• Publications
• Experience
• About

Professional Focus

Dr. Chuang is the primary physicist responsible for treatment planning, quality assurance and supervision of daily Cyberknife treatments. She also shares the responsibility of overseeing and planning for IMRT treatments, as well as planning and treatment for HDR Brachytherapy when needed.

Her main research interest involves the study of patient motion using on-line imaging, including intra- and inter-fractional patient motion for head and neck IMRT treatment, and more recently, respiratory motion and its effects on treatments of lung and liver cancers. She has also been involved heavily in investigation and implementation of various new technologies for clinical quality assurance, such as the use of MOSFET for routine IMRT QA measurements, Computed Radiography (CR) system for daily portal imaging, and calibration of amorphous silicon electronic portal imaging for exit beam dosimetry. She is currently investigating the CIRS Dynamic Motion Anthropomorphic Phantom for quality assurance testing of respiratory tracking/compensated radiation treatments. She is also in the process of facilitating a research collaboration with Calypso Medical Technologies, Inc., to study the feasibility of using its invention for respiratory gated radiotherapy on Siemens linear accelerators.

Education

1986-1990	Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA	BS	Electrical Engineering
1990-1992	University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA	MS	Bioengineering
1992-1994	Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA	MS	Nuclear Engineering
1994-1999	Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA	PhD	Nuclear Engineering
1999-2001	Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, CA	Post-Doctoral Research Fellow	Peregrine Project
1999-2002	University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA	Medical Physics Resident	Department of Radiation Oncology

Certification

06/2006

Therapeutic Physics. American Board of Radiology

Professional Experience

07/05-present	UCSF	Assistant Adjunct Professor	Radiation Oncology
10/02-06/05	UCSF	Clinical Instructor	Radiation Oncology

Awards & Honors

1998	The Fairchild Award for Young Researchers, International Society for Neutron Capture Therapy
2004	AAPM Travel Grant Award, The American Association of Physicists in Medicine

Publications

C. L. Hartmann Siantar, R. S. Walling, T. P. Daly, B. Faddegon, N. Albright, P. Bergstrom, A. F. Bielajew, C. Chuang, D. Garrett, R. K. House, D. Knapp, D.J. Weiczoreck, L. J.Verhey. Description and dosimetric verification of the Peregrine Monte Carlo dose calculation system for photon beams incident on a water phantom. Med. Phys. 28 (7), 1322-1337, 2001.

P. Xia, C. Chuang, L.J. Verhey. Communication and sampling rate Limitations in IMRT delivery using a dynamic multi-leaf collimator system. Med. Phys. 29 (3), 412-423, 2002.

N. Lee, C. Chuang, J.M. Quivey, T.L. Phillips, P. Akazawa, L.J. Verhey, P. Xia. Skin toxicity due to intensity-modulated radiation therapy for the treatment of head and neck carcinoma. Int. J. Radiat. Oncol. Biol. Phys. 53 (3), 630-637, 2002.

C. Chuang, L.J. Verhey, P. Xia. Investigation of the use of MOSFET for clinical IMRT dosimetric verification. Med. Phys. 29 (6), 1109-1115, 2002.

P.M. Busse, O.K. Harling, M. R. Palmer, W. S. Kiger III, J.Kaplan, I. Kaplan, C. F. Chuang, J. T.Goorley, K. J. Riley, T. D. Newton, G. A. Santa Cruz, R.G. Zamenhof. A critical examination of the results from the Harvard-MIT NCT program phase I clinical trial on neutron capture therapy for intracranial disease. Journal of Neuro-Oncology. 62 (1-2), 111-121, 2003.

J. Chen, C. F. Chuang, O. Morin, M. Aubin, J. Pouliot. Calibration of an amorphous-silicon flat panel portal imager for exit-beam dosimetry. Med. Phys. 33 (3), 584-594, 2006.

P. L. Petti, C. F. Chuang, V. Smith, D. A. Larson. Peripheral Doses in CyberKnife Radiosurgery. Med. Phys. 33 (6), 1770-1779, 2006.

I. Park, G. Tamai, M. C. Lee, C. F. Chuang, S. M. Chang, M.S. Berger, S.J. Nelson, A. Pirzkall, Patterns of Recurrence Analysis in Newly Diagnosed Glioblastoma Multiforme after Three-Dimensional Conformal Radiation Therapy with respect to Pre-Radiation Therapy Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopic Findings, Int. J. Radiat. Oncol. Biol. Phys. 69(2), 381-389, 2007.

A. Zytkovicz, I. Daftari, T. L. Phillips, C. F. Chuang, L. Verhey, P. L. Petti, Peripheral Dose in Ocular Treatment with CyberknKinife and Gamma Knife radiosurgery compared to Proton Radiotherapy, Phys. Med. Biol. 52 (19), 5957-5971, 2007.

C. F. Chuang, A. Chan, D. Larson, L. Verhey, M. McDermott, S. Nelson, A. Pirzkall, Potential Value of MR Spectroscopic Imaging for the Radiosurgical Management of Patients with Recurrent High-Grade Gliomas, Technology in Cancer Research & Treatment. 6 (5), 375-382, 2007.

C. F. Chuang, A. Sahgal, L. Lee, D. Larson, K. Huang, P. Petti, L. Verhey, L. Ma, Effects of Residual Target Motion Errors for Imaging Tracked Robotic Hypofractionated Radiotherapy Delivery, Med. Phys. 34 (11), 4484-4490, 2007.

L. Ma, D. Larson, P. Petti, C. Chuang, L. Verhey, Boosting Central Target Dose by Optimizing Embedded Dose Hot Spots for Gamma Knife Radiosurgery, Stereotact Funct Neurosurg. 85 (6), 259-263, 2007.

A. Sahgal, D. Chou, C. Ames, L. Ma, K. Lamborn, K. Huang, C. F. Chuang, A. Aiken, P. Petti, P. Weinstein, D. Larson, Image-Guided Robotic Stereotactic Body Radiotherapy for Benign Spinal Tumors: the University of California San Francisco Preliminary Experience, Technology in Cancer Research & Treatment. 6 (6), 595-604, 2007. 

A. Sahgal, C. Chuang, D. Larson, K. Huang, P. Petti, P. Weinstein, L. Ma, Split-Volume Treatment Planning of Multiple Consecutive Vertebral Body Metastases for Cyberknife Image-Guided Robotic Radiosurgery, Medical Dosimetry. 33 (3), 175-179, 2008. 

C. F. Chuang, D. A. Larson, A. Zytovicz, V. Smith, P. L. Petti, Peripheral Dose Measurement for CyberKnife Radiosurgery with Upgraded Linac Shielding, Medical Phys. 35 (4), 1494-1496, 2008.

K. Huang, P. Xia, C. Chuang, V. Weinberg, C. Glatsonbury, D. Eisele, N. Lee, S. Yom, T. Phillips, J. Quivery, Intensity-Modulated Chemoradiation for Treatment of Stage III and IV Oropharyngeal Carcinoma: The University of California-San Francisco Experience, Cancer. 113 (3), 497-507, 2008.

S. Hossain, P. Xia, C. Chuang, A. Gottschalk, G. Mu, L. Verhey and L. Ma, Simulated Real Time Image Guided Intra-Fraction Tracking Delivery for Hypofractionated Prostate IMRT, Medical Phys. 35 (9), 4041-4048, 2008.

L. Ma, C. Chuang, M. Descovich, P. Petti, V. Smith and L. Verhey, Whole-procedure accuracy of Gamma Knife treatments of large lesions, Medical Phys. in press, 2008.

A. Sahgal, L. Ma, C. Chuang, S. Hossain, P. Petti, D. Larson, D. Shrieve, Comparisons of Novalis and Cyberknife Spinal Stereotactic Body Radiotherapy Treatment Planning Based on Physical and Biologic Modelling Parameters, Radiosurgery, in press 2008.

L. Ma, A. Sahgal, C. Chuang, M. Descovich, P. Petti, V. Smith, L. Verhey, N. Barbaro, M. McDermott, K. Huang, J. Nakamura, P. Sneed, D. Larson, Functional Relationship Between the Volume of a Near-Target Peripheral Isodose Line and its Isodose Value for Gamma Knife Radiosurgery, Radiosurgery, in press 2008.

L. Ma, L. Verhey, M. McDermott, K. Huang, C. Chuang, V. Smith and P. Sneed, Effect of Composite Sector Collimation on Average Dose Fall-off for Gamma Knife Perfexion, J. Neurosurgery, in press, 2008.

A. Sahgal, C. Ames, D. Chou, L. Ma, K. Huang, W. Xu, V. Weinberg, C. Chin, C. Chuang, P. Weinstein, D. Larson, Stereotactic Body Radiosurgery is Effective Salvage Therapy for Patients with Prior Radiation of Spinal Metastases, Int. J. of Rad. Oncol. Biol. Phys. accepted, 2008.