Faculty
Zacariah Labby, PhD
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.
Albert van der Kogel, PhD
During my active career my research has focused on two main areas. The first is on the effects of radiation on normal tissues, particularly the central nervous system and the various factors that determine the tolerance of the spinal cord. My other research has aimed at overcoming radiation resistance mechanisms related to the tumor microenvironment, which are known to be mostly tumor hypoxia and proliferation. To study these aspects in a clinically relevant setting, my lab has developed a panel of patient-derived tumor xenografts that reflect the clinical heterogeneity of individual patients.
Gregory Cooley, MD
Dr. Cooley is a clinical associate professor in the Department of Human Oncology (DHO). The DHO is one of the few centers in the region offering both low-dose-rate and high-dose-rate prostate brachytherapy. Two decades ago, prostate brachytherapy showed superior PSA control rates. With further advances in dosing, fractionation and MRI-based planning, results are even better.
Deric Wheeler, PhD
The Wheeler lab uses state of the art molecular biology, proteomics and mouse modeling to understand how tumors become resistant to cancer drugs. Its goal is to identify unique and shared pathways that tumors use to circumvent therapy and translate these findings to the clinic to impact the lives of our patients.