Title:

Waiting to Exhale: Harnessing the Power of the Respiratory Cycle to Improve Radiotherapy and Assess Resulting Toxicities

Speaker:

Dr. Hania Al-Hallaq

Affiliation:

Emory University

When:

Thursday, April 17, 2025 at 11:00:00 AM   Add to Calendar

Where:

Boggs Building, Room 03-47

Host:

Steve Biegalski
steven.biegalski@me.gatech.edu

Abstract

The research of medical physicists tends to mimic the work of implementation scientists. Implementation scientists conduct research to identify barriers to the uptake of proven interventions and develop strategies to overcome these barriers. Medical physicists apply their knowledge of physics to directly impact radiation treatments based on scientific evidence and research advancements. This talk will focus on the innovative adoption of quantitative imaging and surface guidance to improve radiotherapy treatments for cancer patients with a lens on the organic methods that are utilized by medical physicists to champion uptake of clinical advancements as well as the barriers encountered.

Biography

Hania A. Al-Hallaq, PhD, received her PhD in medical physics from the University of Chicago and completed her residency in therapy physics at UChicago. She then joined the faculty in Radiation Oncology and served as Associate Director of the graduate program, Director of the Certificate program, and lead physicist for the breast radiotherapy and HDR brachytherapy services. In 2024, she joined Emory University as Vice Chair and Director of the Medical Physics Division. Dr. Al-Hallaq's research focuses on the use of medical imaging to guide treatment positioning and assess treatment response following radiotherapy. Notably, she has developed expertise in both X-ray and 3D surface imaging modalities for breast cancer treatments and chaired the American Association of Physicists in Medicine task group TG-302: Surface image-guided radiotherapy. Dr. Al-Hallaq is recognized for her work on CT radiomics and has served as principal investigator for national protocols studying the safety and efficacy of SBRT for metastatic disease.