Peck-Sun Lin, Ph.D.
Professor Emeritus
Peck-Sun Lin, Ph.D.
Professor Emeritus
Department of Radiation Oncology
Dr. Peck-Sun Lin began his education at the National Taiwan University and came to the United States to begin his productive academic career in 1963. He transitioned from his initial work in cytogenetics and cytology to the field of radiobiology in 1970 when he joined the New England Medical Center Hospital as a staff radiobiologist at the Assistant Professor level. In 1981, he was promoted to the academic rank of Professor, and in 1989 he moved to VCU to continue a successful career.
After retiring in 2003, Dr. Lin returned part time to the Department of Radiation Oncology as one of the core leaders on the P01 NIH grant focusing on genetic modulation of cellular radiation response. For many years, Dr. Lin continued his wide-ranging academic involvement, interacting with individuals in our divisions of physics and radiobiology and the physicians in our clinical division.
Phone: (617) 833-9366
Email: pecksunlin41@outlook.com
Ross Mikkelsen, Ph.D.
Professor Emeritus
Ross Mikkelsen, Ph.D.
Professor Emeritus
Radiation Oncology, Division of Radiobiology
Bio sketch and research interests: Dr. Mikkelsen recieved a Ph.D. in biology in 1973 from the University of California at Santa Barbara. He went on to perform post-doctoral work at Tufts University School of Medicine from 1973-1978 in the field of membrane biochemistry. Prior to coming to VCU's medical center he served as an Associate Professor in the Departments of Physiology and Therapuetic Radiology at Tufts University School of Medicine. Dr. Mikkelsen's research investigates mechanisms of how cells sense cytoplasmic ionization events and then activate or, alternatively, inhibit either pro- or anti survival mechanisms.
Email: ross.mikkelsen@vcuhealth.org
Martin J. Murphy, Ph.D.
Professor Emeritus
Martin J. Murphy, Ph.D.
Professor Emeritus
Department of Radiation Oncology
Bio sketch and research interests: Dr. Murphy received his Ph.D. in physics from the University of Chicago in 1980. Subsequently, he held research posts in nuclear physics, astrophysics, X-Ray and gamma-ray astronomy at UC/Berkeley's Lawrence Radiation Laboratory, the University of Washington, and the Lockheed Space Sciences Laboratory in Palo Alto CA. In 1992, Dr. Murphy became involved in research and development for the CyberKnife, a robotic image-guided radiosurgical system invented at Stanford University to treat cancer and central nervous system lesions. In 2003, he moved from Stanford, where he was a senior research scientist, to join the Medical Physics faculty at VCU. His research interests are in image fusion, computer-guided medical image segmentation, real-time image processing and registration, and machine vision applied to radiotherapy. The goal of his research is to develop fast, automatic image-guided procedures for the planning and delivery of radiation treatments via both external beams and brachytherapy.
Phone: (804) 628-7777
Email: martin.murphy@vcuhealth.org
Jatinder Palta, Ph.D.
Professor Emeritus
Jatinder Palta, Ph.D.
Professor Emeritus
Department of Radiation Oncology
Dr. Palta received his Ph.D. in medical physics in 1981 from the University of Missouri in Columbia. Prior to coming to VCU's Massey Cancer Center, he was Professor and Chief of Physics in the Department of Radiation Oncology at University of Florida, Gainesville, FL., where he achieved national and international recognition for his clinical research and educational activities in advanced radiotherapy techniques, quality assessment, and quality assurance. Dr. Palta is a recipient of several NIH awards in medical informatics and optimization research. He has served on NIH study section and the Boards of both AAPM and ASTRO. In his assignment at VHA, Dr. Palta is developing and implementing programs that will ensure safe, effective, state-of-the-art radiation treatments to our Veterans and bring VHA Radiation Oncology Services (ROS) to a position of national excellence. He provides subject matter expertise to the VHA National Radiation Oncology Program on policy development, criteria and evaluation factors of equipment, staffing, resource needs, and development of comprehensive guidelines for medical physics.
Email: paltajatinder@gmail.com
Jeffrey F. Williamson, Ph.D.
Professor Emeritus
Jeffrey F. Williamson, Ph.D.
Professor Emeritus
Department of Radiation Oncology
Bio sketch and research interests: Dr. Williamson received his Ph.D. in biophysical sciences in 1982 from the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. Prior to coming to VCU's Massey Cancer Center, he was a senior faculty member in the Department of Radiation Oncology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Mo., where he solidified his national reputation as an innovative researcher in brachytherapy. Dr. Williamson has several National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded projects in the physics of this modality and is currently looking at novel methods for using imaging technology to improve the planning and delivery of brachytherapy to patients. One of his primary goals with this research is to extend the well-established role of Monte Carlo simulation as an accurate dosimetry tool to individual treatment planning. Dr. Williamson is also working in the area of deformable image registration. The goal of this research is to model distortion and movement of internal organs due to brachytherapy applicator insertion, tumor regression and changes in patient position.
Advisees: Dong Han
Phone: (804) 628-7777