Hualin Zhang, PhD

Associate Professor of Clinical Radiation Oncology

Lead, Medical Physics Brachytherapy

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Overview

Hualin Zhang, Ph.D., DABR, FAAPM, is an Associate Professor in the Department of Radiation Oncology at the University of Southern California. Dr. Zhang completed his medical physics residency at the University of Kentucky in 2005. He got his Ph.D. from Lanzhou Institute of Physics of China.
Dr. Zhang’s research spans several innovative modalities, including spatially fractionated radiation therapy, MRI-guided low dose rate (LDR) and high dose rate (HDR) brachytherapy, and intraoperative radiation therapies using mesh and balloon-based systems.
Dr. Zhang has authored over 55 peer-reviewed articles and delivered more than 100 scientific presentations globally. He published the world’s first textbook on spatially fractionated radiation therapy in 2023, titled Spatially Fractionated, Microbeam, and Flash Radiation Therapy: A Physics and Multi-disciplinary Approach.nDr, Zhang has held numerous leadership roles, including co-Chair of the AAPM Task Group on Intraoperative Mesh Brachytherapy (TG-222), co-Chair of AAPM Task Group on Spatially Fractionated Radiation Therapy (TG-440), and Chair of the Physics Working Group of the RSS GRID/Lattice, Microbeam, and Flash Radiotherapy Working Groups.

Awards

  • American Association of Physicist in medicine: Fellow, 2024
  • Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine: Outstanding Teacher, 2017-2018

Publications

  • The Radiosurgery Society Working Groups on GRID, LATTICE, Microbeam, and FLASH Radiotherapies: Advancements Symposium and Subsequent Progress Made Pract Radiat Oncol. 2024 Oct 22. . View in PubMed
  • Dosimetric characterization for GRID collimator-based spatially fractionated radiation therapy: Dosimetric parameter acquisition and machine interchangeability investigation J Appl Clin Med Phys. 2024 Aug; 25(8):e14410. . View in PubMed
  • Optimizing GRID and Lattice Spatially Fractionated Radiation Therapy: Innovative Strategies for Radioresistant and Bulky Tumor Management Semin Radiat Oncol. 2024 Jul; 34(3):310-322. . View in PubMed
  • Which Modality of SFRT Should be Considered First for Bulky Tumor Radiation Therapy, GRID or LATTICE? Semin Radiat Oncol. 2024 Jul; 34(3):302-309.. View in PubMed
  • Overview and Recommendations for Prospective Multi-institutional Spatially Fractionated Radiation Therapy Clinical Trials Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 2024 Jul 01; 119(3):737-749. . View in PubMed
  • Intraoperative radiation therapy with 50 kV x-rays: A multi-institutional review J Appl Clin Med Phys. 2024 Mar; 25(3):e14272. . View in PubMed
  • Dosimetric Validation for Prospective Clinical Trial of GRID Collimator-Based Spatially Fractionated Radiation Therapy: Dose Metrics Consistency and Heterogeneous Pattern Reproducibility Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 2024 Feb 01; 118(2):565-573. . View in PubMed
  • Practice Patterns of Spatially Fractionated Radiation Therapy: A Clinical Practice Survey Adv Radiat Oncol. 2024 Feb; 9(2):101308. . View in PubMed
  • Immune Priming with Spatially Fractionated Radiation Therapy Curr Oncol Rep. 2023 12; 25(12):1483-1496. . View in PubMed
  • Hippocampal sparing radiation therapy for brain metastases: treatment techniques and clinical implementation Chin Clin Oncol. 2023 Oct; 12(5):56. . View in PubMed
  • Textbook Spatially FractionatedMicrobeam and FLASH Radiation Therapy- A Physics and Multidisciplinary Approach. 2023; 250. . View in PubMed
  • An International Consensus on the Design of Prospective Clinical-Translational Trials in Spatially Fractionated Radiation Therapy for Advanced Gynecologic Cancer Cancers (Basel). 2022 Aug 31; 14(17). . View in PubMed
  • An International Consensus on the Design of Prospective Clinical-Translational Trials in Spatially Fractionated Radiation Therapy Adv Radiat Oncol. 2022 Mar-Apr; 7(2):100866. . View in PubMed
  • A Dosimetric Parameter Reference Look-Up Table for GRID Collimator-Based Spatially Fractionated Radiation Therapy Cancers (Basel). 2022 Feb 18; 14(4). . View in PubMed
  • Recommendations for intraoperative mesh brachytherapy: Report of AAPM Task Group No222. Med Phys. 2021 Nov; 48(11):e969-e990. . View in PubMed
  • Photon GRID Radiation Therapy: A Physics and Dosimetry White Paper from the Radiosurgery Society (RSS) GRID/LATTICE, Microbeam and FLASH Radiotherapy Working Group Radiat Res. 2020 12 01; 194(6):665-677. . View in PubMed
  • The Technical and Clinical Implementation of LATTICE Radiation Therapy (LRT) Radiat Res. 2020 Dec 01; 194(6):737-746. . View in PubMed
  • Development of a gynecologic brachytherapy curriculum and simulation modules to improve radiation oncology trainees’ skills and confidence Brachytherapy. 2020 Nov – Dec; 19(6):732-737. . View in PubMed
  • A simple dosimetric approach to spatially fractionated GRID radiation therapy using the multileaf collimator for treatment of breast cancers in the prone position J Appl Clin Med Phys. 2020 Nov; 21(11):105-114. . View in PubMed
  • Clinical implementation, logistics and workflow guide for MRI image based interstitial HDR brachytherapy for gynecological cancers J Appl Clin Med Phys. 2019 Nov; 20(11):37-49. . View in PubMed
  • A feasibility study of using advanced external beam techniques to create a vaginal cuff brachytherapy-like endometrial boost plan Med Dosim. 2018 Spring; 43(1):30-38. . View in PubMed
  • Technical Note: Dosimetric impact of spherical applicator size in Intrabeam™ IORT for treating unicentric breast cancer lesions Med Phys. 2017 Dec; 44(12):6706-6714. . View in PubMed
  • Therapeutic analysis of Intrabeam-based intraoperative radiation therapy in the treatment of unicentric breast cancer lesions utilizing a spherical target volume model J Appl Clin Med Phys. 2017 Sep; 18(5):184-194. . View in PubMed
  • Dosimetric impact of cylinder size in high-dose rate vaginal cuff brachytherapy (VCBT) for primary endometrial cancer J Appl Clin Med Phys. 2016 09 08; 17(5):262-272. . View in PubMed
  • Development of a deformable dosimetric phantom to verify dose accumulation algorithms for adaptive radiotherapy J Med Phys. 2016 Apr-Jun; 41(2):106-14. . View in PubMed
  • Therapeutic analysis of high-dose-rate (192)Ir vaginal cuff brachytherapy for endometrial cancer using a cylindrical target volume model and varied cancer cell distributions Med Phys. 2016 Jan; 43(1):483. . View in PubMed
  • Dosimetric perturbations at high-Z interfaces with high dose rate (192)Ir source Phys Med. 2014 Nov; 30(7):782-90. . View in PubMed
  • Impact of dose size in single fraction spatially fractionated (grid) radiotherapy for melanoma Med Phys. 2014 Feb; 41(2):021727. . View in PubMed
  • A treatment planning approach to spatially fractionated megavoltage grid therapy for bulky lung cancer Med Dosim. 2014; 39(3):218-26. . View in PubMed
  • Dosimetric comparison between model 9011 and 6711 sources in prostate implants Med Dosim. 2013; 38(2):199-203. . View in PubMed
  • Evaluation of superficial dosimetry between treatment planning system and measurement for several breast cancer treatment techniques Med Phys. 2013 Jan; 40(1):011714. . View in PubMed
  • Comparison of 16 mm OSU-Nag and COMS eye plaques J Appl Clin Med Phys. 2012 May 10; 13(3):3632. . View in PubMed
  • Acta Oncol. 2010 Nov; 49(8):1269-75. . View in PubMed
  • A comprehensive dosimetric comparison between (131)Cs and (125)I brachytherapy sources for COMS eye plaque implant Brachytherapy. 2010 Oct-Dec; 9(4):362-72. . View in PubMed
  • Longitudinal changes in tumor perfusion pattern during the radiation therapy course and its clinical impact in cervical cancer Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 2010 Jun 01; 77(2):502-8. . View in PubMed
  • Predicting outcomes in cervical cancer: a kinetic model of tumor regression during radiation therapy Cancer Res. 2010 Jan 15; 70(2):463-70. . View in PubMed
  • Dosimetric characterization of model Cs-1 Rev2 cesium-131 brachytherapy source in water phantoms and human tissues with MCNP5 Monte Carlo simulation Med Phys. 2008 Apr; 35(4):1571-9. . View in PubMed
  • Fractionated grid therapy in treating cervical cancers: conventional fractionation or hypofractionation? Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 2008 Jan 01; 70(1):280-8.. View in PubMed
  • Dosimetric validation of the MCNPX Monte Carlo simulation for radiobiologic studies of megavoltage grid radiotherapy Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 2006 Dec 01; 66(5):1576-83. . View in PubMed
  • Tumor imaging: radiation oncology perspective Top Magn Reson Imaging. 2006 Apr; 17(2):117-9. . View in PubMed
  • Dose verification with Monte Carlo technique for prostate brachytherapy implants with (125)I sources Med Dosim. 2005; 30(2):85-91. . View in PubMed
  • Theoretical and experimental determination of dosimetric characteristics for brachyseed Pd-103, model Pd-1, source Appl Radiat Isot. 2003 May; 58(5):533-41. . View in PubMed
  • Experimental and theoretical determination of dosimetric characteristics of IsoAid ADVANTAGE 125I brachytherapy source Med Phys. 2002 Sep; 29(9):2152-8. . View in PubMed