Master of Medical Physics Program Course Faculty

The following professors teach various medical physics courses in the Penn LPS Master of Medical Physics graduate program.

Stephen Avery, PhD: Dr. Avery is the director of the Master of Medical Physics program and an Assistant Professor of Radiation Oncology at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. He is certified by the American Board of Radiology in Therapeutic Radiological Physics. He holds a BS in Physics from Millersville University and an MS and PhD in Experimental Nuclear Physics from Hampton University. Dr. Avery teaches MMP 507: Physics of Medical Imaging.

Stefan Both, PhD: Dr. Both is an Assistant Professor of Clinical Radiation Oncology in the Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Pennsylvania.  He is certified by the American Board of Radiology.  He hold an MS in Physics from Babes-Bolyai University, Cluj, Romania and a PhD from Babes-Bolyai University, Cluj, Romania.  Dr.Both is the Director of the Medical Physics Residency Program, and is a clinical practicum mentor.

Nadia Dahmane, PhD: Dr. Dahmane is an Assistant Professor at The Wistar Institute and Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Department of Cell and Developmental Biology. She holds a BS in Biology and an MS in Biochemistry/Cell Biology from the University of Rouen, France and a PhD in Biology of Aging/Human Genetics from the University of Paris, France. Dr. Dahmane teaches BMB 585: Cancer Cell Biology.

Jarod Finlay, PhD: Dr. Finlay is an Assistant Professor of Radiation Oncology at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and a Medical Physicist in the Department of Radiation Oncology of the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. He is certified by the American Board of Radiology and his research interests include photodynamic theory. Dr. Finlay holds a BA in Physics and Math from Alfred University and an MA and PhD in Physics from the University of Rochester. He teaches MMP 506: Physics of Radiation Therapy.

Randall Kamien, PhD: Dr. Kamien is the Vicki and William Abrams Professor in the Natural Sciences and Professor of Physics in the Physics and Astronomy Department. His research centers on problems in condensed matter theory, and is currently exploring problems in liquid crystals, foams, soft self-assembly and biological physics. He holds a BS and MS from the California Institute of Technology and a PhD from Harvard University. Dr. Kamien teaches PHYS 500: Mathematical Methods.

Costas Koumenis, PhD: Dr. Koumenis is an Associate Professor of Radiation Oncology at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. His research is in the field of tumor biology. Dr. Koumenis holds a BS in Pharmacy from Aristotle University, Greece and a PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Houston. Dr. Koumenis teaches MMP 512: Radiation Biology.

Andrew Maidment, PhD, FAAPM: Dr. Maidment is an Associate Professor of Radiology at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and Chief, Physics Section, Department of Radiology, University of Pennsylvania.  He is certified by the American Board of Radiology in Diagnostic Physics.  He holds a BASc (Engineering Science) from the University of Toronto and a PhD (Medical Biophysics) from the University of Toronto.  Dr. Maidment teaches MMP 507: Physics of Medical Imaging.

Eugene Mele, PhD: Dr. Mele is a Professor of Physics in the Physics and Astronomy Department. He is a condensed matter theorist specializing in electronic phenomena in low dimensional systems, including conducting polymers, crystal surfaces, fullerenes, carbon nanotubes and graphenes. He holds a BS in Physics from St. Joseph’s University and a PhD from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dr. Mele teaches PHYS 562: Electromagnetism I and PHYS 562: Electromagnetism II.

Philip Nelson, PhD: Dr. Nelson is a Professor of Physics in the Physics and Astronomy Department. He is currently studying the physics of artificial biomembranes, biopolymers such as DNA, and other “soft” condensed matter systems. He holds an AB in Physics from Princeton University and an AM and PhD in Physics from Harvard University. Dr. Nelson teaches PHYS 516: Electromagnetic Phenomena.

Burt Ovrut, PhD: Dr. Ovrut is a Professor of Physics in the Physics and Astronomy Department. His primary research interests are in the areas of Superstrings and M-Theory, Cosmology and the geometry of Superstrings. He holds a PhD in Physics from the University of Chicago. Dr. Ovrut teaches PHYS 516: Electromagnetic Phenomena.

Kate Spillane, PhD: Dr. Spillane is the former director of the Master of Medical Physics Program, and is now Senior Physicist and Clinical Director of Satellite Facilities for the University of Pennsylvania Health System. She is also an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy. Dr. Spillane is certified by the American Board of Radiology in Therapeutic Radiological Physics. She holds a BS in Physics from Ursinus College and an MS in Health Physics with Medical Physics Option and PhD in Nuclear Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology. Dr. Spillane teaches MMP 501: Introduction to Radiation Protection and MMP 502: Medical Ethics/Governmental Regulation.

Diana Stripp, MD: Dr. Stripp is a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Radiation Oncology at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. She holds a BA from Lake Erie College and attended medical school at the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School at the University of Medicine and Dentistry (UMDNJ) of New Jersey. Dr. Stripp was an intern at the UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital and completed her residency in radiation oncology at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. She is board certified in radiation oncology by the American Board of Radiology. Dr. Stripp teaches MMP 511: Image-Based Anatomy.

Mark Trodden, PhD: Dr. Trodden is a Professor of Physics in the Department of Physics and Astronomy. His research includes mapping out the space of viable models of the accelerating universe. Dr. Trodden holds an MA from Cambridge University, England and an MS and PhD from Brown University. He teaches PHYS 500: Mathematical Methods.

Andrew Tsourkas, PhD: Dr. Tsourkas is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Bioengineering and an Assistant Professor of Radiology in Bioengineering in the Department of Radiology. He is also an active member of the Institute for Medicine and Engineering (IME) and the Institute for Translational Medicine and Therapeutics (ITMAT), both at the University of Pennsylvania. He holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Cornell University, an MS in Mechanical Engineering from The Johns Hopkins University and a PhD in Biomedical Engineering through a joint program at the Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University. Dr. Tsourkas teaches BE 583: Molecular Imaging.

Timothy Zhu, PhD: Dr. Zhu is an Associate Professor of Radiation Oncology at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. He is certified by the American Board of Radiology in Radiation Oncology Physics. Dr. Zhu holds a BS in Electronic Engineering from Fudan University, China, and an MS in Physics, MS in Engineering and a PhD in Physics from Brown University. His research interests include external beam photon radiation transport, photodynamic therapy physics, in vivo diode dosimetry and real time dose calculation for IGRT. Dr. Zhu teaches PHYS 582: Medical Radiation Engineering.