Postgraduate trainees at Hart House
Photo credit: Horst Herget

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On June 9, 2014, 24 of UT DRO’s postgraduate trainees received their graduation certificates and entered into the University of Toronto alumni circle. This year’s UT DRO Postgraduate Ceremony was a ceremony of firsts.

This was the first time that UT DRO co-hosted the ceremony with the Postgraduate Medical Education department at the Faculty of Medicine. It was also the first time that this ceremony was held at the historic Hart House.

The day included mingling with colleagues inside the Great Hall and an award ceremony, and ended with live music and dinner in the Quad. During the award ceremony, Charles Catton (Director of the Fellowship Program), Barbara-Ann Millar (Director of the Radiation Oncology Residency Program), and Jean-Pierre Bissonnettee (Director of the Physics Residency Program) handed out Research Day awards and graduation certificates to 13 Fellows, 4 Radiation Oncology Residents, and 7 Physics Residents. The chief trainees in each program also took the stage to recognize the leadership of their directors.

The highlight of the evening was Charles Catton, who is stepping down from his position as Director of the Fellowship Program. Chief Resident Matt Mason presented Dr. Catton with a video tribute from his colleagues and trainees, and an award for his years of dedication to the Fellowship program. Dr. Catton also announced that the incoming Fellowship Director will be Peter Chung, a well-known radiation oncologist at UT DRO. Although Dr. Catton has stepped down from his position, he will continue his role as a faculty member with UT DRO.

On a similar note, although our graduates are taking on new roles, they will continue to be a part of the UT DRO community as our alumni. We will be seeing them at various conferences and meetings around the world, and at our Annual ASTRO alumni event. As alumni, they will continue to contribute to cutting-edge research and education as they have been doing during their training. We wish them the very best as they continue to grow into the next leaders in radiation  medicine.

AWARDS

W.J. Simpson Award For Academic Excellence in Research by a Radiation Oncology Resident
Adam Gladwish
Title:  Does the Apparent Diffusion Coefficient Value Predict Disease Recurrence in Patients with Locally Advanced Cervical Cancer Treated with Radical Chemoradiation?
Authors: Gladwish A, Milosevic M, Fyles A, Foltz W, Becker N, Jiang H, Levin W, Manchul L, Han K.

R.S. Bush Award For Academic Excellence in Research by a Radiation Oncology Fellow
Alejandro Berlin
Title:  NBN Gain Is Predictive for Adverse Outcome Following Image- Guided Radiotherapy for Localized Prostate Cancer
Authors: Berlin A, Lalonde E, Zafarana G, Sykes J, Lam W, Meng A, Milosevic M, van der Kwast T, Boutros P, Bristow R.

J.R. Cunningham Award For Academic Excellence in Research by a Physics Resident
Marcus Sonier
Title:  Implementation of VMAT for Kidney SBRT Authors: Sonier M, Chu W, Lalani N, Korol R

Richard P. Hill Award For Academic Excellence in Research by a Graduate Student
Priscilla Lai
Title: Design and Characterization of Gold Nanoparticle Brachytherapy Seeds for PBSI
Authors: Priscilla Lai, Eli Lechtman, Shahram Mashouf, Christina Kim, Emily Wong, Ahmad El-Falou, Azza Al-Mahrouk, Gregory Czarnota, Jean-Philippe Pignol

Best Poster Award for a Postgraduate Trainee
Kate Barrett
Title: Genetic polymorphisms associated with radiation-related esophagitis and pneumonitis following definitive treatment for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC)
Authors: Barrett, Katherine, Xu, Jingxiong, Kim, Su Woon, Boyd, Kevin, Cheng, Dangxiao, Chen, Zhuo, Bezjak, Andrea, Sun, Alex, Cho, John, Brade, Anthony, Leighl, Natasha, Shepherd, Frances, A Xu, Wei, Liu, Geoffrey, Hope, Andrew

Chair’s Award for Academic Excellence in Research
Dr. Adam Gladwish
Title:  Does the Apparent Diffusion Coefficient Value Predict Disease Recurrence in Patients with Locally Advanced Cervical Cancer Treated with Radical Chemoradiation?
Authors: Gladwish A, Milosevic M, Fyles A, Foltz W, Becker N, Jiang H, Levin W, Manchul L, Han K.

Resident’s Award for Excellence in Clinical Teaching
Presented to:  Dr. Andrea Bezjak

Residents Award for Excellence in Physics Teaching
Presented to:  Dr. Claire McCann

Dr. Jean-Phillippe Pignol, a long-time member of UT DRO, will be leaving his positions as Professor at UT DRO and the Department of Medical Biophysics, as well as his staff position at the Odette Cancer Centre this summer. He has accepted a major leadership position at Erasmus MC: University Medical Center Rotterdam in the Netherlands.

The Erasmus University Medical Center based in Rotterdam, Netherlands, affiliated with Erasmus University and home to its faculty ofmedicine, is the one of the largest and one of the most authoritative scientific University Medical Centers in Europe. Dr. Pignol will be taking on the position of Professor and Chair of the University Department in addition to leadership of the Radiation Oncology Department at the Medical Center. The department there is highly specialized in robotic radiotherapy, brachytherapy, and image guided radiotherapy in addition to hyperthermia.

Dr. Pignol has been an innovative leader both at the Odette Cancer Centre, and at U of T. Dr. Greg Czarnota commented, “Many of the unique aspects of what we offer to patients at Odette Cancer Centre have been led by Dr. Pignol’s efforts and his unique ability to get things done. In that way he has served as a role model for many of us in addition to his excellence in patient care.”

On behalf of everyone at UT DRO, we wish Dr. Pignol our heartiest congratulation on this new and exciting chapter!

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Pros and cons of acquiring proton therapy in Canada

Special thanks to Young Lee for this story

Target Insight VIII: 4PRT – Photons, Protons, Particles and Progress in Radiation Therapy held at the University of Toronto created a unique environment in which many who work in the field of radiation therapy were exposed to the current practices and research in particle therapy. The fact that we do not have a high energy particle therapy machine to treat deep-seated, large tumors in Canada when many other countries around the world have or are currently building multiple, multi-million dollar centres, has brought up many questions such as are we treating our patients suboptimally and would we be having this conference if the cost of particle therapy equaled photon therapy. The two-day conference not only created discussions on what is particle therapy and how is it delivered but also the financial and ethical questions that should be answered before such machines are introduced to a publically-funded healthcare environment.

It was clear from the conference that treating patients with particle therapy does not benefit all patient population. However, many agreed that for a set population, such as the paediatric patients, the physical properties of particle therapy have the potential to reduce dose to tissues surrounding the treatment volume. Due to the sharp Bragg peak of particle therapy, there may be a huge advantage in using particle to photon therapy. The discussions on uncertainties associated with treatment (e.g. range determination) and relative biological effectiveness have brought up the need for research and development that are still on-going. This brought up how we as a nation, that wants to lead in cutting-edge research, could fall behind due to the lack of a particle therapy facility. There were also discussions on how the current research that is being conducted in particle therapy may be biased due to how the centre and the research have been financed. This indicates the potential advantage and efficacy research and development work that are conducted by a publically-funded centre could bring to advancing this field.

To achieve treating the patient population that would gain the most from particle therapy and to allow the as many Canadians as possible to benefit from this technology, many felt that it was important to carefully choose where the centre should be and whether a single, large centre was an ideal solution. Particle therapy machines now come in various geometries (e.g. huge multiple gantry machines or single gantry machines that resemble current photon therapy delivery) and many felt that perhaps having multiple single centres in populated parts of Canada would be best suited for not only clinical delivery but also to further Canadian scientific research. The conference successfully increased our knowledge on particle therapy technology but also the impact it has had and will have in radiation therapy.

On June 7, 2014, 300 high school students from across Ontario attended the Faculty of Medicine’s Guide to a Career in Healthcare Event. UT DRO’s Medical Radiation Sciences was featured during this event.

Current MRS students volunteered their time to help out with this event. They saw on a Student Panel during the Career Fair and answered questions about the program. In addition, recent graduates from the MRS program conducted a 15-minute workshop highlighting their streams and possible career options.

Overall, the attendees were keen to learn about the different career paths they can take in healthcare. Jeremy Kwan, the registrar for the MRS program, said, “The feedback we have from the attendees was overwhelmingly positive. They enjoyed the Student Panel and the Career Fair, as well as the MRS workshop. This was our first year doing this event, ane we will continue to hold such events in the future.”

The American Society of Therapeutic Radiation Oncology (ASTRO), our leading Radiation Oncology Society, has awarded its most prestigious Gold Medal to UT DRO’s previous chair, Dr. Mary Gospodarowicz. The Gold Medal, ASTRO’s highest honour, recognizes distinguished members who have made outstanding contributions to the field of Radiation Oncology, including research, clinical care, teaching and service.

Dr. Gospodarowicz will receive the ASTRO Gold Medal during the Awards Ceremony on Tuesday, September 16, 2014, at ASTRO’s 56th Annual Meeting in San Francisco.

Congratulations Dr. Gospodarowicz!

Over the last six months, UT DRO’s Strategic Planning Steering Committee members have been meeting regularly with our consultant to create a Road Map which will guide us to 2017. Based on The Transformative Agenda, this Road Map lays out the strategic aspirations, strategies and measures for success.

In addition to meetings with the committee and UT DRO leadership, the consultant met with the entire UT DRO community during Research Day 2014. During the morning, the members of the community – trainees, staff, and faculty members – were asked to vote on the strategic aspirations, the current landscape, and the tagline for the Road Map to 2017.

The feedback form the community helped guide this Road Map, and the strategies it outlines. The community agreed on an action-based tagline: Attract, Catalyze, Transform – ACT.

Over the next few weeks, the full report will be distributed amongst the UT DRO community for final comments.

The Department of Radiation Oncology at the Odette Cancer Centre at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre is seeking applications for two scientist positions.

For more information, click here.

William Song has been appointed the new Director of the Department of Medical Physics at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre. Dr. Song, who completed his PhD at the University of Western Ontario, also holds a Scientist appointment with the Sunnybrook Research Institute and an Associate Professor appointment with UT DRO.

Prior to joining UT DRO, Dr. Song was co-directing the Research Arm of the Department of Radiation Medicine and Applied Sciences and acting as the Chief of Physics in GI Tumours at the University of California San Diego.

His breadth of knowledge expands all aspects of Medical Physics, and he is especially well-versed in IGRT and Motion Management Technologies and Prostate Cancer.

Please join us in welcoming Dr. Song to UT DRO, and to his new position at Odette Cancer Centre.

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On June 3, 2014, 97 students from the Medical Radiation Sciences program received their Bachelors degrees. UT DRO hosted a pre-convocation awards ceremony in Hart House where several students received awards. Friends and family also attended this ceremony to celebrate the MRS Class of 2014.

Highest Academic Standing

Gold Medal - Jenna Leigh Gay

Silver Medal – Michelle Barr

Bronze Medal - Laura Purdy

Research Award 

Award for Excellence in Research Methods – Hugh Felix Tsui
Project title: “Dosimetric adequacy of the non-delineated post-operative cavity in whole breast radiotherapy treatment of women with early breast cancer”
Supervisor: Grace Lee, PMH

Honourable Mention in Research Methods – Annette Erlich
Project title: “Food for thought: Are Radiation Therapists able to recognize patients who would benefit from dietary counseling?”
Supervisor: Lisa Di Prospero, OCC

Clinical Project 

Award for Excellence in Radiological Technology – Joyce Tanner
Project title: “Without protocols in place for technologists to sanitize and re- tape their personal radiographic markers in between patients, do markers become reservoirs for C. diff and MRSA thereby contributing to the spread of nosocomial infections within the hospital?”
Clinical site: University Health Network
Supervisor: Tarran Dorrington
Mentor: Valerie Anzil

Honourable Mention in Radiological Technology – Vuvi Nguyen
Project title: “Is Panoramic Radiography as Accurate as Plain Radiography for Diagnosing Temporomandibular Joint (TMJ) Dysfunctions?”
Clinical site: St. Joseph’s Health Centre
Clinical Instructor: Rhonda Gannon

Award for Excellence in Nuclear Medicine – Laura Purdy
Project title: “How accurate is the VeinViewer™ compared to standard venipuncture techniques in locating a vein for the successful administration of a radiopharmaceutical in adult patients?”
Clinical site: Windsor Regional Hospital
Clinical Instructor: Kulwinder Flora

Honourable Mention in Nuclear Medicine – Joonyong Seo
Project title: “Does Medium Energy High Resolution Collimator Have an Advantage in Clinical Image Quality over Low Energy High Resolution Collimators During Iodine-123 MIBG studies?”
Clinical site: Hamilton Health Sciences
Clinical Coordinator: Lily Krnezich

Award for Excellence in Radiation Therapy – Jenna Leigh Gay
Project title: “How Does a Prophylactic Gastrostomy Tube Impact Quality of Life in Patients with Head and Neck Cancer?”
Clinical site: Princess Margaret Hospital
Mentor: Lorraine Hulley

Honourable Mention in Radiation Therapy – Ayesha Abdullah
Project title: “What is the impact on the mental health of radiation therapists working with palliative cancer patients versus non-palliative patients?”
Clinical site: Credit Valley Hospital
Clinical Coordinator: Monica Van Larkin

Volunteer Award Outstanding Volunteer Achievements in MRS Program  

1. Jessica Bonomo, Radiation Therapy
2. Eda Camandang, Radiation Therapy
3. Monica Chao, Radiological Technology
4. Bethany Fitzpatrick, Radiation Therapy
5. Nikolaus Gregor, Radiation Therapy

From Evan Donohue, Manager, UT DRO

As part of our ongoing strategy to encourage collaborative research and innovation in radiation medicine, I am pleased to announce that UT DRO will be continuing with the annual seed-funding initiative.  This year we will be providing three seed-grants worth $50,000 each to qualifying collaborative faculty projects.

This year’s process will again be chaired by Dr. Mike Milosevic with representation from the participating centres: Drs. David Jaffray (Vice-Chair Research/ PM), Fei-Fei Liu (Chair, UT-DRO), Gerard Morton (RVH), Woodrow Wells (Southlake), and Shun Wong (OCC).

Please note the timelines below:

• Call for applications: July 15, 2014
• Application deadline: September 15, 2014
• Funding announcement: November 15, 2014
• Funding start date: November 15, 2014

 The application will include a scientific summary, scientific proposal, impact and relevance statement, collaboration statement and budget justification.

 The review criteria will include, but not be limited to, the following categories:

• Innovation
• Research Strategy
• Investigators
• Impact and relevance to radiation medicine
• Collaboration

 Please see the attached document for specific details on review criteria, application procedures, deliverables and timelines.

 If you have questions, please contact Evan Donohue by email at evan.donohue@utoronto.ca or by phone at (416) 978-4545.

 Photos

Nominations are sought every year, to recognize the teaching abilities of University of Toronto Department of Radiation Oncology (UT DRO) appointed faculty associated with our educational programs. Awards are presented at the UT DRO Annual General Meeting which will be held in the Fall.
There are two awards that are based on nomination by UT DRO trainees*.

*Trainees could be residents, fellows and graduate students.

Education Awards

Postgraduate Mentorship Award: The objective of the mentorship award is to recognize a UT DRO faculty member who has influenced the trainee’s career path in clinical practice, leadership or research. A letter of support (500-1000 words) must accompany the nomination form detailing the qualities and characteristics demonstrated by the mentor and how the mentors encouragement and support has contributed to the nominator’s success.

Postgraduate Research Supervision:(any area of research). The research supervision award is presented to a UT DRO faculty member who has demonstrated ability to facilitate and support the progress and quality of the trainee’s research. A letter of support (500-1000 words) must accompany the nomination form detailing the qualities and characteristics demonstrated by the supervisor and how the supervisor’s help and encouragement has contributed to the nominator’s success. Supporting evidence, such as an abstract from a presentation or publication could add further weight.

Qualities & criteria:

• The ability to enhance learning
• The ability to stimulate critical thinking and inquiry
• The ability to encourage scholarly activities
• Demanding high standards
• Acts as an effective role-modeling and leader

A SYMPOSIUM TO HONOUR THE CAREER AND LEGACY OF A LEADER IN RADIATION MEDICINE

Thursday, November 13, 2014

Click here to see full agenda

Cathedral Centre, Snell Hall
65 Church Street at Adelaide

Vera Peters and and Ray Bush Visiting Professor
Vincenzo Valentini, Università Cattolica S.Cuore of Rome

Invited Speakers
Te Vuong, McGill University and
Katherine Vallis, University of Oxford

Agenda

UT DRO has one of the largest radiation oncology training programs in the country. Please join us in welcome the five new PGY1 residents, two new Physics residents,  and ten new fellows who have joined us this summer and fall.

PGY1 Trainees at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre

	Jenna Adleman Jenna Adleman grew up in Mississauga. She completed a BSc in Biomedical Science at the University of Waterloo, followed by an MSc in Ophthalmology & Vision Sciences and MD at the University of Toronto. Her academic interests include research, medical education, and global health. She also enjoys travelling and playing sports.
	Mohammad Hasan Mohammad joins us from Kuwait. He completed his Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery and his Master of Research in Clinical Sciences from the University of Liverpool. Professionally, he is interested in CNS malignancies, pediatric malignancies, pain management, medical education, and clinical trial methodology. Personally, Mohammad enjoys travelling, cooking, reading, technology, and music.
	Pencilla Lang Pencilla Lang is from London, Ontario. She completed a BEng in mechanical engineering before enrolling in the MD/PhD program at Western. Her research interests include medical image-guidance and navigation, image processing, and medical devices. She also enjoys hiking, biking, singing and solving puzzles.
	Sangjune Laurence Lee Laurence was born in Vancouver and grew up in various cities across Canada and in Korea. He did his undergraduate degree in electrical engineering at the University of Waterloo, masters in biomedical engineering at Johns Hopkins University and medical school at the University of Toronto. His interests include medical imaging, engineering solutions in medicine, and global health.
	Sylvia Ng Sylvia is from Vancouver and graduated from the University of British Columbia Medicine Program. She has a PhD from the Department of Medical Biophysics at the University of Toronto. Her research expertise is in pancreatic adenocarcinoma. She was the recipient of operating grants from the CIHR and CCSRI while working at the British Columbia Cancer Agency Research Centre prior to medical school. Sylvia was inspired to become a clinician scientist by her mentors and colleagues. She enjoys hiking in the mountains, skiing, travelling, photography, and good food.

New Physics Trainees

Derek Liu Derek was born in Hong Kong and was rained in Vancouver. He received his BSc in physics from the University of British Columbia, with emphasis on biological applications. After that, he completed his MSc in medical physics from McGill University and PhD from the University of Alberta. His primary research interest is in prostate brachytherapy. Other previous research includes electronic brachytherapy, Monte Carlo simulations, and deformable image registration. He enjoys rowing and reading up on world history and international relations.

Dominique Fortin Originally from Quebec, Dominique has been living in BC most of his adult life. He obtained a B.Sc. from McGill University and a M.Sc. and Ph.D. in subatomic physics from the University of Victoria. For many years, he searched for new and exotic particles at CERN (Switzerland) as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of California in Riverside, research associate at TRIUMF (UBC) in Vancouver, and visiting scholar at nuclear physics laboratories in Lyon and Saclay (France). He joined the BC Cancer Agency in January 2013 and tackled problems such as the usage of deformable registration of PET/CT images in planning radiotherapy treatments, investigated how to best deliver stereotactic ablative radiotherapy treatment to prostate cancer patients, and completed a certificate in medical physics a few months prior to joining UT DRO. His research studies at Princess Margaret now focus on the potential gains of treating pediatric CNS patients with intensity modulated proton therapy. When away from the hospital, Dominique enjoys paddling in his kayak, hiking up or skiing down a mountain.

New Fellows at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre and Odette Cancer Centre

	Moein Alizadeh Moein was born in Iran and raised in Montreal. He completed his medical degree at the Université Laval and his residency at the Université de Montréal. His primary interests are in technologies and how they can improve patient care. He is a huge hockey fan and will root for his hometown Habs loudly, although he would love to see the Leafs do well.
	Ibrahim Atean Dr. Ibrahim Atean is originally from Saudi Arabia. He finished his undergraduate study and received his medical degree from King Faisal University, Saudi Arabia. He went on to do his residency in Radiation Oncology at Tours University Hospital, France. He then did a fellowship in Neuro-Oncology and radiosurgery at Montreal University Hospital (CHUM), Canada. He is started his second fellowship in Head and Neck Oncology at Princess Margaret Hospital.
	Aisling Barry Born in Galway, Ireland, Aisling graduated from Trinity College Dublin in 2005. In 2008, she completed the Memberships of the Royal College of Physicians in Ireland (MRCPI). She began her oncology career with a year in general Medical Oncology before starting the Radiation Oncology training programme in Dublin. She completed her Final Fellowship exams (FFR RCSI) in May 2013.
	Patricia Daly Trish is from Ireland, and graduated from medical school in 2003. She completed radiation oncology training in Ireland (FFRRCSI) and subsequently completed a one year fellowship in Lung and Paediatrics in the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Melbourne, Australia. She is returning to work now after a 4 month break where she travelled through New Zealand and South America on her way home from Melbourne. This year she is pleased to be the Paediatric/CNS fellow in Princess Margaret.
	Rahul Krishnatry Rahul completed his medical school from Government Medical College, Trivandrum at University of Kerala in 2005. He received his MD in Radiation Oncology from Post-Graduate Institute of Medical Education & Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh in 2010 following which he did three years of post MD residency (till 2013) at Tata Memorial Hospital, Mumbai. Last year, he worked as a Society of NeuroOncology sponsored Clinical Research Fellow in Pediatric NeuroOncology at Sick Kids Hospital, Toronto. This July, he joined Princess Margaret as a fellow to pursue his interest in neuro-oncology.
	Kavita Morarji Kavita completed her undergraduate medical training at the University of Queensland in Brisbane Australia. She worked in the United Kingdom for two years and trained in Radiation Oncology at Liverpool Hospital in Sydney Australia. She then worked as a Radiation Oncologist at Liverpool Hospital and then with Premion Cancer Care. During her fellowship, she will work in sub-sites of lymphoma, prostate and GI.
	Satiavani Ramasamy Satiavani was born and grew up in Mauritius. She did a bachelor degree in Medical Sciences at the University of Mauritius before joining the University of Newcastle (UK). She completed her specialty training in Clinical Oncology at the St. James Institute of Oncology, Leeds, in April 2014.
	Shrinivas Rathod Shrinivas completed his Medical graduation from Maharashtra University of Health Sciences, India in 2007. He finished his post-graduation studies in Radiation Oncology from Tata Memorial Centre, India in 2011. After finishing his post-graduation studies, he worked in the same institution for 2 years. He has joined Clinical Fellowship in Head and Neck cancers at the Princess Margaret Hospital in July 2014.
	Julia Skliarenko Julia's history with UT DRO dates back to 2001 when she began as a summer student with Dr. Milosevic and Dr. Hill. Over the following 4 years she continued to participate in research projects and to shadow Dr. Milosevic in his clinics. Having completed her HBSc at University of Toronto in 2005, she graduated from University of Ottawa Medical School in 2009. She defended her PhD in health economics from University of Kharkiv, Ukraine in 2011 and completed radiation oncology residency training at UT DRO in June 2014.
	Claudio V. Sole Claudio was born in Chile. He received his medical degree from Pontificie Universidad Catolica de Chile in 2008. In 2012, he completed his Radiation Oncology residency program in Instituto de Radiomedicina, school of medicine Universidad Diego Portales. Between 2012 and 2014, he completed two Radiation Oncology Fellowships at Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Maranon (Madrid, Spain) and Institut Gustave Roussy (Villejuif, France) and then joined Princess Margaret for a fellowship.

UT DRO faculty members at the Terry Fox New Frontiers Program Award Announcement Photo Credit: The Terry Fox Research Institute/Bryan Kautz UHN PhotoGraphics

This September, UT DRO faculty members Drs. Bradly Wouters and Robert Bristow  from Princess Margaret Cancer Centre,  and Gregory Czarnota from Sunnybrook Research Institute, received a combined total of $8.6 million (of a $14.6 million investment) from the Terry Fox New Frontiers Program to support innovative research to develop new and more personalized treatments in radiation medicine. The third recipient of this grant is Dr. Sean Egan from SickKids.

Dr. Wouters and Dr. Bristow will receive $6.6 million towards the Hypoxia Program. The Hypoxia Program has been continuously funded for 15 years, initially led by Dr. Dick Hill. The team has previously observed that low levels of oxygenation (hypoxia) in tumours are associated with resistance to treatment, metastatic spread, and poor outcome following surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy.  The new Hypoxia Program is designed as a pipeline of translational medicine. It will further the understanding of the molecular basis of signaling in hypoxic cancer cells, discover new therapeutic strategies in relevant animal model systems, and finally implementing hypoxia-directed therapies into the clinic.  Select patients will undergo tests to determine who will benefit from intensified treatments using molecular-targeted therapies that attack both aggressive tumour genetics and tumour hypoxia.  The team, Lead Project members include other UT DRO faculty members Drs. Marianne Koritzinsky, Michael Milosevic, Anthony Fyles and David Jaffray, will be using these innovative and combined approaches to improve treatments in cervix, head and neck, and prostate cancers.

Dr. Gregory Czarnota will receive $2 million for the Quantitative Ultrasound Imaging Program which is looking at personalized chemotherapy using quantitative ultrasound and MRI technologies. Dr. Czarnota, in collaboration with Dr. Michael Kolios from Ryerson University and Dr. Greg Stanisz from the Sunnybrook Research Institute will continue their research in order to increase the efficacy of chemotherapy and radiation therapy using ultrasound and MRI. These are the two most common forms of cancer treatment. The research will also span breast and prostate cancer, two of the commonest forms of prostate cancer. Their research firstly focuses on using ultrasound to track responses to chemotherapy. They have demonstrated that quantitative ultrasound can be used a week into a 4-6 month course of chemotherapy to determine whether it is working or not. The goal is to use this technology if treatment is ineffective to facilitate switches to more efficacious treatment early on instead of waiting for months for conventional imaging methods to be used to assess treatments after they have been completed without effectiveness. They will optimize that methodology, as well as developing complementary methods in photoacoustics (specialized ultrasound imaging with optical contrast) and MRI methods to be used with anti-vascular and other treatments. They have also recently demonstrated that ultrasound-stimulated microbubbles can be used to increase the efficacy of radiation treatments whereby a 2 Gy dose of radiation combined with these treatments. They will scale up that research to large animal models and clinically-compatible MRI-guided systems with a view to having clinical impact through the introduction of these new methods in the near term. Those radiation enhancing treatments will also be combined here with photoacoustics in their optimization, and MRI-guidance and ultrasound and MRI-monitoring bringing together all the components of the proposed research.

These grants are awarded to teams who are working to find new cancer treatments. Our heartiest congratulations to both teams on this tremendous achievement.

You can view the Terry Fox New Frontiers Program announcement here: http://www.vvcnetwork.ca/terryfox/20140910/

Dr. Brad Wouters is the new Interim Director of Research of the Cancer Program at UHN. He is a Senior Scientist and the Director of the Hypoxia and Microenvironment Program at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, and a Professor at UT DRO as well as the Department of Medical Biophysics. He is also an Associate Chair in Graduate Programs in the Department of Radiation Oncology at the University of Toronto and a Senior Investigator at the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research.

Congratulations to Dr. Padraig Warde, who was recently awarded an Honorary Fellowship of the Faculty of Radiologists of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI), which is the highest distinction the College bestows, recognizing outstanding achievement in radiation oncology. Dr. Warde was presented this prestigious honor at the Annual RCSI Scientific Meeting this September in Dublin, Ireland, where he also gave the St. Luke’s Keynote Address titled “The Importance of Clinical Trials in Radiation Oncology.”

UT DRO training programs are welcoming new chiefs this fall.

	Radiation Oncology Residency Program Adam Gladwish is assuming the Chief role in our residency program as of this January. You can find him on Twitter at @Pladwich. Many thanks to Jonathan Livergant who is stepping down from this position.
	Fellowship Program Patricia Daly is one of the Chiefs of the Fellowship program. Thank you to Irene Karam who was in this position previously.
	Fellowship Program Abdul Dayyat will be assuming the role of Chief of the Fellowship program with Patricia Daly.
	Medical Physics Residency Program Mohammad Rezaee will be assuming the role of Chief Physics Resident this January. Many thanks to Marcus Sonier for all the work he did in this position.

On November 19, 2014, Drs. Daniel Letourneau and David Jaffray, along with their team of physicists and programmers, were the recipients of the 2014 Innovation Award (Honorable Mention) from the Cancer Quality Council of Ontario (CQCO) for their project titled “AQUA – A comprehensive platform for radiation therapy equipment quality assurance”.

Automated Quality Assurance (or AQUA) is a software innovation that allows the efficient centralization of QA activities for radiation therapy delivery, and will have significant impact through its world-wide distribution. More details on this project can be found on the Cancer Quality Council of Ontario website.

Our congratulations to the team!