EDWARD S. STERNICK
Profession: Medical Physicist specializing in radiation oncology
Birth: Cambridge, MA
February 10, 1939
Education:
- B.S. - Tufts University, 1960
- PhD - UCLA, 1968
- MBA - Northeastern University, 1985
Certifications:
American Board of Radiology - Radiological Physics, 1982
Fellowships:
USPHS Predoctoral Fellow - UCLA, 1963-1967
Career
After earning the PhD in Medical Physics from UCLA in 1968, Dr. Sternick joined the faculty at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center where he founded the Medical Physics Section and led its growth over the next decade. He was a key participant in the planning, design, equipping and staffing of the Norris Cotton Cancer Center (now a Designated NCI Comprehensive Cancer Center) and established close academic ties with Dartmouth’s Thayer School of Engineering, where he co-founded the Biomedical Engineering Program. Students in this program were offered the opportunity to participate in research projects at the Medical Center under his supervision and several, because of this introduction to radiation oncology and diagnostic imaging, elected to pursue further graduate and postgraduate medical physics education and training. During this time, he also established new radiological physics teaching programs in radiation oncology and diagnostic radiology for residents at the Medical Center and, in affiliation with the New Hampshire Vocational Institute, an undergraduate program in radiological technology.
In 1978, Dr. Sternick accepted an invitation from Tufts Medical Center to become Founder and Director of a new Medical Physics Division providing clinical physics services for the Departments of Radiation Oncology, Radiology and Cardiology and for all institutional research laboratories that used radioactive materials or radiation emitting equipment. Over the next 16 years, he developed and directed the Division’s teaching programs for graduate and undergraduate students, residents, nurses, medical students and allied health personnel, and conducted grant-supported research in medical physics, radiology and radiation oncology. He was Program Director for the NCI supported Radiation Oncology Research Training Program, whose graduates have gone on to distinguished careers in academic medical physics.
During the period 1995-1999, Dr. Sternick was the Vice-President of Clinical Affairs for Nomos Corporation, the company that developed the first FDA approved hardware/software clinical system for the planning and delivery of Intensity Modulated Radiotherapy (IMRT), now standard-of-practice throughout the world. In this role, he advised the President and executive management on research and development issues and was responsible for international customer education and training, direction of core physics research and oversight of company funded extramural investigational grants awarded to academic medical center research affiliates. He designed and implemented the clinical validation studies required for FDA product approval and was appointed by that organization to a four-year term as the national Industry Representative on the Radiological Devices Review Panel of the Center for Devices and Radiological Health.
Dr. Sternick returned to Tufts Medical Center in 2002 as the Administrative Director of the Cancer Center. His responsibilities included strategic, financial and operational management of the Departments of Radiation Oncology and Hematology-Oncology, the Boston Gamma Knife Center, Breast Health Center, Clinical Trials, Nutritional and Social Services and the Tumor Registry.
In 2007, Dr. Sternick was named Medical Physicist-in-Chief, Professor and Vice Chair of Radiation Oncology at Rhode Island Hospital/ Brown University Medical School, while retaining his longstanding faculty appointment at Tufts University Medical School.
Education has always played an important role in Dr. Sternick’s work. He has been instrumental in the creation and teaching of numerous courses for physicians, medical physicists and allied health professionals. He was a co-founder of the Commission on Accreditation of Medical Physics Educational Programs (CAMPEP), the organization that accredits all medical physics graduate and residency training programs and continuing education courses in the U.S. and Canada. Because of his efforts to bring international standards medical physics practices to China, he was named Professor of Medical Physics (Hon.) at Guangzhou Medical School and has served as a Visiting Professor at Veterans General Hospital in Taipei, West China Medical University in Chengdu and Tsinghua University in Beijing.
For many years, Dr. Sternick has actively participated in professional activities of the American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM), the American College of Medical Physics (ACMP), the American College of Radiology (ACR), the American Board of Medical Physics (ABMP) and CAMPEP. He has been appointed to and/or chaired numerous committees and task groups in these organizations and served as President of AAPM, founding President of ABMP and a founding Director of CAMPEP.
Publications [Up to 15]:
- Hughes, M. and Sternick, E.S.: A Method for Obtaining Body Contours Using an Ultrasonic Scanner and Transverse Tomograms. Medical Physics 1:72-74, 1974.
- Sternick, E.S., Hughes, M., Hogan, R. and Goodhue, L.R.: External Beam Treatment Planning on a Timesharing Graphics Terminal. Radiology 110: 467-472, 1974.
- Sternick, E.S., Curran, B. and Hughes, M: Treatment Planning with a Graphic Tablet. Medical Physics 2:28-31, 1975.
- Sternick, E.S.: Computer Applications in Radiation Oncology, University Press of New England, Hanover, New Hampshire, 1976.
- Sternick, E.S., Lane, F.W. and Curran, B.: Comparison of Computed Tomography and Conventional Transverse Axial Tomography in Radiotherapy Treatment Planning. Radiology 124:835-836, 1977.
- Sternick, E.S., Berry, J.R., Curran, B. and Loomis, S.A.: Real-Time Computer Verification for Radiation Therapy Treatment Machines. Radiology 129:258-262, 1979.
- Wolbarst, A.B., Sternick, E.S., Curran, B.H., Kosinski, R.J. and Dritschilo, A.: Optimized Radiotherapy Treatment Planning Using the Complication Probability Factor (CPF). Int. J. Radiation Oncology, Biology, Physics 6:723-728, 1980.
- Sternick, E.S., and Schulz, R.: The New AAPM Protocol for the Determination of Absorbed Dose from High Energy Photon and Electron Beams. Int. J. Radiation Oncology Biol. Phys. 11:645-646, 1985.
- Sternick, E.S.: Systemic Hyperthermia. In: Webster, J.G., Ed., Encyclopedia of Medical Devices and Instrumentation, 1594-1599, John Wiley and Sons, New York, 1988.
- Wu, A., Ulin, K and Sternick, E.S.: A Dose Homogeneity Index for Evaluating Iridium-192 Interstitial Breast Implants. Medical Physics 15:104-107, 1988.
- Sternick, E.S.: Quantifying Quality: A Medical Physics Management Model. Admin. Radiol. 10:70-76, 1991.
- Sternick, E.S., Evans, R.G., Heitzman, E.R., Kereiakes, J.G., McCullough, E.C., Morin, R.L., Payne, J.T., Purdy, J.A. and Suntharalingam, N.: Essentials and Guidelines for Hospital Based Medical Physics Training Programs. AAPM Report No. 36, 1992.
- Sternick, E.S.: The Theory and Practice of Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy. Advanced Medical Publishing, Madison, Wisconsin, 1997.
- Sternick, E.S., Carol, M.P. and Grant, W.: Intensity Modulated Radiotherapy. In: Khan, F.M. and Potish, R.A., Eds. Treatment planning in Radiation Oncology, 187-213, Williams & Wilkins, Baltimore, 1998.
- Sternick, E.S.: The Role of Medical Physics in an Imaging Department. In: A.B. Wolbarst, Physics of Radiology (Second Edition), 38-41, Medical Physics Publishing, Madison, WI, 2005.
Awards:
- Marvin M.D. Williams Professional Achievement Award, American College of Medical Physics
- Fellow, American Association of Physicists in Medicine
- Fellow, American College of Medical Physics
- Fellow, American College of Radiology
- Commendation for Professional Leadership, New England Chapter, American Association of Physicists in Medicine
- Honorary Professor of Medical Physics, Guangzhou Medical College, China
- Society of Sigma Xi
American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM) Activities:
- Director, Placement Service
- Co-founder and President, New England Chapter
- 1981 Annual Meeting Local Arrangements Chairman
- Member-at-Large, Board of Directors
- President–Elect, President and Chairman of the Board
- Member and/or Chair of 39 Committees and Task Groups
Other Professional Organization Activities:
- American College of Medical Physics (ACMP) Activities:
- Chairman, Commission on Credentials
- Chairman, ABMP Coordinating Committee
- Member and/or Chairman of 12Committees and Task Groups
- American College of Radiology (ACR) Activities:
- Councilor, ACR Council
- Member and Chairman, Reference Committees, ACR Council
- Commission on Accreditation of Medical Physics Educational Programs (CAMPEP) Activities:
- Co-Founder and Director, Board of Directors
- American Board of Medical Physics (ABMP) Activities:
- Co-founder, President and Chairman of the Board
- Examiner in Radiation Oncology Physics and Medical Health Physics
- Consultant to the Board
- Society for Radiation Oncology Administrators (SROA):
- Member-at-Large, Board of Directors
- Chairman, 5th International Conference on the Use of Computers in Radiation Therapy
- Organizing Committees 6th, 7th, 8th, 11th, 12th, 14th International Conferences on the Use of Computers in Radiation Therapy
Civic Activities:
- Consultant for Non-Profit Institutions - Executive Service Corps of New England
- Past Executive Director - Spellman Museum of Stamps & Postal History
Avocations and Special Interests:
- Collecting postal history and memorabilia depicting the life and times of Daniel Webster
Family:
- Wife - Andrea B. Quigley
- Children – Heidi, Jennifer, Peter, Kim, Scott
- Grandchildren - Emma, Oliver, Nicholas, Paul, Drew, Jillian, Ashley, Dylan, Anabelle


