2007 News

News items are listed in reverse chronological order within each year. See links above for other years. Also check us out on Facebook!

12/1/2007 - Samei honored by AAPM

Ehsan Samei PhD, director of graduate studies, was honored for "Distinguished Service to Medical Physics" by the American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM). He was also elected to the Science Council of the AAPM. The Science Council examines specific areas of medical physics to determine advancement mechanisms, addresses scientific questions, and collates and assesses data.

11/28/2007 - Yoshizumi elected to board

Terry Yoshizumi PhD, head of the medical health physics study track and Duke's radiation safety officer, was elected to the Board of Directors of the Health Physics Society, which is a scientific and professional organization specializing in occupational and environmental radiation safety.

10/1/2007 - Josh Wilson elected to committee

Joshua Wilson, PhD graduate student, was elected as the graduate and professional student representative to the Medical Center Affairs Committee of the Duke University Board of Trustees.

9/28/2007 - Sam Brady won student paper competition

Back in July, MS graduate Sam Brady won the student paper competition at the national Health Physics Society annual meeting in Portland Oregon. His talk was on the calibration of MOSFET dosimetry used to estimate doses to expermental mice that undergo x-ray irradiation in research. He also won a $700 travel award. Sam has stayed on in our program to pursue a PhD.

9/28/2007 - Open House announced for 10/19/2007

The Duke University Medical Physics Graduate Program is pleased to announce its open house for prospective graduate students on Friday Oct 19, 2007, from 11AM-6PM. You are invited to attend to learn more about the program, specifically you may:

• visit departments and labs
• talk with faculty and students
• learn about financial aid and scholarships
• tour the campus
• have dinner and socialize with medical physics students

The open house will take place in the medical physics program space, 2424 Erwin Rd, Hock Plaza, Suite 101, Durham NC 27705. Contact for RSVP: Dr. Olga Baranova, olga.baranova@duke.edu.

9/11/2007 - Congrats to fellowship recipients

We are pleased to announce the following fellowship recipients among our PhD students. Kristy Perez and Sangroh Kim were the first ever recipients of the Carestream Health Fellowship, Xiang Li was the first ever recipient of the Carey E. Floyd Jr. Graduate Fellowship. Justin Roper and Jennifer Seger are the first ever recipients of the Cross-disciplinary Training in Medical Physics training grant funded by NIH/NIBIB. These are all administered by our own program. D'Vone Jackson received the Duke Endowment Fellowship as well as the James B. Duke Fellowship, both from the graduate school awards system. Jin Wooi Tan joined our program with a fellowship from the Malaysian government. Congratulations to all!

9/9/2007 - Update on recent MS graduates

We graduated our first MS class this past spring. So far 4 students are continuing their education in PhD programs (3 at Duke), while 9 students are already working as physicists in clinics, hospitals, or consulting companies. A list of MS thesis titles is included on the Students page (see link at top of window).

9/8/2007 - Welcoming picnic

We welcome our biggest class yet of 7 new PhD and 15 new MS students with a picnic at the Duke Faculty Club. The program now has 16 PhD and 28 MS students for a total of 44 students. Our program coordinator Olga Baranova arranged for a delicious NC BBQ meal (overheard from a student new to the American South: "Everything is brown or orange!").

 

(Photo credit: Xiang Li & Joseph Lo)

8/27/2007 - Fall 2007 schedule

Here are upcoming important dates for the program: Sep 8 welcoming picnic, Oct 12 open house, Nov 2 career day, Dec 8 holiday party. This fall we offer 10 classes, they are:

• MEDPHY 200 RADIATION PHYSICS
• MEDPHY 205 ANAT/PHYSIOL MED PHYS
• MEDPHY 228 CLINICAL PRACTICUM (RT)
• MEDPHY 230 MOD DIAG IMAGING SYSTEMS
• MEDPHY 248 CLINICAL PRAC & SHAWDOWING(NM)
• MEDPHY 251 SEMINARS IN MEDICAL PHYSICS
• MEDPHY 322 ADV PHOTON BEAM RAD THERAPY
• MEDPHY 331 ADV MED IMAGING PHYSICS
• MEDPHY 359 IND STUDY IN MEDICAL PHYSICS
• MEDPHY 360 PUB SPEAKING FOR MED PHYSICS

 

July 2007 - NIH training grant

The medical physics graduate program at Duke is happy to announce that it has received a large training grant from NIH. This grant, in the amount of $750,000, will provide funding for five years to enhance the education of our PhD students. The theme of this grant is "Cross-disciplinary training in medical physics", and will emphasize training the next generation of research scientists to be experts in more than one subdiscipline of medical physics. The graduate program at Duke is one of the few medical physics programs in North America to receive a training grant from NIH.

 

6/12/2007 - Lo receives breast cancer research grant

Joseph Lo PhD, faculty in the diagnostic imaging track, received a grant as co-PI with Victoria Seewaldt MD from the US Army Breast Cancer Research Program. Entitled "Biologic and Computational Models of Mammographic Density and Stromal Patterning," the grant provides $779,275 of total costs over two years.

6/3/2007 - Ed Coleman and Mike Zalutsky Receive Prestigious SNM Awards

At its 54th annual meeting in Washington DC, the Society of Nuclear Medicine (SNM) recently honored two program faculty with two of its top awards.

Dr. Edward Coleman is a professor, vice chair, and director of the division of nuclear medicine in Duke Radiology. The SNM awarded him the 2007 Georg Charles de Hevesy Nuclear Pioneer Award, which recognized his efforts in advancing molecular imaging and clinical applications of PET, PET/CT, and radionuclide therapy. "With this award, SNM recognizes that Dr. Coleman's work has had a meaningful and significant impact on molecular imaging and nuclear medicine practice," said SNM President Martin P. Sandler in a press release. Dr. Coleman was the nuclear medicine physician involved with the development of the first PET scans at the Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology. He worked on obtaining reimbursement for PET procedures, which paved the way for widespread use of PET clinically.

Dr. Michael Zalutsky is a a professor of radiology and biomedical engineering at Duke. The SNM awarded him the 2007 Paul C. Aebersold Award for outstanding achievement in basic nuclear medicine science. "With this award, the molecular imaging and nuclear medicine community recognizes Dr. Zalutsky's intellectual capital, national reputation and prominent role in advancing significant contributions to medical science—especially in using molecular targeting to combat cancer," said SNM President Martin P. Sandler. "He has made many contributions to both the basic and applied aspects of molecular therapy and nuclear medicine in a variety of areas, including radionuclide production, radiochemistry and radiation biology," added Sandler in a press release. Dr. Zalutsky is also director of the Radiolabeling Facility Shared Resource and is a member of the cancer immunobiology, neuro-oncology and radiation oncology programs in the Duke University Comprehensive Cancer Center.

5/1/2007 - First MS class graduates

The program graduated its first class of MS students this year. From the class of 16 students admitted in 2005, over 2/3 have already been employed by established clinical facilities around the country or admitted to our doctoral program to continue their medical physics studies at Duke. To our first ever class, congratulations and good luck!

1/1/2007 - Spring 2007 classes

This is the list of courses to be offered this coming spring 2007. It includes several new courses being offered for the first time, with Advanced Brachytherapy by Dr. Yin, Nuclear Medicine Physics by Dr. Turkington, and Biostatistics for Medical Physicists by Dr. Tourassi:

• MEDPHY 210 RADIATION PROTECTION
• MEDPHY 220 RADIATION THERAPY PHYSICS
• MEDPHY 228 CLINICAL PRACTICUM (RT)
• MEDPHY 251 SEMINARS IN MEDICAL PHYSICS
• MEDPHY 323 ADV BRACHYTHERAPY/SP PROC
• MEDPHY 341 NUCLEAR MEDICINE PHYSICS
• MEDPHY 359 IND STUDY IN MEDICAL PHYSICS
• MEDPHY 361 BIOSTATISTICS FOR MED PHYSICS