In my current role as an associate professor in the Department of Human Oncology, I strive to apply knowledge and expertise from several interdisciplinary fields to better serve cancer patients. I feel privileged to be part of a large and talented team of physicists and physicians here at UW Madison and to have the opportunity to serve at the main campus and also at UW Cancer Center–Johnson Creek.
Faculty
Paul Harari, MD
Dr. Paul Harari is chairman of the Department of Human Oncology, principal investigator for the Wisconsin H&N SPORE Grant and member of the UW Carbone Cancer Center Senior Leadership Council. His clinical and laboratory research is focused on improving treatment outcomes for patients with head and neck cancer.
Michael Bassetti, MD, PhD
Dr. Bassetti is an associate professor in the Department of Human Oncology with a clinical focus on gastrointestinal cancers and research interests in MRI-guided radiation and immunotherapy. He has been developing the use of real-time MRI-guided radiation to reduce toxicity, maximize local control and improve patient outcomes. Additionally, he is involved in combining immunotherapies with anatomically targeted high-dose radiotherapy to improve the antigen specific T cell response.
Adam Burr, MD, PhD
Zacariah Labby, PhD, DABR, FAAPM
I am an associate professor and director of Clinical Physics in the Department of Human Oncology. As a medical physicist in radiation therapy, my role is to ensure the safe, effective and accurate delivery of radiation to our patients as well as the protection of the general public from our treatment activities. I am the lead physicist for our stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) program. Through these efforts, I spend most of my time clinically working with patients requiring treatment for primary or metastatic intracranial disease, ensuring the most accurate treatments possible. SRS treatments include the smallest and highest dose-per-fraction treatments delivered anywhere in radiation therapy, so my focus is on highly conformal delivery and planning techniques.
Sean Frigo, PhD
My primary focus is on clinical care, and within that area, the implementation and management of treatment planning systems. We are leveraging new software technologies to bring all relevant patient information and data into one environment in order to facilitate treatment plan design. This not only applies to calculating treatment dose, but also supporting the development of calculating other quantities, such as treatment response. To support research initiatives in these areas, we have established a separate dedicated treatment planning environment that provides a sandbox in order to develop and test new approaches to treatment planning.
Bethany Anderson, MD
Dr. Anderson’s research investigates ways to improve cancer control and reduce side effects of treatment for breast and gynecologic cancer. This includes using advanced imaging and radiation delivery techniques to more precisely identify and treat cancerous areas. I also study shorter treatment courses.
Zachary Morris, MD, PhD
The Morris Lab is focused on using preclinical and translational research approaches to study the mechanisms whereby radiation may impact the anti-tumor response to immunotherapies. Their primary objective is to determine whether and how radiation may optimally be employed to simultaneously modulate the tumor immune microenvironment and to increase the susceptibility of tumor cells to immune response. They seek to test these approaches in early phase clinical studies where they may be further refined with the ultimate aim of improving survival and achieving cures in patients with metastatic cancers.
Jessica Miller, PhD
I am an associate professor in the Department of Human Oncology. My clinical focus is on brachytherapy and imaging for radiation therapy, specifically CT simulation. CT imaging has made great advances, such as dual-energy CT, and I am passionate about understanding the ways in which these technologies can benefit our patients.
Jennifer Smilowitz, PhD
I am a clinical professor in the Department of Human Oncology. My work focuses on treatment planning and quality assurance, areas in which I have made significant clinical academic and service accomplishments. I am currently the lead clinical TomoTherapy physicist and principle physicist on the UW Radixact research system, working on motion management strategies. In 2016 my teaching was recognized with a UW Alliant Energy Underkofler Excellence in Teaching Award. I developed a graduate treatment planning course and laboratory in 2002 and expanded it to include physics and MD residents.