Zachariah Labby, PhD

Zacariah Labby, PhD

Associate Professor (CHS)

Department of Human Oncology

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.

My research interests include methods to improve the accuracy of treatment alignment and delivery strategies, with the goal of reducing the total spatial uncertainty in SRS treatments, and to develop new treatment planning strategies that result in very robust yet efficient treatment plans for SRS patients. I also work with graduate students and faculty in medical physics on research efforts to more precisely measure doses from modern treatment systems.

I also serve as the director of our Radiation Oncology Physics Residency Program, overseeing the day-to-day efforts of our residents and setting the vision and organizational structure of our training program. Working with young medical physicists during their transition from graduate student to independent clinical physicist is a highly rewarding experience, and my ultimate goal is to create a learning environment where our graduating residents can positively impact the radiation oncology patient condition by enabling the highest quality of care everywhere they go.

Education

Residency, University of Michigan, Clinical Medical Physics (2014)

PhD, University of Chicago, Medical Physics (2012)

BS, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Applied Mathematics, Engineering and Physics (2007)

Academic Appointments

Associate Professor (CHS), Human Oncology (2021)

Assistant Professor (CHS), Human Oncology (2015)

Assistant Researcher, Human Oncology (2014)

Selected Honors and Awards

Clinical Physics Educator Award (2019)

Good Catch Great Care Award, Human Oncology (2019)

University of Chicago Biological Sciences Division Outstanding Performance Award in the Field of Medical Physics (2012)

First Place, Young Investigator Session, Midwest Chapter AAPM Spring Meeting (2011)

University of Chicago Doolittle-Harrison Fellowship (2011)

University of Chicago Graduate Program in Medical Physics, Lawrence Lanzl Award for Exceptional Research Ability in Medical Physics (2010)

First Place, Young Investigator Session, North Central Chapter AAPM Fall Meeting (2010)

Paul C. Hodges Research Award in Radiology (2009–2010)

Phi Beta Kappa, University of Wisconsin–Madison (2007)

AAPM Summer Undergraduate Fellowship Award (2006)

Radtke Award for Undergraduate Academic Achievement in Physics (2004)

Dean’s List, University of Wisconsin–Madison (2003–2007)

National Merit Scholar (2003–2007)

Boards, Advisory Committees and Professional Organizations

Presidential Chain, North Central Chapter of the American Association of Physicists in Medicine (2018-2020)

Reviewer for multiple journals and annual meetings (including Medical Physics, Medical Dosimetry, Int J Rad Onc Biol Phys, AAPM Annual Meeting, etc.)

Vice Chair, Journals Business Management Committee, American Association of Physicists in Medicine

Chair, Radiation Oncology Physics Residency Program Oversight Committee, University of Wisconsin–Madison

Chair, Radiation Oncology Physics Residency Program Selection Committee, University of Wisconsin–Madison

Research Focus

Brain, Spine


Dr. Zacariah Labby is the lead physicist for the department’s Varian TrueBeam platform and the lead physicist for the department’s stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) program. His research interests include methods to improve the accuracy of treatment alignment and delivery strategies.