About
The UBC Radiation Therapy Physics Group is composed of physicists affiliated with UBC who perform research and clinical work at the BC Cancer Agency - Vancouver Centre. Our research efforts focus on various aspects of radiation therapy treatment.
About the Vancouver Centre
The Medical Physics group at the BC Cancer Agency - Vancouver Centre is a dynamic group of physicists working at the leading edge of radiation therapy treatment, research and innovation. The Vancouver Centre is the largest of six BCCA centres delivering cancer care in the province. We have a long history of medical physics dating back to the 1948 when Dr. Harold Batho helped introduce radiation therapy in British Columbia. Since that time the group has expanded and evolved, now actively collaborating with a wide range of groups in the Vancouver Lower Mainland.
People
A directory of researchers involved with the group is maintained here
Facilities
VCC is a state-of-the-art treatment and research centre located in the heart of Vancouver. Approximately 4300 patients are treated per year. As of 2013, facilities available include:
- Nine specialized linear accelerators, equipped with gating and on-board imaging technology, VMAT, and FFF beam modes.
- An active brachytherapy program (HDR, for gynecological and other applications, ultrasound guided prostate implant program, eye plaques and manual brachytherapy).
- Cobalt-60 facilities for total body irradiation.
- An SRS/SRT unit, equipped with BrainLab© ExacTrac® technology.
- Therapeutic proton beam line at TRIUMF.
- Two PET-CT scanners (functional imaging centre).
- Cyclotron based isotope production facility on site.
Our department is a leader in Monte Carlo simulation applied to problems in radiation therapy and houses a large cluster supporting this work. Radiobiology labs and small animal irradiation/imaging facilities are available nearby at the BCCRC.
Clinical and Research Collaborations
We collaborate with many groups and centres on a frequent basis.
- TRIUMF
- UBC Eye Care Centre
- BC Cancer Research Centre, Integrative Oncology (radiobiology), Interdisciplinary Oncology Program, Mohamed Khan's lab, Francois Benard's lab
- BCCA Functional Imaging Centre
- UBC Department of Surgery, Division of Developmental Radiotherapeutics
- Vancouver General Hospital - Neurological Sciences, Bone Marrow Transplant Program
- BC Childrens Hospital
- Screening Mammography Program of BC
This list is not inclusive.
Associated Programs
We are both CAMPEP-accredited, and offer CAMPEP-accredited programs.
- CAMPEP-accredited joint UBC/BCCA Graduate Medical Physics program
- CAMPEP-accredited BCCA Medical Physics Residency program
- UBC/BCCA Radiation Oncology Residency Program
Associated Professional Organizations
Many of our members are associated with, or interact with, the following organizations.
Locations
The Department of Medical Physics at the BCCA is composed of distinct regional centres which are distributed throughout the province. Each is part of the BC Cancer Agency and greater Provincial Health Services Authority, though facilities and operations are slightly different in each.
Centres are distributed throughout the province in relation to the population density. Centres include
- Abbotsford,
- Fraser Valley (located in the city of Surrey),
- the Centre for the Southern Interior (located in Kelowna),
- Prince George,
- Vancouver,
- and the Vancouver Island centre (located in Victoria).
The UBC Radiation Therapy Physics Group is composed of physicists at the Vancouver centre. The group works closely with the department of Physics and Astronomy at both the University of British Columbia and the University of Victoria, with some physicists holding adjunct professorships.