Faculty

Dr. Patrick Cheung is a Radiation Oncologist at the Sunnybrook Odette Cancer Centre, specializing in lung and genito-urinary malignancies, with a clinical interest in the treatment of metastatic cancer with stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT). He is an Associate Professor in the Department of Radiation Oncology at the University of Toronto. His academic interests include evaluating the use of SBRT/hypofractionated radiotherapy in the setting of localized prostate/kidney cancers and oligometastases. He is the co-chair of CCTG PR.20, which is a national randomized phase 3 trial comparing best systemic therapy versus best systemic therapy plus local ablative therapy in the setting of hormone sensitive oligometastatic prostate cancer.

Dr. William Chu is a clinician investigator and assistant professor in the Department of Radiation Oncology at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre and the University of Toronto; and an affiliate scientist in Physical Sciences at the Sunnybrook Research Institute. He is an active member of the Gastrointestinal and Genitourinary Cancer Care teams. Dr. Chu’s research focuses on the development and evaluation of innovative, high-impact radiation treatment strategies to improve patient outcomes and quality of life through national and international collaborative studies. The areas of his research include: 

1.  Stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) for patients with kidney and prostate cancer, and tumours involving the liver, pancreas, adrenal glands and lymph nodes; and combined modality therapy.
2.  Early phase studies of MRI-guided radiotherapy and HIFU-hyperthermia for abdominal/pelvic tumours

Dr. Sten Myrehaug received his Doctor of Medicine with Special Training in Research from the University of Alberta, and completed his post-graduate training in Radiation Oncology at the University of Toronto. He subsequently did a clinical research fellow at the Radiation Oncology Branch, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, with a focus on advanced imaging of central nervous system malignancies. He has been an active staff at the Odette Cancer Centre since 2015, with a clinical focus on CNS, GI and neuroendocrine malignancies. He has special interest in stereotactic radiosurgery in these clinical sites, and has an active research program in advanced MRI for primary brain tumors.

Dr. Arjun Sahgal is a clinician scientist and international clinical and research leader in the field central nervous system oncology and, in particular, in the field of stereotactic radiation to brain and spine tumours. After training at the University of Toronto (U of T) in radiation oncology, he completed a radiosurgery fellowship at the University of California San Francisco. He has published, as lead or contributor, over 350 peer reviewed papers in high impact journals such as JCO, NEJM and Lancet Oncology. He has received several distinguished awards and visiting professorships and leads various international research consortia. Currently, he serves as Deputy Chief of the Department of Radiation Oncology at the U of T affiliated Sunnybrook Odette Cancer Centre. In addition, he is the director of the Sunnybrook Cancer Ablation Therapy (CAT) program that involved the installation and evaluation of a MR Brachytherapy suite, MR Linac and Gamma Knife Icon.

Dr. Hany Soliman has been a staff Radiation Oncologist at the Sunnybrook Odette Cancer Centre in Toronto since 2012. He completed his Radiation Oncology residency at the University of Toronto and went on to complete a 1 year fellowship in CNS and Lung SBRT. He has a clinical and academic focus in primary and metastatic CNS tumours and has helped develop one of the leading CNS programs in North America. He is the current lead for the Gamma Knife program at Sunnybrook. He currently leads several ongoing clinical trials translating novel MRI sequences in the management of brain metastases. Recently, he led a group of international experts and published consensus contouring guidelines for postoperative cavity SRS for brain metastases. He has authored over 50 peer reviewed publications and book chapters. He has a special interest in training the next generation of radiation oncologists and is the Director of Education and Fellowship lead in the Department of Radiation Oncology at the Sunnybrook Odette Cancer Centre.

Dr. Chia-Lin (Eric) Tseng is an Assistant Professor at the University of Toronto, Department of Radiation Oncology and a staff Radiation Oncologist at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Odette Cancer Centre. He earned his medical degree from McGill University in Montreal, Canada, and completed his radiation oncology residency training at the University of Toronto. He subsequently completed a fellowship in CNS radiation oncology, specializing in brain radiosurgery and spine stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT), as well as in brachytherapy at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto, Canada. In addition, he was a research fellow in MR-guided radiotherapy at University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, Netherlands. He is board-certified by both The American Board of Radiology and The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada in Radiation Oncology. Dr. Tseng’s clinical practice includes primary and metastatic tumors of the CNS, as well as functional indications for stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS). In addition, he treats GU malignancies and is part of the SBRT and brachytherapy program for prostate cancer. His research focuses on stereotactic radiation for brain and spine metastases. He has extensive interests in MR-guided radiotherapy, and its applications in imaging-based biomarkers and individualized adaptive radiation.

Dr. Melanie Davidson completed her Ph.D. in Medical Biophysics with a focus in x-ray imaging at Western University in London, Ontario followed by a residency in Medical Physics at the London Regional Cancer Program. Melanie is a member of the Odette Cancer Centre (OCC) brachytherapy team at the Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, and she is currently the Physics Lead for Patient-Specific Quality Assurance and for the GU and Gynae site teams for external beam radiotherapy. Much of her clinical work involves the development and implementation of treatment planning protocols and scripts to enhance standardized practices and plan quality. Melanie has also led the treatment planning and technical development for in-house clinical trials in prostate SBRT and was a member of the Canadian leadership team for the PACE trial. Melanie is an Associate Professor in the University of Toronto’s Department of Radiation Oncology.

Dr Alex Karotki is the lead GI, Skin and Imaging physicist at Odette Cancer Centre. As physics GI lead, he is deeply involved into liver and pancreas SBRT protocol development as well as day to day operations. As Imaging lead he is involved into CT SIM protocol development for SBRT patients.

Dr. Renee Korol is the lead physicist for the stereotactic body radiation therapy program and external beam treatment planning at Odette Cancer Centre. Her research interests span from assessing different treatment planning strategies to target localization for SBRT patients with a special interest in GI and oligometastases. This includes the assessment of PTV margins, organ motion and the impact of various immobilization devices.

Ruby Bola MRT(T), is the Project Manager for the SBRT Training Institute at the Odette Cancer Centre. She joined the Odette Cancer Centre as a radiation therapist in 2014 with experience in SBRT and SRS treatments. She is passionate about at bridging gaps in practice by bringing together healthcare practitioners from across the globe to learn new, innovative technologies.

Mrs. Mikki Campbell is dedicated to the advancement of radiation therapy through the integration of novel technologies and is committed to ensure accessibility and delivery of quality patient-centred care. After training at the University of Toronto in Medical Radiation Sciences, she completed a Masters in Health Evaluation at the University of Waterloo. She has published, as contributor, in peer reviewed papers including in high impact journals like the International Journal of Radiation Oncology Biology Physics. Currently, she serves as the Manager of Strategic Initiatives in the Radiation Treatment program at the University of Toronto affiliated Sunnybrook Odette Cancer Centre.

In her current position, she oversees the research and implementation of three new state-of-the-art technologies under the Cancer Ablation Therapy program: the MR-Linac, MR Brachytherapy suite and Gamma Knife Icon. Her research focuses on high precision stereotactic radiation to the brain and spine for metastases and primary tumours, as well as the integration of MR in radiation therapy. She collaborates with AOSpine Tumor Knowledge Forum, as a key content expert, in the development of an international prospective registry for spine oncology, the Metastatic Tumor Research and Outcomes Network (MTRON). Her next phase of research and evaluation will focus on evaluation theory, in which she aims to utilize advances in technology to evoke important policy and health system changes.

Krista Dawdy is a Clinical Educator for radiation planning and treatment delivery at the Odette Cancer Centre. She holds a Master’s degree completed at Sheffield Hallam University. Krista is responsible for all aspects of staff and student training within the radiation therapy department, including meeting the ongoing training demands of our highly dynamic and changing work environment. She enjoys being both an educator and frontline therapist because she can observe knowledge translation in clinical practice. She is always looking for creative ways to incorporate new and dynamic educational opportunities that meet real-time needs within the department.

Krista is an Instructor with the University of Toronto DRO, Clinical Adjunct Professor at The Michener Institute of Education at UHN.

Darby Erler MRT(T), MHSc is the Professional Lead for the Radiation Therapy Program at the Sunnybrook Odette Cancer Centre. She is appointed as an Instructor with the Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Toronto and a Practice-Based Researcher at the Sunnybrook Research Institute. Darby completed her degree in Radiation Sciences through the Joint Michener Institute/ University of Toronto Medical Radiation Science program in 2003 and received a Master of Health Science in Medical Radiation Sciences from the University of Toronto in 2015. Prior to taking on the Professional Lead role, she was the Clinical Specialist Radiation Therapist for the Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy (SBRT) Program for 7 years. Her research interests include assessing clinical outcomes associated with the use of SBRT, evaluating innovations in treatment delivery and improving the patient experience with the use of patient reported outcomes.