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Dr. Osborne's Collaborative Research Wins Seed Funding

A team of researchers from Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), ProNova, and the University of Tennessee’s Graduate School of Medicine have won a $100,000 seed funding award that is part of a larger NIH funded CTSA project, including the Georgetown School of Medicine. This award will be used to develop early publications and feasibility testing of multiple motion correction technologies that can be used to improve proton therapy targeting in the presence of motion. This work will examine multiple imaging modalities combined with multiple internal and external tracking technologies, all coupled with patient motion simulation to provide accurate assessment of patient motion during proton therapy. Funding for this project will be used to cover student and materials cost to perform this early assessment work which will be used in larger grant submissions.

Funds allocated to the UT Graduate School of Medicine are funding a Computer Science Ph.D. candidate, Tasmia Tumpa, in the Molecular Imaging and Translational Research Program (MITRP). Tumpa is working with Dustin Osborne, PhD, Assistant Professor of MITRP, to focus on the further development of patent-pending tracking technologies developed by the MITRP, as well as technologies being developed in conjunction with other consortium collaborators. The primary goal is to create clinically useful, real-time methods of assessment for proton therapy planning and delivery. As part of this work, Tumpa's unique educational experience combines aspects of imaging and therapy across multiple institutions and imaging systems.

Posted February 15, 2017