GEORGE STARKSCHALL
Occupation: Medical physicist specializing in radiation oncology
Born: Weiden, Germany, September 11, 1946
Education:
S.B. Chemistry, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1967
M.A. Chemistry, Harvard University, 1968
Ph.D. Chemical Physics, Harvard University, 1972
Postdoctoral Fellow, The James Franck Institute, The University of Chicago, 1972-1974.
Certifications:
American Board of Radiology, Therapeutic Radiological Physics, 1977
American Board of Medical Physics, Radiation Oncology Physics, 1990 (renewed 2000)
Career:
I entered medical physics with a position at the VA Hospital, Hines IL, in 1974. I worked as a clinical physicist at St Francis Hospital, Evanston IL, from 1975-1977. In 1977, I joined the faculty of the University of Health Sciences/The Chicago Medical School, North Chicago IL, and remained there until 1980, when I took a faculty position with the University of Kansas, Kansas City KS. In 1985, I moved to the M.D. Anderson Cancer, Houston TX, where I have been on the faculty since that time, attaining the rank of Professor in 2001.
My initial work at M.D. Anderson involved radiation therapy treatment planning, having developed the 3-D treatment planning system used for several years there. Once the in-house system was replaced with a commercial treatment planning system, I developed techniques for the clinical commissioning of beam models and verification of dose-calculation algorithms. I also was involved in the development of conformal electron therapy using bolus, the use of feasibility search methods for radiation therapy treatment optimization, and the design of a radiation therapy Picture Archival and Communication System. Since 2001 I have been working on respiratory-correlated radiation therapy, primarily in the development of methods for acquisition of four-dimensional CT images.
I have also been involved in medical physics education; primarily in teaching medical physics graduate students and radiation oncology residents. Since 2004, I have served as the Director of Education for the Department of Radiation Physics, MDACC. I have also served on several institutional committees, most notably, the Credentialing Committee of the Medical Staff and the Clinical Faculty Review Committee.
Publications:
- Starkschall G. “A constrained, least squares optimization method for external beam radiation therapy treatment planning,” Medical Physics 11:659-665, 1984.
- Starkschall G, Shiu AS, Bujnowski SW, Wang LL, Low DA, and Hogstrom KR. “Effect of dimensionality of heterogeneity corrections on the implementation of a three-dimensional electron pencil-beam algorithm,” Physics in Medicine and Biology, 36:207-227, 1991.
- Low DA, Starkschall G, Bujnowski SW, Wang LL, and Hogstrom KR. “Electron bolus design for radiotherapy treatment planning: bolus design algorithms,” Medical Physics, 19:115-124, 1992.
- Willoughby TR, Starkschall G, Janjan NA, Rosen II. “Evaluation and scoring of radiotherapy treatment plans using an artificial neural network,” International Journal of Radiation Oncology Biology and Physics, 34:923-930, 1996.
- Fraass BA, Doppke KP, Hunt MA, Kutcher GJ, Starkschall G, Stern RL, Van Dyk J. “Task Group 53: Quality assurance for clinical radiotherapy treatment planning,” Medical Physics, 25:1773-1829, 1998.
- Starkschall G, Steadham RE, Popple RA, Ahmad S, Rosen II. “Beam commissioning methodology for a 3-D convolution/superposition photon dose algorithm,” Journal of Applied Clinical Medical Physics, 1:8-27, 2000.
- Starkschall G, Pollack A, Stevens CW, “Treatment planning using a dose-volume feasibility search algorithm,” International Journal of Radiation Oncology Biology and Physics, 49:1419-1427, 2001.
- Gifford KA, Followill DS, Liu HH, Starkschall G, “Verification of the accuracy of a photon dose-calculation algorithm,” Journal of Applied Clinical Medical Physics, 3:26-45, 2002.
- Pollack A, Zagars GK, Starkschall G, Antolak JA, Lee JJ, Huang E, von Eschenbach AC, Kuban DA, Rosen II., “Prostate cancer radiation dose response: Results of the M.D. Anderson phase III randomized trial,” International Journal of Radiation Oncology Biology and Physics, 53:1097-1105, 2002.
- Gopal R, Starkschall G. “Plan space: Representation of treatment plans in multidimensional space,” International Journal of Radiation Oncology Biology and Physics, 53:1328-1336, 2002.
- Collier DC, Burnett SC, Amin M, Bilton S, Brooks C, Ryan A, Roniger D, Tran D, Starkschall G. “Assessment of consistency in contouring of normal-tissue anatomic structures,” Journal of Applied Clinical Medical Physics, 4:17-24, 2003.
- Burnett SC, Starkschall G, Stevens CW, Liao Z. “A deformable-model approach to semi-automatic segmentation of CT images demonstrated by application to the spinal canal,” Medical Physics, 31:251-263, 2004.
- Butler LE, Forster KM, Stevens CW, Bloch C, Liu HH, Tucker SL, Komaki R, Liao Z, Starkschall G, “Dosimetric benefits of respiratory gating: a preliminary study,” Journal of Applied Clinical Medical Physics, 5:1-9, 2004.
- Keall PJ, Starkschall G, Shukla H, Forster KM, Ortiz V, Stevens C, Vedam SS, George R, Guerrero T, Mohan R, “Acquiring 4D thoracic CT scans using a multislice helical method,” Physics in Medicine and Biology, 49:2053-2067, 2004.
- Nelson C, Starkschall G, Balter P, Fitzpatrick MJ, Antolak J, Tolani N, Prado K, “Respiration-correlated treatment delivery using feedback-guided breath hold: a technical study,” Medical Physics, in press.
Awards:
- M. D. Anderson Cancer Center Division of Radiotherapy Golden Apple Award “for outstanding teaching in the Radiotherapy Residency Program,” 1987.
- University of Texas Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences Dean's Excellence Award, 1989, 1991, 1993-2003.
- M. D. Anderson Cancer Center “Outstanding Educator” award, 2003.
- American College of Medical Physics LAP Award for Excellence “for the best radiation oncology physics paper published during 2002 in the Journal of Applied Clinical Medical Physics,” entitled “Verification of the accuracy of a photon dose-calculation algorithm,” Kent A. Gifford, David S. Followill, H. Helen Liu, George Starkschall.
- Fellow, American Association of Physicists in Medicine
- Fellow, American College of Medical Physics
American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM) Activities:
- Technologist Liaison Committee, 1979 -1982
- Finance Committee, 1980-1983
- Continuing Education Committee, 1983-1986
- Liaison Representative to AAMD Educational Council, 1985-1992
- Liaison Representative to AAMD, 1990-1992
- Computer Committee Task Group, Personal Computers, 1987-1990
- Computer Committee Task Group, Computer Communications, 1987-1988
- Professional Information and Clinical Relations Committee Task Group, Role of the Medical Physicist in Radiation Oncology, 1987-1990.
- Scientific Program Committee, 1988-1991, 1994-2000
- Computers and Medical Physics Special Interest Group (CAMPSIG), 1988-1992
- CAMPSIG Educational Secretary, 1989-1990
- Radiation Therapy Committee, 1990-1993
- Technical Advisory Group to IEC Subcommittee 62C, 1991-present
- Board of Directors, 1992-1994
- Radiation Therapy Committee Task Group #53, Treatment Planning Quality Assurance, 1992-1997
- Awards and Honors Committee, 1993-1998, 2001-present
- Awards and Honors Committee, Summer School Scholarships Subcommittee, Chairman, 1993-present
- Radiation Therapy Committee, Calibration Laboratory Accreditation Subcommittee, 1994-2003
- Radiation Therapy Committee, Calibration Laboratory Accreditation Subcommittee, Task Group on ISO 58 compliance, 2000-2003
- Representative, National Electrical Manufacturers Association, 1994-1999
- Development Committee, 2000-2002
- Meetings Coordination Committee, 2002-present
- Meetings Coordination Committee, Analysis and Evaluation Subcommittee, Chair, 2002-present
- Electronic Media Coordination Committee, Chair, 2003-present
- Ad hoc Committee on Placement Services, 2003-2004
Additional Professional Organization Activities:
American College of Medical Physics
Task Group #3, Radiation Therapy Calibration Survey Standards, 1984
Continuing Education Committee, Chairman, 1990-1992
Corporate Council, 2004-present
Commission on Credentials, 2004-present
American College of Radiology
Member, Patterns of Care Study, Lung Committee, 2001-present
Radiological Society of North America
AAPM Liaison to Electronic Communications Committee, 2004-present
Civic Activities:
Member, Board of Directors, Jewish Community Center of Houston, 1995-2002
Avocations and Special Interests:
Travel, jogging, music, theater, jeeping
Family:
Spouse – Carol (married 1974)
Children – Jessica (born 1982), Andrea (born 1984)