Dr. Stern is a medical physicist with broad clinical interest in radiation oncology treatment and treatment planning. While supporting all treatment modalities, she specializes in brachy therapy, both high-dose-rate CHDRJ and low-dose-rate CLDRJ, and intra-cranial and body stereotactic treatment using both Gamma Knife and linear accelerator systems. She is particularly interested in improving patient safety through the use of quality assurance/quality control/quality improvement tools and methodologies.

Title:

Professor, Chief Clinical Physicist

Specialty:

Radiation Oncology, Cancer

Center/Program Affiliation:

UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center

Address:

UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center
4501 X St.
Sacramento, CA 95817

Education:

University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Ph.D. 1987

University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, Michigan
M.S. 1984

Rice University
Houston, Texas
B.A. 1981

Fellowships:

University of Michigan
Ann Arbor , Michigan
1989-1991
Radiation Oncology

Duke University
Durham, North Carolina
1987-1989
Radiology

Board Certifications:

American Board of Radiology, 1997

Professional Memberships:

American Association of Physicists in Medicine
American College of Radiology
American Society of Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology
San Francisco Bay Area Chapter, American Association of Physicists in Medicine

Honors and Awards:

Fellow, American Association of Physicists in Medicine, 2007
Who's Who in America, 2005
Sigma Pi Sigma, 1981
Phi Beta Kappa, 1981
National Merit Scholar, 1977-1981

Select Recent Publications:

Stern RL, Heaton R, Fraser MW, Goddu SM, Kirby TH, Lam KL, Molineu A, Zhu TC; AAPM Task Group 114. Verification of monitor unit calculations for non-IMRT clinical radiotherapy: report of AAPM Task Group 114. Med Phys. 2011 Jan;38(1):504-30.

Perks JR, Stanic S, Stern RL, Henk B, Nelson MS, Harse RD, Mathai M, Purdy JA, Valicenti RK, Siefkin AD, Chen AM. Failure Mode and Effect Analysis for Delivery of Lung Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 2011 Dec 22. [Epub ahead of print]

Stern RL, Liu T. Dwell position inaccuracy in the Varian GammaMed HDR ring applicator. J Appl Clin Med Phys. 2010 Sep 7;11(4):3158.

Siochi RA, Balter P, Bloch CD, Bushe HS, Mayo CS, Curran BH, Feng W, Kagadis GC, Kirby TH, Stern RL. Information technology resource management in radiation oncology. J Appl Clin Med Phys. 2009 Sep 2;10(4):3116.

Stern RL, Perks JR, Pappas CT, Boggan JE, Chen AY. The option of linac-based radiosurgery in a Gamma Knife radiosurgery center. Clin Neurol Neurosurg, 110: 968-972. 2008.

Perks JR, Lehmann J, Chen AM, Yang CC, Stern RL, Purdy JA Comparison of peripheral dose from image-guided radiation therapy (IGRT) using kV cone beam CT to intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT). Radiother Oncology, 89: 304-310. 2008.

Berglund SR, Rocke DM, Dai J, Schwietert CW, Santana A, Stern RL, Lehmann J, Hartmann Siantar CL, Goldberg Z. Transient genome-wide transcriptional response to low-dose ionizing radiation in vivo in humans. 70(1): 229-234. 2008.

Luo, C., Yang, C.L., Narayan, S., Stern, R.L., Perks, J., Goldberg, Z., Ryu, J., Purdy, J.A, Vijayakumar, S. Use of benchmark DVHs for the selection of the optimal technique between 3D-CRT and IMRT in prostate cancer. International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology, Physics. International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology, Physics, 66(4): 1253-1262. 2006.

J. Lehmann, R.L. Stern, T.P. Daly, D.M. Rocke, C.W. Schwietert, G.E. Jones, M.L. Arnold, C. Hartmann Siantar, and Z. Goldberg. Dosimetry for quantitative analysis of the effects of low-dose ionizing radiation in radiation therapy patients. Radiation Research, 165(2): 240-247. 2006.

A.W. Lightstone, S.H. Benedict, F.J. Bova, T.D. Solberg, R.L. Stern. Intracranial Stereotactic Positioning Systems: Report of the American Association of Physicists in Medicine Radiation Therapy Committee Task Group No. 68. Med Phys, 32: 2380-2398. 2005.