Our group applies physical principles and new technologies to clinical problems arising from treatment of cancer using radiation therapy. While the research often has immediate applications, we emphasize the understanding of the fundamentals of radiation therapy and imaging physics to solve these clinical problems. We have established strong links with the Robarts Research Institute to encourage collaboration in imaging research as it applies to radiation therapy. We have also established strong commercial links to turn our ideas into clinically usable products. The laboratories are located within the London Regional Cancer Program (LRCP) at the Westminster Campus of the London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC). While the research laboratories are located on the fourth floor, students have access to equipment located throughout the facility. Stereotactic radio-surgery has been developed as a facility to localize and irradiate small brain lesions with narrow X-ray beams. In February 1991, we became the third Centre in Canada to adopt this technology. We are one of the first centres in the world to begin using tomotherapy, treating tumours in 3-D. In addition, our students and staff have won several awards, including a prize for the "best poster" at the national meeting of The Canadian Organization of Medical Physics (1996) and several Canadian and American awards for "Best published paper in Medical Physics" (1989, 1992) Cancer Centre Seeks to Join Science, Treatment Biophysics professors at Western University have developed a CT (Computed Tomography) scanner small enough to sit on a desk. Jerry Battista, Chair of the Department of Medical Biophysics at the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry and Kevin Jordan of the London Regional Cancer Program at London Health Sciences Centre invented the DeskCAT™ Multi-slice CT Scanner as a novel and interactive way to teach CT imaging techniques to a wide range of students. DeskCAT is now being manufactured, and distributed to other universities by Modus Medical Devices in London, Ontario. Our faculty and their graduate students conduct research in partnership with globally recognized faculty supervisors and clinicians at state-of-the-art facilities located at The University of Western Ontario, London Regional Cancer Program, Lawson Health Research Institute, Robarts Research Institute, and the London Health Sciences Centre. After graduation, students find rewarding careers in the healthcare sector, biomedical industry, and academia; others pursue further training in professional schools such as medicine, dentistry, or business. If you have a 4 year Honours Degree (or M.Sc.) in Physics, Chemistry, Engineering, Computer Science, Mathematics, Biology, Medical Sciences or a related field, and are interested in biomedical research, you are invited to apply to our graduate program. Research Divisions
Medical Physics & Radiobiology in Cancer Treatment & Research
The irradiation facilities include:
(a) radio-isotope machines (60Co)
(b) small radionuclide seeds (137Cs, 192Ir, 198Au)
(c) low-energy X-ray sources (40-125 kVp)
(d) and linear accelerators which produce X-ray and electron beams with energies up to 20 MeV
Computer resources include a cluster of workstations (SUN, PC's) and special software packages (e.g., EGS4 Monte Carlo code) for the modelling of interactions of radiation with matter.
Radiation dosimetry equipment includes:
(a) ionisation chambers
(b) semi-conductors
(c) film, radiochromic gels, scintillators, thermoluminescence detectors, and calorimeters
Specialized radiation sensors such as a high purity germanium spectrometer are also available. London, Ontario has a long-standing research tradition in radiation therapy. Cobalt-60 was first used in London for cancer treatment in October 1951. We helped develop a new Ytterbium-169 brachytherapy source. The world's first treatment of a patient using this source took place in London in October 1990.
London Regional Cancer Centre
and
Medical Biophysics Faculty Members
in the News
NEW APPROACH: The goal is to speed up the whole process
by JOHN MINER, THE LONDON FREE PRESS (December 27, 2010)
It’s all about cutting the time it takes a scientific discovery to make it from the lab to a cancer patient.
Wedged between a floor of researchers at Victoria Hospital working on basic science and the London Regional Cancer Centre where patients are treated, the new Gerald C. Baines Centre for Translational Cancer Research aims to make a difference for patients.
“We are trying to move from the bench to the bedside,” said Dr. David Palma, a radiation oncologist and scientist.
READ MORE ......
Mini-CT scanner Developed as a Teaching Tool
Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry
Western University
Clinical CT or CAT (Computed Axial tomography) scanners are large enough to handle a patient and occupy a large room. The donut-shaped scanner rotates a narrow fan beam of x-rays around the region of the body to be visualized. The x-rays are then detected and analyzed by a computer to create detailed images of the body part in thin slices, which can be stacked together to form a three-dimensional (3D) image.
The DeskCAT scanner was invented out of educational necessity. “Teaching the basics of a CT scanner is very complicated. Usually you end up filling a board with equations, and students get lost,” explains Battista. “It’s hard to get access to a clinical scanner for a more practical explanation because of the heavy clinical workload. So basically, we miniaturized a CT scanner to bring it into the classroom.”Rather than using x-rays, the DeskCAT educational scanner uses visible light rays to form multiple views of a transparent specimen. The mathematical method of reconstructing the 3D picture of the specimen's interior from many views through the object, is identical to that used in the full-scale clinical x-ray system.
“The advantage of using light instead of x-rays for teaching is that the scanner can be brought into the classroom or laboratory without the hazards of x-ray exposure,” adds Battista. “Another advantage is that students can ‘see the light’ passing through the specimen whereas x-rays are invisible to the human eye. This provides unique insight!”
For more on DeskCAT, go to www.deskcat.com
Are You Eligible For the CAMPEP Option?
Apply to Our Graduate Program On-line
View the Medical Biophysics Graduate Supervisors' Websites
whose Medical Physics and Radiobiology research groups are located
at the
London Regional Cancer Program and the Robarts Research Institute
Faculty Member
(click on name to view his/her website)
The term 'Graduate Supervisory Privileges' infers that the faculty member has an active research program which may include graduate recruitment for admission during Summer and Fall Terms 2012
The term 'CAMPEP Supervisory Privileges' infers that the faculty member is clinically certified (FCCPM or MCCPM) to serve as primary or joint supervisor for a CAMPEP student
Geographical Location
in London
and
Keywords Describing
Research Expertise
Phone No.
519
Area Code
E-Mail Address
Jerry J. Battista
Professor and Department Chair
Graduate Supervisory Privileges
CAMPEP Program Co-ordinator
Radiation Therapy Biophysics
London Regional Cancer Program
-------
Department of Medical Biophysics
University of Western Ontario
Keywords:
Radiobiology of
DNA damage/repair,
radiation dose computations,
dosing for brachytherapy
LRCP
685-8300
x 53613
-------
UWO
661-2111
x 86552
Glenn Bauman
Professor
Graduate Supervisory Privileges
London Health Science Centre
Victoria Hospital
A4-901B
London Regional Cancer Program
Keywords:
Central nervous system
malignancies, radiation treatment
delivery, brain tumors,
prostate cancer
685-8600
x 53177
glenn.bauman@lhsc.on.ca
Ann F. Chambers
Professor
Graduate Supervisory Privileges
Experimental Oncology
(cell/molecular biology of etastasis)
Keywords:
Dormant cancer cells, intravital video microscopy,
cancer cell
extravasation/intravasation
Jeff Chen
Assistant Professor
(associated with Dr. Battista's
Radiation Physics group)
Graduate Supervisory Privileges
CAMPEP Supervisory Privileges
London Regional Cancer Program
x 53305
Imaging Research
Keywords:
Coherent scatter
computed tomography,
early detection of kidney stones,
dual energy computed tomography
x 34130
or 52342
Imaging Research
Robarts Research Institute
UWO Campus
Keywords:
Image guided prostate cancer therapy, carotid atherosclerosis, magnetic resonance
imaging, 3D carotid
ultrasound imaging
Stewart Gaede
Assistant Professor
(web page not available)
Graduate Supervisory Privileges
CAMPEP Supervisory Privileges
London Health Sciences Centre
Victoria Hospital - A1-112
London Regional Cancer Program
Keywords:
Respiratory motion
management in
image-guided radiation therapy (IGRT)
685-8600
x 53144
stewart.gaede@lhsc.on.ca
Scott Karnas
Assistant Professor
(website not available)
CAMPEP certified to participate
as a member of a CAMPEP student's
advisory committee
London Health Sciences Centre
Victoria Hospital - Room A1-113
London Regional Cancer Program
685-8300
x 54050
scott.karnas@lhsc.on.ca
Ting-Yim Lee
Professor
Graduate Supervisory Privileges
CAMPEP Supervisory Privileges
Imaging
Lawson Health
Research Institute
Grosvenor Street Campus
St. Joseph's Health Ctre
---------------
Imaging Research
Robarts Research Institute
UWO Campus
Keywords:
Using computed tomography for accute and early detection
of stroke imaging,
measurement of myocardial
blood flow,
tumor hypoxia imaging
(3D intensity modulated radiotherapy)
685-8300
x 34131
ting-yim.lee@imaging.robarts.ca
Craig Lewis
Associate Professor
(website not available)
CAMPEP certified to participate
as a member of a CAMPEP student's
advisory committee
London Health Sciences Centre
Victoria Hospital Room A1-111
London Regional Cancer Program
685-8600
x 53345
craig.lewis@lhsc.on.ca
David Palma
Associate Professor
(website not available)
Graduate Supervisory Privileges
London Health Sciences Centre
Victoria Hospital
Room A3-123B
London Regional Cancer Program
685-8500
x 53347
dpalma3@uwo.ca
Terry M. Peters
Professor
Graduate Supervisory Privileges
CAMPEP Supervisory Privileges
Imaging Research
Robarts Research Institute
UWO Campus
Keywords:
Ultrasound imaging and virtual
reality to provide guidance
to surgeons during heart surgeries,
magnetic resonance imaging to assess
abnormalities in brain structure
and function that cause epilepsy,
using computed tomography
to assist surgeons
in tumor removal
685-8300
x 34159
tpeters@imaging.robarts.ca
Frank Prato
Professor
Graduate Supervisory Privileges
CAMPEP Supervisory Privileges
Imaging
Lawson Health
Research Institute
Grosvenor Street Campus
St. Joseph's Health Ctre
Keywords:
Imaging for cardiovascular therapeutics,
biomedical multimodality hybrid imaging,
non-invasive molecular imaging
of cancer growth and metastasis
using magnetic resonance imaging
and a novel reporter gene,
ischemic heart disease imaging
646-6100
x 64140
prato@lawsonimaging.ca
Giles Santyr
Professor
Graduate Supervisory Privileges
CAMPEP Supervisory Privileges
Imaging Research
Robarts Research Institute
UWO Campus
Keywords:
Improving soft tissue contrast
to optimize conventional magnetic
resonance imaging for improved detection and treatment
of disease, use of hyperpolarized noble gases for increased
contrast, measuring
alveolar oxygen concentration
and diffusion coefficients and
dynamic ventilation
661-2111
x 34170
gsantyr@imaging.robarts.ca
Stephen Sawchuk
Assistant Professor
(website not available)
CAMPEP certified to participate
as a member of a CAMPEP student's
advisory committee
London Health Sciences Centre
Victoria Hospital - Room A1-117
London Regional Cancer Program
685-8600
x 53143
ssawchuk@uwo.ca
Robert Stodilka
Assistant Professor
Graduate Supervisory Privileges
CAMPEP Program Co-ordinator
Imaging
Lawson Health
Research Institute
St. Joseph's Health Ctre
Keywords:
Image processing with application
to nuclear medicine,
3D in vivo cell tracking,
DNA damage and repair,
ionizing radiation,
nanotechnology, computer modeling of
biological systems
646-6100
x 64657
stodilka@lawsonimaging.ca
Jean Theberge
Assistant Professor
Graduate Supervisory Privileges
CAMPEP Supervisory Privileges
Imaging
Lawson Health
Research Institute
St. Joseph's Health Ctre
Keywords:
Examining abnormal brain
activity oscilliations in schizophrenia
using functional magnetic
resonance imaging,
magnetic resonance
spectroscopy modeling
646-6100
x 65635
Jacob Van Dyk
Professor
Professor Emeritus
(retired)
Radiation Therapy Biophysics
London Regional Cancer Program
685-8607
Jake.VanDyk@lhsc.on.ca
Aaron Ward
Assistant Professor
(web page not available)
Graduate Supervisory Privileges
Radiation Therapy Biophysics
London Regional Cancer Program
Keywords would be
medical image segmentation,
registration, cancer imaging,
image-guided diagnosis
and therapy
685-8500
x 56846
aaron.ward@uwo.ca
Eugene Wong
Associate Professor
(associated with Dr. Battista's
Radiation Physics group)
Graduate Supervisory Privileges
CAMPEP Supervisory Privileges
Radiation Therapy Biophysics
London Regional Cancer Program
Physics & Astronomy - UWOKeywords:
Adaptive radiotherapy with
intensity modulated arc therapy,
treatment planning
using Monte Carlo
dose calculations,
brain lesions
685-8600
pager 13146
________
661-2111
x 80419
ewong4@uwo.ca
Yartsev, Viatcheslav (Slav)
Assistant Professor
Graduate Supervisory Privileges
Radiation Therapy Biophysics
Rm A1-116
London Regional Cancer Program
Keywords:
Clinical and pathophysiological
features of acute radiation
dermatitis in patients receiving
tomotherapy, tomotherapy planning of small brain tumors,
adaptive radiotherapy planning
on decreasing gross tumor volumes
685-8300
x 53171
Slav.Yartsev@lhsc.on.ca
RESEARCH DIVISIONS
ANNOUNCEMENTS
NSERC Undergraduate Research Awards Competition
Application Deadline: Monday, January 14th, 2013, at 4:00 p.m
The 2013-14 OGS/QEIIGSST Scholarship Application Is Now Available On-line
The deadline to submit finalized applications on-line is February 1st, 2013 at 4 pm
2013-14 OGS/QEIIGSST Application Handbook for Students
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Master's Awards On-line Deadline: January 11th, 2013
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