Our Team

Dr. Jessica Scholey is an Assistant Professor, Physics Director of the MRI Simulation Program, and Physics Lead of the Proton Ocular Program in the Department of Radiation Oncology at the University of California, San Francisco. She received her BA in Physics from UC Berkeley and went on to receive her MSc and clinical residency training in medical physics from The University of Pennsylvania. Upon completion of her clinical training and ABR certification, she received her PhD from the Joint UC Berkeley-UCSF Bioengineering Program. She joined the faculty in 2017 and focuses on radiation oncology applications of MRI, proton therapy, and deep learning using medical imaging. Dr. Scholey leads the educational curriculum of MRI and proton therapy in the Department of Radiation Oncology and is an active member of the American Association of Physicists in Medicine, International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, Particle Therapy Co-Operative Group, and the UCSF Center for Intelligent Imaging.

MRI Simulation

Dr. Scholey’s clinical expertise and research focuses includes the application of MRI technology to Radiation Oncology, with particular focuses on MR-only treatment planning, motion-resolved MRI, and treatment planning integration.

• MRI-only treatment planning of photon and proton radiotherapy
  • Applications of MRI in radiotherapy have increased significantly over the past decade due to the high level of soft tissue provided, often allowing for better visualization of tumors and organs at risk versus computed tomography (CT). Our group focuses on using advanced MR imaging methods to improve dose calculation accuracy through improved estimations of electron density (for photon radiotherapy) and stopping power ratio (for proton radiotherapy). Our approaches include both sequence- and deep learning-based techniques.
• AI-targeted radiotherapy
  • Deep learning has been used for classifying tumors in a range of medical imaging modalities. Our group is developing deep learning models to predict prostate cancer maps from MRI and integrating these maps into radiotherapy treatment plans to deliver more targeted therapy to regions identified as high risk for aggressive cancer. We hope this strategy will allow for patient-individualized treatment using AI-driven technology that can provide uniformity of care accessible to both academic institutions and community hospitals.
• Respiratory motion-resolved 4D MRI for tumors in the abdomen
  • Accurately accounting for tumor motion during radiotherapy delivery is critical when treating tumors that move with respiration, such as those in the abdomen and thorax. Respiratory-resolved MRI (4D MRI) has shown great promise for liver and pancreas tumors due to the superior soft tissue contrast relative to CT. Our group has developed and implemented 4D MRI protocols for patients treated with stereotactic body radiation to lesions within the abdomen.

Proton Therapy

Dr. Scholey’s clinical expertise includes treatment planning, quality assurance, and delivery of proton beam radiation to treat malignant and benign conditions of the eye. She is the Lead Physicist for the Ocular Proton Program, a collaborative program between clinicians, physicists, and engineers between the Department of Radiation Oncology at UCSF and Crocker National Laboratory at UC Davis. With an almost thirty-year history of treating patients on the cyclotron at the UC Davis Crocker National Lab. Research studies are focused on clinical outcomes and novel methods for reducing proton beam range uncertainty and improving quality assurance.

Redefining Possible