Search
Radiation Oncology

International Abstract Award: Smith Apisarnthanarax, MD – 2024

September 2024


International Abstract Award from Issue 1 of the ASTRO Daily News 9/29/2024

The international award is designed to foster continuing medical education, assist in career development and help establish relationships with ASTRO members who may serve as scientific mentors to the recipient. Only one award is given each year to candidates who receive the highest score among applicants. The award includes an honorarium, a certificate of recognition and a complimentary registration to the Annual Meeting.

Professional Photograph of Jim Apisarnthanarax

Dr. Samantha Van Nest, Ph.D., initiates and receives funding for a novel research project related to Early Immunogenic Signaling Initiated by Proton FLASH.

September 2024


Dr. Van Nest (“Sam”) approached Professors Stewart and Sandison on a project of special interest to her a few months into her Medical Physics residency. We worked with her to build a multi-disciplinary team so she could pursue her passion for translational research at the intersection of physics, radiation biology and clinical advancement.

Her project was funded through a prestigious 2024-2025 grant from the Aldarra Foundation. She has been the driving force and inspiration for all aspects of the project; she has taken on a leadership role in the effort to train radiation biology staff on new procedures and is an effective collaborator with all members of our team.

Project Summary

Radiation therapy (RT) has been shown to increase tumor immunogenicity, supporting synergy between RT and immunotherapy. We propose that the therapeutic ratio of proton FLASH RT could be further improved beyond reported studies in the literature of normal tissue sparing by capitalizing on RT induced anti-tumor immunity. This would lead to enhanced tumor-cell targeting by the immune system and support combinations of FLASH RT and immunotherapy. We propose to investigate the role of FLASH RT to modulate key immunogenic and immune suppressive markers in tumors and normal tissue. We will investigate in vitro the extent to which FLASH RT influences antigen processing and presentation, micronuclei formation and rupture, and type-I interferon signaling in breast cancer and normal breast cell lines. This work has the potential to establish fundamental evidence that FLASH RT leads to immunogenic signaling in tumors, or alters signaling in healthy cells, which could be exploited to improve the care of breast patients with radiation-resistant disease through a combination of FLASH RT and immunotherapeutics.


PI and co-PI:

Emily Hatch, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Basic Sciences and Human Biology, Fred Hutch Cancer Center. Robert D Stewart, Ph.D., Professor of Radiation Oncology and Medical Physicist at the University of Washington (UW).


Co-Investigators: Samantha Van Nest, Ph.D. UW Medical Physics resident

Dani Johnson Erickson, Ph.D., Director, UW Radiation Biology Laboratory; Marissa Kranz, M.S, Director of the UW MCF; George A Sandison, Ph.D., Professor of UW Radiation Oncology and Medical Physics; Keith Stantz, Ph.D. Associate Professor in the School of Health Sciences at Purdue University; Ning Cao, Ph.D. Associate Professor of UW Radiation Oncology; Sunan Cui, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of UW Radiation Oncology