News Archive
5/13/20 - Dr. Rusthoven wins Dr. Charles Coltman Fellowship from The Hope Foundation for Cancer Research
The Dr. Charles A. Coltman, Jr., Fellowship from The Hope Foundation for Cancer Research is a
scholarship aligned with the SouthwestOncology Group (SWOG). The grant provides salary support for protected research time over the next two years as Dr. Rusthoven serves as the national principle investigator (PI) for a phase 3 randomized trial evaluating brain MRI surveillance +/- prophylactic cranial irradiation (PCI) for limited and extensive stage small-cell lung cancer (SWOG S1827/MAVERICK)
5/18/2020 - Drs. Miller and Holt demonstrate RadFlix Project; Dr. Holt receives grant for VR projects to enhance patient experience
Dr. Brian Miller and Douglas Holt released a new video demonstrating RadFlix, a distraction therapy system in development at the University of Colorado to assist patients undergoing radiation therapy.
The full video of their demonstration can be found on Vimeo.
We are also proud to announce that Dr. Holt recently received a Colorado Cancer Implementation Grant from the Colorado Cancer Coalition for his continued work to incorporate virtual reality as an educational tool for our patients. Congratulations, Dr. Holt!
5/13/2020 - Dr. Rusthoven wins Dr. Charles Coltman Fellowship from The Hope Foundation for Cancer Research
The Dr. Charles A. Coltman, Jr., Fellowship from The Hope Foundation for Cancer Research is a scholarship aligned with the Southwest Oncology Group (SWOG). The grant provides salary support for protected research time over the next two years as Dr. Rusthoven serves as the national principle investigator (PI) for a phase 3 randomized trial evaluating brain MRI surveillance +/- prophylactic cranial irradiation (PCI) for limited and extensive stage small-cell lung cancer (SWOG S1827/MAVERICK)
12/20/2019 - Dr. Shiao awarded Junior Brachytherapy Travel Grant
Resident MD Jay Shiao has been awarded a travel grant from Elekta Brachytherapy. Dr. Shiao will be travelling to the World Congress of Brachytherapy in Vienna in April 2020 to accept this award. Congratulations Dr. Shiao!
10/11/2019 - Postdocs Present Work at Local Imaging Workshop
Drs. Farnoush Forghani-Arani and Adam Mahl, two postdoctoral fellows working with our fantastic physics team, recently presented at an imaging workshop held on campus. We are always proud to show off the amazing work being done by every corner of our department!
10/02/2019 - Ridings Named Top Doc
Dr. Jane Witter Ridings, Medical Director for Radiation Oncology at UCHealth Memorial Hospital, was recently announced once again as a Top Doc in Colorado Springs Style Top Doc publication. Pictured right is Dr. Ridings alongside other faculty members of UCHealth Memorial Hospital Radiation Oncology.
Congratulations, Dr. Ridings!
09/27/2019 - Dr. Schubert Safety Video Wins International Atomic Energy Agency Safety Competition
Congratulations to physicist Dr. Leah Schubert, whose entry into the IAEA's safety competition was selected as one of the winning presentations alongside those from Greece and New Zealand. For an in-depth article with more information, see the news item detailing the project on the Colorado Cancer Blog.
09/25/2019 - Drs. Santoso, Shiao, Patton and Holt awarded ABS HDR/LDR Prostate Brachytherapy Workshop Scholarship
Dr. Jay Shiao and Dr. Douglas Holt, radiation oncology residents, and Dr. Andrew Santoso and Dr. Taylor Patton, physics residents, have been awarded the ABS HDR/LDR Brachytherapy Workshop Scholarship. All four residents will be attending the 2019 ABS ABS Brachytherapy workshop this November, hosted in Denver, Colorado.
08/20/2019 - Dr. Shiao wins ACRF Goldberg-Reeder Resident Travel Grant
Dr. Jay Shiao, University of Colorado second year radiation oncology resident, has won the 2019 ACRF Goldberg-Reeder Resident Travel Grant. This competitive grant provides funding to help introduce and optimize ultrasound-guided brachytherapy at Indo-American Hospital in Hyderabad, India. This modality can help save lives and minimize toxicity while maintaining efficiency in their busy radiation oncology department.
This hospital has a long standing relationship with the University of Colorado gynecologic oncology and radiation oncology departments and has a high brachytherapy volume. Dr. Shiao hopes to continue his focus on global health and brachytherapy through his residency and into his career.
07/02/2019 - Immune System Damage & Ineffectiveness of High-dose Radiation Against Lung Cancer
Congratulations to Drs. Rusthoven, Kavanagh, and Nath on their recent publication in the International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology, Physics. Their study was recently examined in a post on the Colorado Cancer Blogs, with Dr. Nath contributing a number of statements and explanations on their findings.
06/10/2019 - Milgrom Publishes Imaging Guidelines
Dr. Sarah Milgrom, who joined the department faculty last fall, co-authored the recently published consensus guidelines from the International Lymphoma Radiation Oncology Group (ILROG) on the proper use of imaging for patients treated with radiation therapy. Dr. Milgrom and Dr. Rachel Rabinovitch share coverage of the lymphoma service in the department. Dr. Milgrom also sees pediatric radiation oncology patients, and Dr. Rabinovitch also sees breast cancer patients. For additional information, please visit ScienceDirect.
06/05/2019 - GOG/NRG New Investigator Award for Tyler Robin, MD, PhD, PGY5
PGY-5 Tyler Robin, MD, PhD, will join the faculty after his upcoming graduation as Assistant Professor in the CU School of Medicine Department of Radiation Oncology. He also has just received a prestigious New Investigator Award from the Gynecologic Oncology Group (GOG) and NRG Oncology. This award will help Dr. Robin expand the scope of his clinical trial involvement to the national level, while bringing new, innovative clinical trials to cancer patients in Colorado. More details can be found here.
05/20/2019 - Dr. Westerly Awarded CCTSI Grant
Dr. David Westerly was recently awarded a grant from the Colorado Clinical and Translational Sciences institute. The 2019 Novel Methods Development Pilot Program grant will provide support to Dr. Westerly's project to develop a dense plama focus for medical isotope production. Such a device would be useful for radiation biology and imaging studies.
05/06/2019 - Residents Receive Prestigious Grants
Drs. Sara Zakem and Adam Mueller recently received a number of noteworthy grants. Dr. Zakem was awarded a travel grant for ASTRO Advocacy Day and flew to Washington, D.C. with department chair Dr. Brian Kavanagh to speak with representatives on radiation oncology issues.Dr. Mueller was awarded the 2019 RSNA resident research grant. This is a competitive grant, awarding $30,000 over 1 year, for research in radiology and radiation oncology open nationally to residents in both specialties. His project, in the laboratory of Dr. Sana Karam, is studying the effect of radiation on generating fibrosis in pancreatic cancer tumors, with the overall goal of developing new molecular targeted treatments that can make radiation therapy more effective in treating pancreatic cancer.
1/15/2019 - Dr. Miller Receives ACS-IRG Grant
Dr. Brian Miller, a member of the Medical Physics faculty, has been awarded an American Cancer Society Institutional Research Grant. His project will focus on developing next-generation imaging detectors for targeted alpha therapy (TAT). Alpha-emitters hold substantial promise for effectively treating micrometastases and residual disease associated with cancer progression or relapse post-therapy. Alpha-emitters cause localized, irreparable double-strand DNA breaks that lead to immediate cell death with minimal radiation to neighboring normal tissues as they impart large amounts of ionizing energy over a few cell diameters. “Biodistribution information, dosimetry, and dose-response information at cellular levels are key to developing optimal α-particle targeting strategies,” says Dr. Miller. “We are working on developing radiation imaging detectors that will provide the spatial resolution and quantification capabilities needed to advance this exciting therapy for clinical use.”