Mary Bird Perkins, LSU Hosting National Scientific Conference
Medical Physics Partnership Continues to Reap Benefits for the Community
(Baton Rouge) -- Louisiana State University (LSU) and Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center (MBPCC) continue to partner to provide one of the most prominent medical physics programs in the nation. LSU and MBPCC are jointly hosting the Spring Meeting of the Southwest Chapter of the American Association of Physicists in Medicine (SWAAPM) at LSU's Cook Conference Center March 5-6, 2010.
The purpose of the meeting is for regional medical physicists to receive continuing clinical education, to discuss professional issues and to be aware of ongoing research in medical physics.
Dr. Kenneth Hogstrom -- MBPCC's chief of physics, Dr. Charles M. Smith Chair of Medical Physics in LSU's Department of Physics and Astronomy, and director of its medical physics program -- is the meeting's scientific program director and local host. "We expect about 130 attendees, including 20 national vendors exhibiting," said Hogstrom. The program includes a research session on medical applications of synchrotron radiation aimed at showcasing the upcoming improvements to the medical beamline at the LSU CAMD synchrotron facility. Its professional session, which is focusing on medical physics training and the future market demand for medical physicists, includes presentations by former president of the American Board of Radiology and current Editor of the leading journal Medical Physics, Dr. William Hendee, and by former chair of the American College of Medical Physics Board of Chancellors, Dr. Michael Mills.
Dr. Brent Parker, MBPCC, recently elected president elect of the Southwest AAPM chapter, is hosting a session on recent experiences with new external radiation therapy machine technology, featuring speakers from Mary Bird Perkins and Pennington Cancer Centers in Baton Rouge and the M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, TX. Dr. Hogstrom will host a session on the latest in electron beam therapy technology, including bolus conformal therapy, a technology developed under his supervision that recently became commercially available. Dr. Fontenot from MBPCC is hosting a timely session on secondary cancer risks from both diagnostic imaging and radiation therapy procedures.
With four CAMPEP accredited graduate programs in the chapter's geographic area, a Young Investigator's Symposium will be held in which 10 medical physics graduate students will present results of their research. Presentations will be judged by a panel of senior medical physicists, and the top four papers will be recognized with an award. Three of the presenters are from MBPCC.
The 2010 Spring AAPM meeting marks the return of the Conference to Baton Rouge from a highly successful hosting of the meeting in 2006. The Southwest chapter of the AAPM includes Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Louisiana.
The American Association of Physicists in Medicine is a scientific, educational, and professional organization of more than 5,000 medical physicists. Its purposes are to promote the application of physics to medicine and biology and to encourage interest and training in medical physics and related fields. Its publications include a scientific journal (Medical Physics), technical reports, and symposium proceedings. The AAPM is a member of the American Institute of Physics and is headquartered at the American Center for Physics in College Park, MD. The Southwest Regional Chapter consists of AAPM members in Louisiana, Texas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas.
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