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ELLEN ELISABETH GREIN (EL-KHATIB)     

Occupation: Chief Medical Physicist specializing in radiation oncology

Born: Heppenheim, West-Germany

 Education:

B.Sc. Physics, June 1971, Loyola College, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

M.Sc. Physics, June 1980, Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Ph.D. Physics, May 1984, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

 Certifications:

MCCPM. Membership in the Canadian College of Physicists in Medicine, June 1985

FCCPM, Fellowship in the Canadian College of Physicists in Medicine, June 1987

Career:

 Before obtaining a graduate degree in medical physics Ellen Grein worked as a research assistant at the Gesellschaft fur Strahlen und Umweltforschung (Institute for Radiation and Environmental research) in Frankfurt, Germany from March 1973 to March 1975. She then returned to Canada and became aware of the field of medical physics while working as electron microscopist in the Pathology Department of the Universite de Montreal from March 1976 to June 1979.

In 1980 she became Dr. Jerry Battista’s first Ph.D. student at the University of Alberta and graduated with the Ph.D. in Medical Physics in May of 1984. Her first position in clinical medical physicist was with Dr. Ervin Podgorsak at McGill University in Montreal where she was employed by Montreal General Hospital as a clinical physicist in August 1984 and then was appointed to the academic position as assistant professor and medical physicist at McGill University from January 1985 to December 1987. From December 1987 to September 1988 she worked for a short time as medical physicist at the King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

In September 1988 she returned to Canada and took a position as senior medical physicist at the Cross Cancer Institute in Edmonton, Alberta. At the same time she had academic appointments as adjunct professor in the Physics Department at the University of Alberta and was active in graduate student teaching and supervision.

In July 1991 she took a position as senior medical physicist at the BC Cancer Agency (BCCA) in Vancouver, Canada, and in February 1992 was appointed Department Head of Medical Physics in Vancouver and Professional Practice Leader for Medical Physics for BCCA.

In the 11 years that ensued, under Ellen's leadership, Medical Physics at the BCCA grew to become the largest radiation medical physics group under single leadership in Canada. Since 1991, the number of physicists increased from 9 at two centers to 35 in four centers in 2003. Ellen recruited more than 30 physicists, and oversaw the development of essentially three entirely new cancer centers and a major reconstruction of the Vancouver Cancer Center (VCC) radiation facility. During this time Ellen also oversaw the expansion of the Screening Mammography Program of BC, the establishment of proton therapy at TRIUMF, and the initiation of stereotactic radiosurgery and prostate brachytherapy as provincial programs at the Vancouver Cancer Center.

In addition to facility and program development, Ellen also built up an academic program in graduate physics at the University of BC, from which five Ph.D. students and two M.Sc. students have graduated when she left in 2003. This program obtained CAMPEP accreditation in 2003.

In May of 2003 Ellen moved to the US where she is now Chief Medical Physicist at Saint Francis Hospital and Medical Center in Hartford, Connecticut.

Graduate Student Supervision
6 Ph.D.
9 M.Sc.

REFEREED PUBLICATIONS (46)
Examples:

  1. El-Khatib, E. and Battista, J.J.: Improved lung dose calculation using tissue-maximum ratios in the Batho correction. Med. Phys. 11: 279-286, 1984.
  2. Mackie, T.R., El-Khatib, E., Battista, J.J., Scrimger, J., Van Dyk, J., and Cunningham, J.R.: Lung dose corrections for 6 MV and 15 MV X-rays. Med. Phys. 12: 327-332, 1985.
  3. El-Khatib, E., Podgorsak, E., Pla, C.: The effect of lead attenuators on dose in homogeneous phantoms. Med. Phys. 13, 928-935, 1986.
  4. El-Khatib, E., Podgorsak, E.B., Pla, C.: Calculation of dose in homogeneous phantoms for partially attenuated photon beams. Med. Phys. 15, 145-150, 1988.
  5. El-Khatib, E.E., Freeman, C.R., Rybka, W.B., Lehnert, S., Podgorsak, E.B.: The use of CT densitometry to predict lung toxicity in bone marrow transplant patients. Int. J. Radiation Oncology Biol. Phys. 16, 85-94, 1989.
  6. El-Khatib, E., Rymel, J., Al-Mokhlef, J.: A technique for total skin electron irradiation using six large flattened electron beams: Implementation on linear accelerators having different modes of electron beam production. British Journal of Radiology 62, 744-748, 1989.
  7. El-Khatib, E., Evans, M., Pla, M., Cunningham, J.R.: Evaluation of lung dose correction methods for photon irradiations of thorax phantoms: Int. J. Radiation Oncology Biol. Phys. 17, 871-878, 1989.
  8. El-Khatib, E., Scrimger, J., Murray, B.: Reduction of the bremsstrahlung component of clinical electron beams: Implications for electron arc therapy and total skin electron irradiation. Physics in Medicine and Biology 36, 111-118, 1991.
  9. El-Khatib, E., Antolak, J., Scrimger, J.: Evaluation of film and thermoluminescent dosimetry of high energy electron beams in heterogeneous phantoms. Medical Physics 19, 317-323, 1992.
  10. El-Khatib, E., Connors, S., Logus, W.: The influence of lung and bone dosimetry on the choice of radiation energy for total body irradiation. Int. J. Radiat. Oncol. Biol. Phys. 23, 1992.
  11. El-Khatib, E., Antolak, J., Scrimger, J.: Radiation dose distributions for electron arc therapy using electrons of 6-20 MeV. Physics in Medicine and Biology 37, 1375-1384, 1992.
  12. El-Khatib, E. and Connors, S.: Conversion of ionization measurements to radiation absorbed dose in non-unit density material. Physics in Medicine and Biology 37, 2083-2094, 1992.
  13. El-Khatib, E., Hussein, S., Nikolic, M., Voss, N.J.S., and Parsons, C.: Variation of electron beam uniformity with beam angulation and filter position for total skin irradiation with the Stanford Technique. Int. J. Radiat. Oncol. Biol. Phys. 32, 1995.
  14. Grein, E., Duzenli, C., Pickles, T., Ma, R., Paton, K., Kwa, W., Harrison, R., and Blackmore, E.: Proton Radiation Therapy in Canada. Physics in Canada58, 87-92, 2002.
  15. Grein, E., Lee, R., and Luchka, K.: An investigation of a new amorphous silicon electronic portal imaging device for transit dosimetry. Med. Phys. 29, 2262-2268 (2002).

Awards:
May 1991 AAPM Travel Award to present papers at the World Congress of Medical Physics in Kyoto, Japan, July 7-12, 1991.
Fellow of the American Association of Medical Physicists, July 2003

American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM) Activities:
 Associate Editor, Medical Physics, 2000-2004

AAPM Committees
Education and Training of Medical Physicists since 1998
Task Group #1: Revision of Report 44: Academic Program for MS Degree in Medical Physics
Task Group 69: Radiographic Film Dosimetry since 2001

Additional Professional Organization Activities:
Canadian Organization of Medical Physicists
Chair-elect 1990-1991
Chair 1991-1992.

Family:
Daughters: Alexia, Leila, Jasmine, Suzan.