University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center at Houston
Department of Radiation Physics

My research aims to better understand biological response to radiation, particularly in the context of explaining the differences in response to different types of radiation. Both at the level of cells and tissues, we are trying to better understand the biological consequences caused by the differing patterns of energy deposition created by ions, and how this may interact with cells’ intrinsic radiosensitivity in determining the relative biological effectiveness (RBE) of ion radiation. Thus far, our modeling efforts have been focused on in vitro cell survival data, but more recently we have begun to study image feature changes in medical images acquired before and after radiation therapy, as these changes may be used as surrogates for biological response, potentially bypassing one of the most significant limitations of current RBE modeling based on in vitro or in vivo data which is their applicability in clinical contexts where our confidence in the translation from cells or animals data to predict patient response is unclear.

Education & Training

PhD, UT MD Anderson UT Health Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, 2021