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Department of Radiation Medicine & Applied Sciences Radiation Medicine
  1. Department of Radiation Medicine & Applied Sciences
  2. Education
  3. Radiation Oncology Residency
  4. Resident Research

Resident Research

Our Residency Program offers an entire year dedicated to research, something not available at many other residency programs. We feel strongly that an entire year is necessary given the need for learning many new skills, approaches and techniques. Moreover, a meaningful project can not be accomplished in less time. Residents interested in pursuing additional time for research are welcome to be considered for the Holman Pathway

Prior to their Research Year, Residents select a Faculty Mentor, either one of the RMAS Research faculty in the Center for Precision Radiation Medicine or a faculty member outside of the Department.

Spotlight on Resident Research Year

Residents are encouraged during their research year to apply for internal and external Grants. While obtaining funding is not required for the research year, applying for a grant is a great educational experience and securing a grant is a great addition to one's CV which is helpful during the job search and start of an academic career.

Connet Puett

Phase II Prospective Trial of Image-Guided Cognitive-Sparing Brain Radiosurgery (COG-SRS) with a Connectivity Approach: The Future of Functional Preservation Faculty Mentor: Jona Hattangadi-Gluth

Connet Puett MD (Class of 2026)

Ben Jacobs

Socioeconomic barriers to receiving patients receiving screening for breast cancer and prostate cancer. Faculty Mentor: Dr. Brent Rose Comparison of proton versus photon Whole Lung Irradiation in the treatment of Ewing Sarcoma, Wilms Tumor and Rhabdomyosarcoma. Faculty Mentor: Dr. Brian Chou Clinically Realistic Automatic Radiotherapy Treatment Planning System (TRIDENTPlan). Faculty Mentor: Chang Chang, PhD Physics.

Ben Jacobs M.D. (Class of 2026)

John Butler

Treatment outcomes and radiation toxicity in carriers of a single nucleotide polymorphism in the Tuberosclerosis 2 gene (vTSC2), a master regulator of the mTOR pathway. Faculty Mentors: Ida Deichete, PhD and Austin Hopper, MD

John Butler M.D. (Class of 2026)

Megan Orr

Utilizing innovative educational tools to improve contouring accuracy and personalize clinical training in radiation oncology Mentor: Michael Sherer, MD

Megan Orr M.D. (Class of 2025)

Edmund Qiao

Co-Investigator for Investigator Initiated Trial at UCSD: Total RadIoTherapy of Oligometastatic caNcerS (TRITONS). Mentor: Tyler Seibert External validation of a high dimensional machine learning model for predicting in-hospital mortality for cancer patients. Mentor: Jim Murphy, MD Creating a normal tissue complication probability for language decline following CNS radiotherapy. Mentor: Jona Hattangadi-Gluth, MD

Edmund Qiao M.D. (Class of 2026)

Lucas Vitzthum

A Competing Event Model to Identify Patients Benefiting from Treatment Intensification Faculty Mentor: Loren Mell MD

Lucas Vitzthum M.D. (Class of 2020)

Chris Straka

Leveraging accessible technology to improve patient outcomes Faculty Mentor: Jim Murphy M.D.

Chris Straka M.D. (Class of 2020)

 

Spotlight on Resident Grants

Recent Resident Publications

 

  • Dornisch AM, Seibert TM. Debate 2: The Case for Focal External Beam Radiation Therapy Boost Over Brachytherapy Boost for Prostate Cancer. Semin Radiat Oncol. 2025 Jul;35(3):415-422.
  • Morgan KM, Deshler LN, Tibbs MD, Qiao EM, Anger JT, Salmasi A, Marshall DC, Sanghvi P, Rose BS, Riviere P. Prostate-Specific Antigen and Prostate Cancer in Gender-Affirming Hormone Therapy for Transgender or Nonbinary Individuals.Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 2025 Mar 1;121(3):761-767.
  • Zhong AY, Kim SS, Hopper A, White G, Miyauchi S, Jones RN, Scanderbeg D, Mell LK, Weihe E, Boutros N, Doggett SW, Sharabi AS. Long-term treatment of metastatic adenoid cystic carcinoma with sequential brachytherapy and stereotactic body radiotherapy. Radiation Oncology Journal. August 14, 2024.
  • Connor M, Salans M, Karunamuni R, Unnikrishnan S, Huynh-Le MP, Tibbs MD, Qian A, Reyes A, Stasenko A, McDonald C, Moiseenko V, El-Naqa I, Hattangadi-Gluth J. Fine Motor Skill Decline After Brain Radiation Therapy- A Multivariate Normal Tissue Complication Probability Study of a Prospective Trial. Int J of Radiat Biol Phys. 2023: 10.1016
  • Sherer M, Sher DJ. Patient-Reported Outcomes After Unilateral Treatment for Human Papillomavirus–Associated Tonsillar Cancer: Overrated or Still Overtreated? International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology, Physics. 2023; 115(1): 189-191
  • Miyauchi S, Kim SS, Jones RN, Zhang L, Guram K, Sharma S, Schoenberger SP, Cohen EEW, Califano JA, Sharabi AB. Human papillomavirus E5 suppresses immunity via inhibition of the immunoproteasome and STING pathway. Cell Reports. May 30, 2023.
  • Kim SS, Liu HC, Mell LK. Treatment considerations for patients with locoregionally advanced head and neck cancer with a contraindication to cisplatin. Current Treatment Options in Oncology. January 25, 2023.
  • Qiao EM, Guram K, Kotha NV, Voora RS, Qian AS, Ahn GS, Kalavacherla S, Pindus R, Banegas MP, Stewart TF, Johnson ML, Murphy JD, Rose BS. Association Between Primary Care Use Prior to Cancer Diagnosis and Subsequent Cancer Mortality in the Veterans Affairs Health System. JAMA Netw Open. 2022 Nov 1;5(11):e2242048
  • Huynh-Le MP, Tibbs MD, Karunamuni R, Salans M, Tringale KR, Yip A, Connor M, Simon AB, Vitzthum LK, Reyes A, Macari AC, Moiseenko V, McDonald CR, Hattangadi-Gluth JA. Microstructural Injury to Corpus Callosum and Intrahemispheric White Matter Tracts Correlate With Attention and Processing Speed Decline After Brain Radiation. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 2021 Jun 1;110(2):337-347.
  • Williamson CW, Sherer M, Zamarin D, Sharabi AB, Dyer BA, Mell LK, Mayadev J. Immunotherapy and Radiation Therapy Sequencing: State of the Data on Timing, Efficacy, and Safety. Cancer. 2021; 127 (10):1553-1567
  • Tibbs MD, Huynh-Le MP, Reyes A, Macari AC, Karunamuni R, Tringale KR, Burkeen J, Marshall DC, McDonald C, Hattangadi-Gluth JA. Longitudinal Analysis of Depression and Anxiety Symptoms as Independent Predictors of Neurocognitive Function in Primary Brain Tumor Patients. Int J of Radiat Biol Phys. 2020; 108(5): 1229-1239