Patrick D. Higgins 
Occupation: Medical Physicist in Radiation Oncology
Born: Mar. 31, 1951
Education:
B.S. Physics: University of Detroit 1973
Ph.D. High Energy Physics: University of Notre Dame 1978
Certifications:
American Board of Medical Physics 1995
Fellowships:
NIH Fellowship University of Wisconsin 1978-1981
Career:
After receiving his PhD at Notre Dame he joined the University of Wisconsin Medical Physics Department in a post-doctoral position with Paul DeLuca. There he participated in the microdosimetry program and helped develop a mixed photon-neutron facility for physics and biology. Following the fellowship he joined the faculty at Wisconsin where he studied the potential application of focused ultrasound for hyperthermia and began his teaching career. In 1986 he moved to the Cleveland Clinic as the Physics Director. While there he was responsible for oversight of the neutron cyclotron program (GLANTA), established a number of satellite radiotherapy centers and initiated a certified dosimetry school. In 1994 he accepted an opportunity to join the Therapeutic Radiology Department at the University of Minnesota to work with Faiz Khan and Bruce Gerbi. He has been responsible for planning system development and helped several of the early 3d and IMRT treatment planning systems achieve FDA approval. His research has primarily been related to radiation dosimetry measurement and modeling leading to about 70 refereed publications and over 100 abstracts. He has been involved with the Physics Residency program as a mentor and has served as the MS and PhD thesis advisor for a number of Medical Physics students.
Publications (Selected):
- Higgins PD, DeLuca PM, Gould MN, Pearson DW. Survival of V79 Chinese Hamster Cells Following Simultaneous Irradiation by 14.8 MeV Neutrons and 60Co. Radiat Res. 95:45-56, 1983.
- Higgins PD, Sibata CH, Attix FH, Paliwal BR. Calculational Methods for Estimating Skin Dose in 60Co Beams. Med Phys 10:622, 1983.
- Higgins PD, Zeng XW, Zagzebski JA, Paliwal BR. Versatility of Focused Ultrasound in Treatment of Superficial Tumors. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys 10:1923-1931, 1984.
- Higgins PD, Adams WM, Dubielzig RR. Thermal Dosimetry of Normal Porcine Tissues. Radiat Res. 114:225-230, 1988.
- Higgins PD, Sibata CH, Thomas F. Application of Thermal Dilution Measurements for Thermal Treatment Planning. Phys in Med Biol 34:651-658, 1989.
- Higgins PD, Sohn WH, Sibata CH. Effective Field Size Corrections for Elongated Fields. Med Phys 16(5):800-802, 1989.
- Higgins PD, Seltzer S, Hubbell J, Berger M, Sibata CH, Attix FH. In-Flight Corrected Mass Energy Absorption Coefficients for the Range 0.001-100 MeV. National Institute of Standards and Technology Report 4812, 1991.
- Higgins PD, Siskind L., Roberts W. Deconvolution Correction of Chamber Size Effect for Measurement of Small Beam Profiles. Med Phys 22:1663-1666, 1995.
- Higgins PD, Lee EJ, Ahuja AS, Mihailidis DN, Khan FM. Blocked Field Effects on Collimator Scatter Factors. Phys Med. Biol 42:2435-2447, 1997.
- Khan FK, Higgins PD, Gerbi BJ, Deibel FC, Sethi A, Mihailidis D., Calculation of Depth Dose and Dose per Monitor Unit for Irregularly Shaped Electron Fields. Phys. Med Biol. 43:2741-2754, 1998.
- Higgins PD, Gerbi BJ and Khan FK. Application of measured pencil beam parameters for electron beam model evaluation. Med. Phys. 30:514-520, 2003.
- Higgins PD, Alaei P, Gerbi BJ and Dusenbery KE. In vivo diode dosimetry for routine quality assurance in IMRT. Med. Phys. 30:3118-3123, 2003.
- Higgins PD, Gerbi BJ, Dusenbery KE and Macedon M. Fractionated stereotactic radiotherapy for pediatric patients with retinoblastoma. Journal of Applied Clinical Medical Physics 7(2):1-9, 2006.
- Higgins PD, Han EY, Yuan J, Hui S and Lee CK. Evaluation of surface and superficial dose for head and neck treatments using conventional or intensity-modulated techniques. Phys. Med. Biol. 52:1135-1146, 2007.
- Saxena R. and Higgins PD, Measurement and Evaluation of Inhomogeneity Corrections and Monitor Unit Verification for Treatment Planning. Medical Dosimetry, (in press); on-line version Feb. 23, 2009.
American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM) Activities:
- American Association of Physicists in Medicine Task Group 18 for Neutron Dosimetry: 1986-1990.
- American Association of Physicists in Medicine Task Group 70 for Electron Beam Dosimetry 2000-2009.
- Guest editor and ad hoc reviewer for Medical Physics.
Avocations and Special Interests:
Reading, writing, golf and biking.
Family:
Married in 1979 to Kimberley. Children: Shannon, Ryan, Erin and Kevin