Current Research and Scholarly Interests
My research group is broadly focused on applications of emerging functional and molecular imaging techniques in radiation therapy of cancer. I trained as a bioengineer and am equally committed to engineering of novel methods for biomedical research and their application in order to understand radiation biology. My research group has pioneered novel methods for clinically-relevant, image-guided, conformal radiation treatment of small animal models of disease. This includes development of irradiator systems as well as software for image analysis and radiation treatment planning. Furthermore, we have integrated these methods with techniques for preclinical molecular imaging including magnetic resonance imaging, positron emission tomography, and bioluminescence imaging, to allow consideration of these modalities in radiotherapy planning and to assess response to treatment. Using these technologies, we study how tumors and normal tissues respond to radiotherapy and how we may combined this standard-of-care cancer treatment with molecularly targeted treatments in order to maximize tumor response. Of particular interest are the effects of radiation that can affect cells and tissues outside the volume that was irradiated. This includes release of damage signals, cytokines, and chemokines that can alter tumor and stromal cell behavior both locally and distantly. We study basic radiation biology with an eye towards identifying novel strategies for radiotherapy and for combination with other treatments in clinical trials.
