Radiation Biophysics and Bioengineering in Oncology

An NIH T32 Training Grant (T32 CA 09067)
William D. O'Brien, Jr., Program Director

2000 ROT Seminar Information

2000 ROT Retreat

1999 ROT Retreat

1998 ROT Retreat

Program faculty and their research activities

Program faculty members and their principal department

Postdoctoral trainees

Predoctoral trainees

Trainee requirements

Introduction

The NIH Radiation Biophysics and Bioengineering in Oncology Training Program served as a central focus for training predoctoral and postdoctoral trainees for careers in the interdisciplinary fields related to the identification, classification and treatment of cancer at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) campus. The Radiation Oncology Training (ROT) Program was an outstanding example of how interdisciplinary studies benefit the health of our population. The ROT program supported trainees at the University of Illinois from July 1, 1975 - August 20, 2001.

The need for a greater understanding of mechanisms (biophysics) and development of techniques (bioengineering) to identify, classify and treat cancer in humans and other animals is manifold. The Training Program was a multidisciplinary approach to bring together the diverse and complementary expertise of biologists, engineers, physicists and veterinary medicine specialists to provide a complete research approach for cancer diagnosis and treatment. This training program was, in fact, the impetus for an increased profile on the University of Illinois campus where it has provided the mechanism to fund predoctoral and postdoctoral trainees to conduct more directed cancer research than would have otherwise been possible. Since the Bioengineering Program was a non-degree program, the funding provided by the training program facilitated greater interdisciplinary research across traditional campus boundaries.

The program was unique in that it sought to:
1) attract students particularly from physical science or engineering departments to cancer-related research.
2) provide training in cancer-related topics not generally offered in departmental program.
3) promote interdisciplinary (and interdepartmental) interactions and research opportunities.

Each predoctoral trainee met all of the PhD requirements of his/her home department. A conscious effort was made by Program faculty to enable students to take coursework and develop cooperation with students and faculty in other departments.

The Program faculty, changing only slightly during the years of the program, represented a diversity of disciplines - five colleges and 12 departments were represented. Faculty research activities focused on 4 identifiable areas: bioacoustics, including ultrasound (US) instrumentation, US-tissue interaction mechanisms, and US- and microwave-hyperthermia; imaging, including US and magnetic resonance (MR), as well as nuclear medicine, molecular probes and tumor image agents; spectroscopy, including ESR, EPR and MR; and radiation biophysics, including free radical studies, repair mechanisms, longevity effects, and interactions with hyperthermia.

Program Directors:

Howard S. Ducoff, Ph.D. 1975 - 1990

Harold M. Swartz, M.D., Ph.D. 1990 - 1991

William D. O'Brien, Jr., Ph.D. 1991 - 2001

Program faculty and their research activities

The scientific community has recognized the Program Faculty for their excellence in research, ability to communicate, and capacity to stimulate the development of predoctoral and postdoctoral students. Most program faculty served or still serve on editorial boards of leading journals in their field, on NIH study sections and other government grant review panels, and as officers of professional organizations. Additionally, most have been elected to the Fellow grade of professional societies and have received other major and significant awards for their research accomplishments. The faculty research was (and still is in most cases) at the forefront of diverse and interdisciplinary areas of mechanism elucidation (biophysics) and technique development (bioengineering) to identify, classify and treat cancer. Trainees were given major responsibility for making advances on the specific research project selected in consultation with their major advisor. Where research objectives were collaborative efforts of two Program faculty, trainees frequently conducted research in both laboratories.

Program faculty members and their principal department:

Charles A. Cain, Department of Electrical Engineering
John C. Chato, Department of Mechanical Engineering
Michael Chen, Department of Mechanical Engineering
Robert B. Clarkson, Department of Veterinary Clinical Medicine
M. Joan Dawson, Department of Molecular and Integrative Physiology
Howard S. Ducoff, Department of Molecular and Integrative Physiology
Floyd Dunn, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
E.J. Ehrhart, Department of Veterinary Pathobiology
Leon A. Frizzell, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Kenneth R. Holmes, Department of Veterinary Biosciences
Benita S. Katzenellenbogen, Department of Molecular and Integrative Physiology
John A. Katzenellenbogen, Department of Chemistry
Barbara E. Kitchell, Department of Veterinary Clinical Medicine
Paul C. Lauterbur, Department of Medical Information Sciences
Zhi-Pei Liang, Department of Electrical and Computer
Richard L. Magin, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Professor Milavikas, Department of Mechanical Engineering
John A. Milner, Department of Food Sciences - Nutritional Sciences
William D. O'Brien, Jr., Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Diego Segre, Department of Veterinary Pathobiology
Kenneth S. Suslick, Department of Chemistry
Wayne A.F. Tompkins, Department of Veterinary Pathobiology
Robert A. Twardock, Department of Veterinary Biosciences
Andrew H.-J. Wang, Department of Cell and Structural Biology
Andrew G. Webb, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Erik C. Wiener, Department of Nuclear Engineering
Wendell Williams, Department of Physics
James F. Zachary, Department of Veterinary Pathobiology

Former postdoctoral trainees:

Former predoctoral trainees:

Trainee requirements:

All predoctoral and postdoctoral trainees:

(1) attended and participated in the Fall ROT seminar series
(2) attended and participated in the subsequent discussion session about the seminar lecture
(3) attended and participated in the Spring half-day workshop of the Program faculty and trainees
(4) prepared and delivered talks dealing with their research for principally a lay audience
(5) took a graduate-level Cancer Biology course
(6) took a graduate-level Ethics course and attended, from time to time, ethics-oriented seminars
(7) acknowledged all publications based on ROT Training Program with the statement "PHS Grant Number 5 T32 CA 09067, awarded by the National Cancer Institute, DHHS,"