Todd A. Pawlicki, Ph.D., FAAPM, FASTRO
Professor & Vice Chair
Education
B.A. Physics/Mathematics | St. Norbert College 1989
M.S. Physics | DePaul University 1991
Ph.D. Medical Sciences | Medical College of Ohio, Toledo 1998
Post Doctoral Fellowship Stanford University 2000
Board Certification American Board of Radiology 2001
Links
About Dr. Pawlicki
Dr. Todd Pawlicki is Professor and Vice‑Chair for Medical Physics at the University of California San Diego (UC San Diego) and Director of the Division of Medical Physics in the Department of Radiation Medicine and Applied Sciences. In this role he oversees the department’s clinical and research medical physicists.
Dr. Pawlicki has held senior leadership positions in the American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM) and the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO), serving as Secretary, President, and Chair of the AAPM Board, and as Vice‑Chair and Chair of ASTRO’s Clinical Affairs and Quality Council. He is a Fellow of both societies (FAAPM, 2012; FASTRO, 2016).
A recognized scholar, Dr. Pawlicki has authored multiple peer‑reviewed articles, reviews, editorials, book chapters, and clinical consensus documents. He has written four textbooks, most notably Quality and Safety in Radiotherapy—the first international reference on radiation‑oncology quality and safety. He previously served on the editorial board of Medical Physics and was Executive Physics Editor for Practical Radiation Oncology.
His current research applies systems‑engineering principles to enhance the safety, efficiency, and quality of external‑beam radiotherapy. Topics include systems‑theoretic process analysis, online adaptive radiotherapy decision‑making, patient‑specific quality assurance, incident‑analysis methodologies, and the management of complex clinical systems.
Dr. Pawlicki founded UC San Diego’s Medical Physics Residency program in 2009 and remains actively involved in resident education.