Andrew Jirasek

Associate Dean, Professor

Medical Physics, Analytics in Medical Sciences (AiMs) Institute
Other Titles: Associate Dean - Graduate and Postdoctoral Training, Director - AiMS Institute
Office: ASC 354
Phone: 250.807.8812
Email: andrew.jirasek@ubc.ca

Graduate student supervisor


Research Summary

Medical physics; radiation oncology physics; Raman spectroscopy; 3D radiation dosimetry.

Courses & Teaching

Medical physics; quantum mechanics; data and image processing.

Websites

Analytics in Medical Sciences Institute (AiMS) 

Degrees

PhD, Physics, University of British Columbia
MSc, Physics, University of Guelph
BSc, Physics, University of Calgary

Research Interests & Projects

Raman spectroscopy for assessing biological response to radiotherapy
In radiation therapy, standard radiation doses have been empirically determined and are delivered without consideration of in vivo disease response. There exists no accepted imaging or serologic marker proven useful for assessing radio-response during the course of therapy. Our research program involves the investigation of Raman spectroscopic methods for understanding, predicting, and monitoring the response of biological systems to ionizing radiation that is typically used in radiotherapy. The program is a collaborative effort with BC Cancer and encompasses  physics, chemistry, biology, data analytics, engineering, and radiation oncology. Example research areas include, but are not limited to: 

  • Understanding cellular and tissue response to radiotherapy using Raman spectroscopy, augmentative bio-assays, and data analytic techniques for applications in predictive oncology.
  • The development of Raman-based multi-modality analytical models for predictive oncology.
  • Automation of Raman spectral processing using data analytic methodologies

Three dimensional radiation dosimetry
Currently, the advent of complex radiotherapy treatments such as volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT) has outpaced developments in radiation dosimeters capable in measuring radiation dose in 3D and with high spatial and dosimetric accuracy and precision. Our research program involves the development and application of radiosensitive polymer gel dosimeters for use in radiotherapy dose verification. The program is a collaborative effort with BC Cancer and encompasses physics, oncology, data analytics, and engineering. Typical research areas include, but are not limited to: 

  • Development of high dose-sensitivity polymer gel dosimeters for use with x-ray CT imaging for dose information extraction.
  • Characterization of the accuracy and precision of x-ray CT polymer gel dosimetry.
  • Development of fan-beam optical CT scanning for dose information extraction from irradiated 3D dosimeters.
  • Application of polymer gel dosimetry to “end-to-end” dosimetry. 

 

Current Lab Members

Graduate students and researchers working in the Medical Physics Laboratory

Project/Research:
Madelyn Kaban MSc Student Raman spectroscopy for predictive oncology
Matthew Muscat PhD Student Dose mapping for Raman spectroscopic applications
Sandra Popescu PhD Student Correlation of Raman spectroscopy and immune response for radiation oncology applications
Mitch Wiebe PhD Student Development of multi-modality models for predictive oncology
Greg Warren MSc Student 3D dose verification using polymer gel dosimetry
Palak Goya Postdoctoral Scholar Correlation of stimulated Raman and normal Raman spectroscopy for applications in disease diagnosis

 

Selected Publications & Presentations

Google Scholar

 

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