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Radiation Oncology

American Society of Radiation Oncology: 2026 Fellows

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Three Faculty Members Selected!

Huge congratulations to Dr. Ralph Ermoian, Dr. Lia Halasz, and Dr. Smith Apisarnthanarax for being named 2026 Fellows of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO)!

Having three faculty members selected from one department in a single year is a rare and incredible achievement. The FASTRO designation honors top leaders in radiation oncology for their exceptional service and dedication to patient care at Fred Hutch Cancer Center and University of Washington – Department of Radiation Oncology.

They will be officially recognized at ASTRO’s Annual Meeting in Boston this September. Join us in celebrating their achievement!

Radiation Oncology Residency Program – Virtual Meet & Greet

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Radiation Oncology Residency Program Virtual Meet & Greet

This session offers an opportunity to connect directly with our program leadership, faculty, and current residents to learn more about our training environment, clinical experience, research opportunities, and culture.


Event Date: Thursday, September 10th, 2026

Time: 4:00-5:00 pm PST

Registration Link: Radiation Oncology Residency Program – Virtual Meet & Greet

For questions or additional information, please contact our Residency Program Administrative Team at UWRORP@uw.edu.


Event Date: Wednesday, October 29th, 2024

Time: 10:00-11:15 am PST

Zoom Link: UW Radiation Oncology Medical Physics Virtual Residency Fair, October 29,  2025

Event Date: Wednesday, October 29th, 2024

Time: 10:00-11:15 am PST

Zoom Link: UW Radiation Oncology Medical Physics Virtual Residency Fair, October 29,  2025

AAPM Grace Challenge: Dr. Yinghua Tao

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Dr. Yinghua Tao – 2nd Place Overall in AAPM Grace Challenge IM-TBI

Congratulations to Dr. Yinghua Tao, Clinical Assistant Professor here at the University of Washington – Department of Radiation Oncology, on her outstanding performance in the AAPM Grace Challenge IM-TBI competition.

Dr. Tao earned a Top 10 ranking in Plan Quality and an impressive 2nd place overall among 29 participants, demonstrating excellence in treatment planning quality, efficiency, and innovation!

We are proud to celebrate this achievement and Dr. Tao’s contributions to advancing the field of medical physics. hashtag




2025 Laboratory Safety Awards & Innovations Event

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Remote Target Loader Station

The UW Medical Cyclotron Facility Target Handling System is comprised of a patent pending target station capable of automatic loading and ejecting of targets, a fully shielded hot cell in lab space outside of the cyclotron vault, and a pneumatic transfer system that shuttles radioactive targets unidirectionally from the station to the hot cell for processing. Prior to this system, targets were manually removed from the beamline and the chemical processing performed in a glove box – a workflow that limited production capacity to activity levels that could be safely handled in this way. The new system allows for significantly higher activity to be produced while lowering the overall exposure to personnel at all points in the production workflow. This advancement to our facility will support phase 2 of multiple, very promising, isotope development initiatives. Support for this upgrade was provided in part by the US Department of Energy Isotope Program, managed by the Office of Science for R&D and Production (DE-SC0019197; DE-SC0013618).

Contributing Members:

  • Bob Smith
  • Yawen Li
  • Marissa Kranz
  • Devin Short
  • Adrienne Lehnert
  • Al Mullen
  • Geoff Avila
  • Zack Lindbloom-Brown
  • Don Hamlin
  • Anster Charles



International Day of Medical Physics

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UW Radiation Oncology Celebrates International Day of Medical Physics & Madame Curie Day – 2025 

Today we honor Marie Curie, whose pioneering discoveries in radioactivity transformed science and laid the foundation for modern radiation oncology. As the first person to win two Nobel Prizes—in Physics and Chemistry—her legacy continues to inspire generations of scientists and physicians. At #UWRadOnc, we celebrate the contributions of women, and all those who have been traditionally underrepresented in science and medicine, who carry that legacy forward—advancing research, improving patient care, and mentoring the next generation of innovators. Here’s to curiosity, courage, and the pursuit of knowledge! #RadOnc #WomenWhoCurie #WeWhoCurie #UWRadOnc #UWMedicine #FredHutch #MedPhys




Top Doctors 2025 – Radiation Oncology

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Congratulations Top Doctors 2025

Seattle Magazine has published their names list for this year’s Top Doctors in Radiation Oncology. Among the list are 12 Radiation Oncologists from UW Medicine.

Dr. Fre’Etta Brooks, Ph.D., travels to Nigeria to present research on evaluating global clinical trial credentialing and PSQA systems quantifying the differences among international dosimetry auditing methodologies 

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Dr. Brooks approached Professors Hendrickson and Fagerstrom about attending the Nigerian Association of Medical Physicists (NAMP) conference during the second month of her Medical Physics residency.  They encouraged her to submit current research to present so she could broaden her network, and they wanted to support her passion for standardizing radiotherapy quality assurance practices, global oncology, and educational outreach.   

She was invited to give two oral presentations about reference plan development and validation and dosimetry audit assessment and comparison.  Following the conference, she was invited to serve as a board member on a panel dedicated to promoting innovative research for graduate-level medical physicists. Her travel was funded through the Alexander Rodney Muir Endowment  fund.

Presentation Summaries:

A validated framework for developing reference plans: Evaluating global clinical trial credentialing and PSQA systems

This study presented a practical framework to develop and validate a set of reference plans and perturbations that can be used to assess and compare the differentiability of various audit and PQSA methodologies. The Global Quality Assurance of Radiation Therapy Clinical Trials Harmonization Group (GHG) has developed this framework as part of their ongoing work to test the comparability of their audit systems; this framework supports their work of aligning international dosimetry audits across the globe.

PI and co-PI: Stephen F. Kry, Ph.D., University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center; Joerg Lehman, Ph.D., Calvary Mater Newcastle Hospital, AUS.

Investigators: Fre’Etta M.D. Brooks, Ph.D. UW Medical Physics resident; Mohammad Hussein, Jessica Lye, Christopher L. Nelson, Nakamura Mitsuhiro, Mallory C. Glenn, Patricia Diez, Rushil Patel, Maddison Shaw, Ileana Silvestre Patallo, Miriam Barry, Catharine H. Clark.

 

A multi-institutional approach to quantifying the differences among international dosimetry auditing methodologies

This study assessed and compared the performance of end-to-end audits currently offered by six international clinical trial dosimetry audit agencies with the goal of harmonizing audits and reducing overlap in multinational trials while maintaining quality. This effort was led by the GHG.

In general, the agreement demonstrated amongst the auditing methodologies, particularly system sensitivity to detecting errors, suggests that reciprocity of clinical trial credentialing processes could be adopted by these varied agencies. This would streamline the clinical trial process and decrease the number of barriers to clinical trial participation.

PI and co-PI: Stephen F. Kry, Ph.D., University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center; Catharine H. Clark, Ph.D., National Physical Laboratory, UK.

Investigators: Fre’Etta M.D. Brooks, Ph.D. UW Medical Physics resident; Joerg Lehmann, Mohammad Hussein, Jessica Lye, Christopher L. Nelson, Mitsuhiro Nakamura, Patricia Diez, Rushil Patel, Peter Greer, Hideaki Hirashima, Julianne M. Pollard Larkin, Rebecca M. Howell, Christine B. Peterson.

Professional Photograph of August Anderson