Duke University Medical Physics Graduate Program

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Duke University Medical Physics Graduate Program

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The Duke University Medical Physics Graduate Program is a CAMPEP accredited, interdisciplinary program sponsored by five departments: Radiology, Radiation Oncology, Physics, Biomedical Engineering, and Medical Health Physics. Degrees Offered
- MS
- PhD

Academic Tracks
- Diagnostic Imaging
- Radiation Therapy
- Nuclear Medicine
- Health Physics

We offer a number of opportunities for research training, including an NIH training grant for PhD students and a thesis option for MS students. We also offer an optional summer clinical internship for MS students interested in additional clinical training.

12/12/2025

We are pleased to announce that Dr. Irina Vergalasova (Duke Medical Physics PhD, 2013) has been selected as the recipient of the Duke Medical Physics Graduate Program Distinguished Alumni Award. Dr. Vergalasova is an Associate Professor in the Department of Radiation Oncology at Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey, Director of Brachytherapy Physics, Director of the Medical Physics Certificate Program, and Associate Director of the Medical Physics Residency Program. A founding member and first President of DUMPAA and current Secretary of the SDAMPP Executive Committee, she exemplifies leadership, innovation, and service in medical physics. Read More: https://medicalphysics.duke.edu/news/duke-medical-physics-graduate-program-honors-dr-irina-vergalasova-with-distinguished-alumni-award/

11/22/2025

Congratulations on successfully defending your PhD thesis, Trevor McKeown, PhD (Advisor: Deshan Yang, PhD), on November 21, 2025, titled: “Computationally Efficient Method for Estimating of the Impact of Cardiorespiratory Motion on Patients Undergoing Stereotactic Arrhythmia Radioablation.” Dr. McKeown’s research focused on estimating the impact of cardiorespiratory motion on delivered dose during stereotactic arrhythmia radiotherapy. Congratulations on this significant milestone!

11/19/2025

It is with pleasure that we share the news of Mridul Bhattarai, PhD (Advisor: Ehsan Samei, PhD), successfully defending their Doctoral Dissertation titled " In silico Modeling, Optimization, and Harmonization of Photon-Counting Detector Computed Tomography" on November 18, 2025. Dr. Bhattarai’s study focused on developing and validating a Monte Carlo–analytical hybrid model to characterize signal generation in photon-counting CT detectors, and on optimizing energy settings and harmonizing spectral images across in silico CdTe-, CZT-, and Si-based PCD-CT systems.

10/17/2025

This week the Duke Medical Physics Program had the honor of welcoming Dr. Mahadevappa Mahesh as a guest speaker at our weekly seminar presentations. Both students and faculty had the opportunity to ask questions and participate in meaningful discussions with the current AAPM president. Thank you Dr.Mahesh for sharing your wonderful thoughts, insights and ideas for promoting the advancement of Medical Physics!
https://medicalphysics.duke.edu/

09/18/2025

Canoeing, hiking, early morning runs, s’mores and Dr. Oldham’s amazing telescope! These are all some things that made this year’s Graduate Program Fall Retreat so amazing!
Thank you to all of the students, faculty and staff whose participation made this trip so wonderful!

09/02/2025

Duke Medical Physics is proud to welcome our 18 Master's and 4 PhD students to the program! A welcoming reception was held last week to celebrate the connections, inspiration and excitement for their academic journey ahead! 🌟

05/19/2025

🎓 Congratulations to the Class of 2025! 🎉

We had a wonderful time celebrating our graduates at the May 10 Awards and Diplomas Ceremony at the Washington Duke Inn!

🎓✨ The Program Director congratulated the Duke Medical Physics Class of 2025, calling them "new stars forming in a galaxy"—ready to shine in the field with their blend of science and clinical skill.

🌟 Ph.D. graduate Zach Gude reflected on growth, resilience, and the power of community. He thanked mentors, peers, and family, and encouraged grads to stay curious and innovative.

Students and faculty were honored with awards, diplomas were presented, memories were shared in a heartfelt slideshow, and we capped it all off with a festive lunch.

We’re so proud of everything this incredible class has accomplished and can’t wait to see what they do next. 💫 Read more: https://medicalphysics.duke.edu/news/celebrating-the-class-of-2025/

04/29/2025

🎓 Medical Physics Graduate Program Hosts Annual Research Symposium 🧪
On April 25, 2025, we proudly held our 2025 Research Symposium — an inspiring day of innovation, collaboration, and academic excellence!
With 40 research posters on display, students and faculty came together to showcase cutting-edge work across medical physics.
🗣️ “It was the best Research Symposium we’ve had in the program, with lots of engagement and thoughtful discussion,” said Program Director Mark Oldham, PhD. “It’s inspiring to see our students share and present their work.”
🏆 We’re excited to congratulate this year’s PhD and MS Poster Award Winners — your hard work and creativity truly stood out!
👏 Thank you to all who participated and helped make this event a success. The future of medical physics is brighter than ever!
Read more here: https://medicalphysics.duke.edu/news/medical-physics-graduate-program-hosts-annual-research-symposium/

04/17/2025

We are delighted to congratulate Eduardo Antonio Cisternas Jimenez, PhD (advised by Dr. Fang Fang Yin and Dr. Mark Oldham), on the successful defense of his PhD dissertation titled, “Investigation of automatic treatment planning (ATP) optimization using an Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy AI system” on April 17, 2025. ANFIS (Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Inference System) is important for IMRT (Intensity-Modulated Radiation Therapy) because it combines human-like reasoning with data-driven learning to optimize treatment planning. It replicates the decision-making of expert planners, reducing variability between plans while improving consistency and quality. By predicting optimal planning parameters, ANFIS streamlines the planning process, saving time and supporting automation. This makes it a powerful tool for enhancing the efficiency, accuracy, and personalization of radiation therapy. Please join us in celebrating this significant academic achievement!

04/02/2025

We’re excited to announce that all 13 students (10 MS and 3 PhD) from Duke's Medical Physics Graduate Program who applied for residencies have successfully matched to top-tier programs across the country!
The 2025 class of MS and PhD candidates has demonstrated exceptional talent, securing placements at renowned hospitals and institutions specializing in radiation therapy (RT) and diagnostic imaging (DI). Read more: https://medicalphysics.duke.edu/news/duke-medical-physics-graduate-students-success-with-100-residency-match/

04/02/2025

Ethan Malin, MS (Advisor: Dr. Paul Segars), has successfully defended his thesis, “Generation of a library of clinically relevant virtual heart models for virtual cardiac imaging research” on April 02, 2025. Ethan Malin's research focused on developing a library of virtual heart models that represent the anatomic and dynamic variability of a real clinical cohort for future application to virtual cardiac imaging trials. Please join us in congratulating Ethan on this remarkable academic achievement!

04/01/2025

We are thrilled to announce that Xiwen Shu, MS, has successfully defended her Master’s thesis titled “Knowledge-Based Deep Residual U-Net for Synthetic CT Generation Using a Single MR Volume for Frameless Radiosurgery” with Dr. Chunhao Wang as her advisor. This accomplishment marks an important achievement in her academic career. Xiwen Shu’s research focuses on developing deep learning methods to optimize radiotherapy. Her recent work involves developing a knowledge based deep residual U-net for generating synthetic CT images from a single MR volume to streamline frameless radiosurgery. Congratulations, Xiwen!

Address

2424 Erwin Road, Ste 101
Durham, NC
27705

Telephone

(919) 684-1400

Website

http://medicalphysics.duke.edu/

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