise money to benefit CHOP cardiac patients.
Big Climb for Light the Night
May 6, 2023 at Lincoln Financial Field
Join Team RadOnc in supporting The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) by registering for the Climb or donating to the team. LLS's continued advancements over the years, are responsible for the blood cancer survival rate doubling and tripling; in some cases, the survival rate has even quadrupled.
Wellness & ACES
Wellness Wrap Up
Check out the different ways the Wellness Committee promoted employee wellness to their teams!
Clinical Research Unit Happy Hour
Philadelphia Union vs El Salvador CONCACAF Game
St. Patrick's Day Celebration at Cherry Hill
Thanks to Andreea Dimofte and Diana Kelly for organizing!
First PDT Lunch at PCAM
Thanks to Andreea Dimofte for organizing! The group plans to have a monthly ethnic food celebration - this month they picked Greek!
ACES
Ice Skating - February 18, 2023
This year, ACES rented the lodge next to the ice rink at Penn's Landing for easy access to the ice and lots of comfortable seating to hang out. There was a great turnout this year and we plan on renting the lodge again next year!
Employee Recognition
Last year, ACES received 153 employee recognitions. Michael Brown submitted 20 of those! As a thank you for taking the time to recognize his colleagues, ACES gifted Michael with two tickets to the PHS Philadelphia Flower Show.
ACES encourages everyone to save the link to the department's employee recognition form so you can easily submit a recognition for your colleagues: https://redcap.med.upenn.edu/surveys/?s=HPKUea. Each month, ACES notifies anyone who has been recognized during the previous month. Each quarter, recognitions are sent to the entire department for a vote for an additional recognition of a half-day off. ACES is also looking for more ways to recognize those who take the time to submit a recognition, such as with tickets to events like the Flower Show. If you have any questions, please email RadOnc_ACES@pennmedicine.upenn.edu.
The Beam of Life Team
https://www.ms-stride.org/breakthroughbikechallenge
The Breakthrough Challenge bike ride will be on Sunday, September 10. The Radiation Oncology Beam of Life team is lead by co-captains Bill Barbour, Chris Laskey, and Christina Marchesani.
Last year, the Beam of Life Team surpassed our fundraising goal reaching $16,436.04! This has been the highest amount raised in our team’s history. Overall, the Breakthrough Challenge raised over $310,000, which brings the 9 year total to over $2.25 million. The Breakthrough Challenge donates 100% of participant-raised funds to support breakthrough cancer research at the Abramson Cancer Center.
Join our Facebook Group: Breakthrough Bike Challenge Beam of Life Team https://www.facebook.com/groups/826233537487908/about
Follow us on Instagram: BBCBeamOfLife
Five Questions With...
Evan Loundas
Practice Manager at PCAM
1. What is a typical work day like for you?
I open our practice in the morning, so I like to talk to our early patients and see how they are doing. I currently have two new employees working our front office, so I’ve been spending most of my day working to onboard our new staff. I jump between our front office and my office for meetings, and try to check on our staff throughout the day and make sure everything is going well!
2. What led you to work at Penn Radiation Oncology?
I started working at Penn in March of 2020, during the first week of Covid, coordinating volunteer services at PPMC. During that time, my brother was a Proton therapy patient at PCAM, and I was able to accompany him during a few visits. When I was ready for a change in my role, I looked into ambulatory management roles and applied for a practice manager role, which happened to be in Rad Onc. After speaking with Nicole about the role, it seemed to be a great fit for what I was looking for, and absolutely has been! The mission of work aligns with my own personal style, and helps me feel connected to the work every day.
3. What was your first job?
When I was in high school, I worked at a Ford dealership and would clean/detail cars that had been sold. It was cool job because I got to drive a bunch of brand new cars, and I learned how to parallel park really big pickup trucks.
4. What are you looking forward to most as we head into spring?
Going to Phillies games, and getting ready for the summer! We spend a lot of time in Ocean City, New Jersey, and every passing day means that we are closer to boardwalk ice cream and mini-golf.
5. Do you have any pets? If you don’t, what kind of animal would you like as pet?
My fiancé and I just adopted a 2 year old rescue Terrier mix, named TJ, who has been a wonderful addition to our home! He is adjusting to the city and loves to chase after squirrels in Washington Square Park. He is named after Sixers (and Duquesne University) legend, TJ McConnell.
Global Education for Proton Therapy
Beginning of this year, RadOnc continued to hosted 17 clinical staff from University of Arkansas Medical Center for proton therapy training. We are looking forward to hosting the last group in late March.
Medical and Medical Physics Leadership
Chief Residency Appointments
For the Medical residency, Michelle Iocolano, MD will be our next Assistant Chief Resident beginning in July 2023, at which time Nikhil Yegya-Raman, MD will become Senior Chief Resident.
For the Physics residency, Barbara Garcia, MS will be our next Chief Resident beginning in July 2023.
Please join us in congratulating Michelle and Barbara on their respective appointments. We also thank our current senior Chiefs -- Nishant Shah, MD and Allison Haertter, MS -- in advance for their exemplary service to the department in these roles.
Education Officer Appointment for the Medical Physics Residency Program
Dr. Lin Ma, Ph.D. has been appointed as the Education Officer for the Medical Physics Residency Program for the academic year 2023-2024. The EO position was created 2 years ago as an important leadership role to help liaise with our Medical Physics Graduate Programs, creating and sharing educational opportunities with students, as well as supporting other educational initiatives within the residency team.
Dr. Ma joined us from the UT Southwestern Medical Center with strong research experience in AI, and has since demonstrated outstanding caliber in both didactic studies and clinical services. He is trusted by his fellow residents and program leadership, and was recommended by several fellow residents to be the next EO. From his past engagement in educational activities, it is evident that he has strong passion in education, and outstanding skill set in teaching. Dr. Ma will continue to enhance the overall quality of our program and the synergy across education programs in our department. Over the coming months Dr. Ma will work closely with the current EO Dr. Covele to ensure a smooth transition, and will officially assume this role in July 2023.
Thank you to our current Education Officer Dr. Covele for his exemplary service to multiple education programs within the department. Dr. Covele will be joining our LGH physics team this July, and continue to provide important support to our residents training at LGH and beyond.
Match Day 2023
Medical Residents
- Lauren Linkowski earned a BS in Nutritional Sciences from the University of Georgia and a MD from the University of South Florida
- Hefei Liu earned a BS in Chemistry from Villanova University and MD from Medical College of Wisconsin
- Sidharth Ramesh earned a BA in Biology from the University of Missouri and MD from the University of Missouri
- Avinash Ramkissoon earned a BS in Chemical Biology from McMaster University, a MPH in Epidemiology from the University of Toronto, and a MD from Wayne State University
- Michael Schad earned a BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Virginia and MD from the University of Pittsburgh
Medical Physics Residents
- Jace Grandinetti, PhD - UT Southwestern Medical Center
- Elvia Odalis Reyes Guevara, MS - University of Pennsylvania
- Ahmad Sakaamini, PhD - University of Pennsylvania
- Melisssa Vila, MS - University of Pennsylvania
- Daniel Alexander, PhD is currently in the research year and will be starting clinical rotations in July 2023.
Medical Residency
Eva Berlin, MD - PGY 4 received the ARS Travel Award.
Monica Chelius, MD - PGY 3 was accepted to the UPSH Safety/Quality Leadership Track.
Jacob Trotter, MD PGY-4 spent two weeks assisting Dr. Arun Goel in brachytherapy cases.
Nikhil Yegya-Raman, MD - PGY 4 was accepted to the 2023 NCCN Oncology Fellows Program: New Horizons in Quality Cancer Care and the NCCN 2023 Annual Conference.
Medical Physics Residency
Medical Physics Residency Associate Program Director Shibu Anamalayil, MS now serves on the Association of Radiation Oncology Program Coordinators (AROPC) Advisory Board.
Medical Physics Graduate Program
News & Noteworthy
Winter Edition Newsletter: Check out Radiation Communication, the Medical Physics Graduate Programs’ newsletter, published in January 2023.
Spring Break Celebration: On Wednesday, March 1, students gathered in the student room for lunch from Hummus Grill and board games to kick off their Spring Break. Games included Spot It, Exploding Kittens, Settlers of Catan, and cards.
MPGP Prospective Students’ Visit Day: On Saturday, March 18, MPGP hosted Prospective Students’ Visit Day. Applicants joined us in-person at PCAM and virtually to learn more about the MPGP programs. Several faculty members in Radiation Oncology and Radiology presented about research opportunities, and current students discussed the student community and their experiences in the programs. Additional highlights included a tour of the PCAM clinic, bus tour of Philadelphia, and social event with current students.
Presentations
Olivia Certa, second year MSMP student, was selected to present her paper, “Implementation and Evaluation of RapidPlan PT Knowledge-Based Planning” at the 2023 AAPM Spring Clinical Meeting in Orlando, Florida in April.
Dixin Chen, second year MSMP student, will present her poster, “Impact of MLC leaf width on plan quality for single-isocenter multi-target conformal-arc SRS” at ESTRO 2023 in Vienna, Austria in May.
Kaishen Li, second year MSMP student, was selected to present his paper, “Investigate Hyperarc Planning Strategy for Linac-Based Brain Stereotactic Radiosurgery” for the Best Poster Competition at the 2023 AAPM Spring Clinical Meeting in Orlando, Florida in April.
Seyyeddeh Azar Oliaei Motlagh, PhD, first year Certificate student, presented her paper, “Quality Assurance of Dose Rate for Flash Radiation with Double Scattered Protons” at the 2022 Flash Radiotherapy and Particle Therapy Conference in Barcelona, Spain.
Seyyeddeh Azar Oliaei Motlagh, PhD, first year Certificate student, will present her abstract, “Proton pencil beam scanning FLASH radiotherapy dose rates: Numerical analysis in vivo” as a poster at the 61st Annual PTCOG Conference in Madrid, Spain in June 2023.
Odalis Reyes, second year MSMP student, was selected to present her paper, “VEGO Optimization for Salvage Prostate HDR” for the Best Poster Competition at the 2023 AAPM Spring Clinical Meeting in Orlando, Florida in April.
Odalis Reyes, second year MSMP student, will present her poster, “Commissioning a 7 Degree-of-Freedom Robotic Arm for Preclinical Proton FLASH PBS” at the inaugural PSOM Master’s Student Colloquium in April 2023.
Yifeng Zhu, second year MSMP student, presented his paper, “Evaluation of the cumulative Cherenkov converted dose on TSET patient with multiple Cherenkov cameras,” at the SPIE Photonics West Conference in San Francisco, California.
Student Awards & Achievements
Jiayi Liu, second year MSMP student, was awarded Best Abstract for her paper, “Using Thin-Gap Transmission Ion Chamber and Faraday Cup to Characterize Ion Recombination Effect Under Ultra-High Dose Rate Electron, Pulsed Proton and Quasi-Continuous Proton Beams”. She presented her paper at the 2022 Flash Radiotherapy and Particle Therapy Conference in Barcelona, Spain.
Hai Siong Tan, PhD, second year MSMP student, was awarded the Best Student Award (for outstanding presentation performance) on the presentation of his paper, “Modeling ultra-high dose rate electron and proton FLASH effect with physicochemical approach” at the 2022 Asia-Oceania Congress on Medical Physics in Taipei, Taiwan.
Publications
Toxicities and Deaths From Intercurrent Disease Following Contemporary Postoperative Radiotherapy in Resected Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer. Kim KN, Heintz J, Yegya-Raman N, Cohen R, Kegelman T, Cengel K, Marmarelis M, Sun L, Langer C, Aggarwal C, Singh A, Singhal S, Kucharczuk J, Robinson K, Feigenberg S. Clin Lung Cancer. 2022 Dec 25:S1525-7304(22)00296-0. doi: 10.1016/j.cllc.2022.12.008. PMID: 36628846
A Novel Ubiquitin Complex Regulates Aneuploid Epithelial Tumors by Moderating an Integrated Stress Response. Leli NM, Koumenis C. Cancer Discov. 2023 Mar 1;13(3):535-537. doi: 10.1158/2159-8290.CD-22-1440. PMID: 36855916
Clinical Outcomes Associated With Pembrolizumab Monotherapy Among Adults With Diffuse Malignant Peritoneal Mesothelioma. Marmarelis ME, Wang X, Roshkovan L, Grady CB, Miura JT, Ginsberg MS, Ciunci CA, Egger J, Walker S, Cercek A, Foote MB, Litzky LA, Nash G, Haas AR, Karakousis GC, Cengel KA, Katz SI, Zauderer MG, Langer CJ, Offin M. JAMA Netw Open. 2023 Mar 1;6(3):e232526. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.2526. PMID: 36897589
Cancer cells resistant to immune checkpoint blockade acquire interferon-associated epigenetic memory to sustain T cell dysfunction. Qiu J, Xu B, Ye D, Ren D, Wang S, Benci JL, Xu Y, Ishwaran H, Beltra JC, Wherry EJ, Shi J, Minn AJ. Nat Cancer. 2023 Jan;4(1):43-61. doi: 10.1038/s43018-022-00490-y. Epub 2023 Jan 16. PMID: 36646856
Improving Titanium Implant Stability with Photobiomodulation: A Review and Meta-Analysis of Irradiation Parameters. Sourvanos D, Poon J, Lander B, Sarmiento H, Carroll J, Zhu TC, Fiorellini JP. Photobiomodul Photomed Laser Surg. 2023 Feb 28. doi: 10.1089/photob.2022.0161. PMID: 36856530 Review
Modulation of the gut microbiota engages antigen cross-presentation to enhance antitumor effects of CAR T cell immunotherapy. Uribe-Herranz M, Beghi S, Ruella M, Parvathaneni K, Salaris S, Kostopoulos N, George SS, Pierini S, Krimitza E, Costabile F, Ghirardi G, Amelsberg KV, Lee YG, Pajarillo R, Markmann C, McGettigan-Croce B, Agarwal D, Frey N, Lacey SF, Scholler J, Gabunia K, Wu G, Chong E, Porter DL, June CH, Schuster SJ, Bhoj V, Facciabene A. Mol Ther. 2023 Jan 13:S1525-0016(23)00012-6. doi: 10.1016/j.ymthe.2023.01.012. Epub 2023 Jan 14. PMID: 36641624
Small-molecule toosendanin reverses macrophage-mediated immunosuppression to overcome glioblastoma resistance to immunotherapy. Yang F, Zhang D, Jiang H, Ye J, Zhang L, Bagley SJ, Winkler J, Gong Y, Fan Y. Sci Transl Med. 2023 Feb 15;15(683):eabq3558. doi: 10.1126/scitranslmed.abq3558. Epub 2023 Feb 15. PMID: 36791206
Salvage radiotherapy for relapsed/refractory non-Hodgkin lymphoma following CD19 chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CART) therapy. Yegya-Raman N, Wright CM, LaRiviere MJ, Baron JA, Lee DY, Landsburg DJ, Svoboda J, Nasta SD, Gerson JN, Barta SK, Chong EA, Schuster SJ, Maity A, Facciabene A, Paydar I, Plastaras JP. Clin Transl Radiat Oncol. 2023 Jan 20;39:100587. doi: 10.1016/j.ctro.2023.100587. eCollection 2023 Mar. PMID: 36718252
PHGDH-mediated endothelial metabolism drives glioblastoma resistance to chimeric antigen receptor T cell immunotherapy. Zhang D, Li AM, Hu G, Huang M, Yang F, Zhang L, Wellen KE, Xu X, Conn CS, Zou W, Kahn M, Rhoades SD, Weljie AM, Fuchs SY, Amankulor N, Yoshor D, Ye J, Koumenis C, Gong Y, Fan Y. Cell Metab. 2023 Feb 16:S1550-4131(23)00010-4. doi: 10.1016/j.cmet.2023.01.010. Epub 2023 Feb 17. PMID: 36804058
A Phenomenological Model of Proton FLASH Oxygen Depletion Effects Depending on Tissue Vasculature and Oxygen Supply. Wei Zou, Haram Kim, Eric S Diffenderfer, David J Carlson, Cameron J Koch, Ying Xiao, BoonKeng K Teo, Michele M Kim, James M Metz, Yi Fan, Amit Maity, Costas Koumenis, Theresa M Busch, Rodney Wiersma, Keith A Cengel, Lei Dong. Front Oncol. 2022 Nov 28;12:1004121. doi: 10.3389/fonc.2022.1004121. eCollection 2022. PMID: 36518319 PMCID: PMC9742361.
Multispectral singlet oxygen luminescent dosimetry (MSOLD) for Photofrin-mediated Photodynamic Therapy. Weibing Yang, Vivek Rastogi, Hongjing Sun, Dvij Sharma, Brian C. Wilson, Robert H. Hadfield, Timothy C. Zhu. Proceedings Volume 12359, Optical Methods for Tumor Treatment and Detection: Mechanisms and Techniques in Photodynamic Therapy XXXI; 1235908 (2023) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2652590. Event: SPIE BiOS, 2023, San Francisco, California, United States
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Created with images by Gibson Hurst™ - "untitled image" • PublicDomainPictures - "backdrop background blank board brown bulletin business" • Bru-nO - "welcome chalk flashlights" • Chris Murray - "Shot along the Schuylkill River, with the Philadelphia Art Museum and the center city skyline as the backdrop." • Graphic PhotoArt - "Isolated vintage globe" • Christopher Gower - "Focus" • Mahendra Kumar - "untitled image"