2022 Promotions Announcement

We are delighted to formally announce the successful promotion of our UTDRO faculty for the current academic cycle!

Full Professor

• Dr. Lawrence Paszat
• Dr. Patrick Cheung

Associate Professor

• Dr. Elizabeth Barnes
• Dr. Alejandro Berlin
• Dr. John Cho
• Dr. Sten Myrehaug
• Dr. Ian Poon
• Dr. Arman Sarfehnia
• Dr. Philip Wong

Please join us in congratulating Drs. Cheung, Paszat, Barnes, Berlin, Cho, Myrehaug, Poon, Sarfehnia, and Wong, on their respective academic promotions, effective July 1, 2022.

Lawrence Paszat

Dr. Paszat was first appointed as an Assistant Professor at UTDRO and Assistant Professor in the Institute of Healthcare Policy, Management and Evaluation (IHPME) in 2000, and was promoted to Associate Professor in both departments in 2003. He is currently appointed as an Active Staff in the Department of Radiation Oncology, and Radiation Oncology Site Group Lead in Hematology at the Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre – Odette Cancer Centre, since 2000 and 2013, respectively. At the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES), he is a Senior Core Scientist (since 2000), as well as a Scientist in Evaluative Clinical Sciences at the Sunnybrook Research Institute – Odette Cancer Research Program. Dr. Paszat’s clinical expertise involves treatment of lymphoma and breast cancer; his research expertise has focused on population-based studies of cancer screening, including colorectal, breast, lung, and cervical cancer, and integrated chronic disease screening, where his work has had lasting impact locally as well as internationally.  

Patrick Cheung

Dr. Cheung completed his MD and residency training in Radiation Oncology at the University of Toronto. He subsequently completed his fellowship training in 2001 gaining expertise in Conformal Radiation therapy and Brachytherapy for Genitourinary tumours. Dr. Cheung was first appointed as an Assistant Professor at UTDRO in July 2003, and was promoted to Associate Professor in July 2014. He is also currently appointed as a Staff Radiation Oncologist and Leader of the Radiation Oncology Lung Site Group at the Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre – Odette Cancer Centre, as well as Affiliate Scientist in Evaluative Clinical Sciences at the Sunnybrook Research Institute. Dr. Cheung previously held appointments as the Radiation Oncology Genitourinary (GU) Site Group Leader at Odette Cancer Centre (2009-2013), and Associate Director of Postgraduate Education at UTDRO (2011-2012). Dr. Cheung’s main areas of research include treatment of Oligometastases and Oligoprogression, and accelerated Hypofractionated and Stereotactic Body Radiotherapy for Localized Cancer. These significant innovations in radiotherapy techniques for oligometastases have been recognized nationally and internationally, in addition to contributing to multiple collaborative multinational initiatives in lung and GU cancers. 

Elizabeth Barnes

Dr. Barnes earned her MD from University of Calgary in 1996, and completed her Radiation Oncology Residency at the Cross Cancer Institute in Alberta in 2001. She has been appointed as an Assistant Professor with UTDRO and a Radiation Oncologist at the Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre – Odette Cancer Centre since 2002. She is also appointed as an Affiliate Scientist in Evaluative Clinical Sciences at the Sunnybrook Research Institute since 2004. At the Odette Cancer Centre, she is Lead of the Skin Site Group (since 2005), as well as Director of the Sexual Health Rehabilitation Clinic (SHARE; since 2015). Dr. Barnes has focused her career on improving the treatment of non-melanoma skin cancer, gynecological cancers and the use of radiotherapy for palliation of symptoms related to advanced cancer. Dr. Barnes has also conducted impactful research on physician communication in palliative radiotherapy to improve patient comfort and care. Additionally, Dr. Barnes serves as Gynecology Site Lead for resident rotations at the Odette Cancer Centre, Radiation Oncology Representative for the Gynecology Oncology Fellowship Committee at UTDRO, Chair of the Postgraduate Medical Education Radiation Oncology Wellness Committee, and has served as Examiner of CPEE Planning Exams, further underscoring her deep commitment to broader institutional and departmental teaching initiatives.

Alejandro Berlin

Dr. Berlin earned his MD from Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile in Chile in 2006 and completed his residency training in Radiation Oncology with Universidad del Dessarrollo in Chile in 2011. In 2014, he completed a research fellowship and MSc degree at the University of Toronto, and joined the staff at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre as a Staff Radiation Oncologist Clinician Investigator and appointed Assistant Professor at the University of Toronto in 2015.  He is also appointed as an Associate Member of the Institute of Medical Science (IMS) at U of T, and an Affiliated Faculty at the Techna Institute of the University Health Network (UHN).  Dr. Berlin has made strong contributions in research and innovation. His research has a central focus on improving prognostic and therapeutic capabilities for prostate cancer based on biology-based biomarkers, primarily through digital innovations. He has worked continuously on developing and expanding a novel image-guided therapy program using advanced imaging techniques such as MR and PET to investigate molecularly-defined metastatic cancer, and has been applying artificial intelligence solutions to improve radiotherapy planning for this disease. Recently, his work on automated radiotherapy planning, conducted in collaboration with a talented multidisciplinary team at the PM, led to a high-impact study published in Nat Med in 2021. Dr. Berlin has also contributed significantly to teaching and has received many teaching awards including the Joseph M. West Family Memorial Fund from the Temerty Faculty of Medicine (2020), as well as the Postgraduate Medical Education Research Award from UTDRO (2019).

John Cho

Dr. Cho completed his MD at Queen’s University in 1995 and Radiation Oncology residency training at Cross Cancer Institute in Alberta in 2000. He also earned his PhD with the University of Amsterdam in 2004.  In 2004, he joined the staff at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre and was appointed to the rank of Assistant Professor, University of Toronto.  His academic and clinical specialties include head & neck, and lung cancers, and in particular, mesothelioma, in which he is considered a national and international expert. In the domain of mesothelioma, of which there are only ~600 cases per year in Canada, Dr. Cho has made invaluable and ground breaking contributions; changing the paradigm in management of this otherwise fatal malignancy. Specifically, Dr. Cho pioneered and developed a novel multidisciplinary protocol, the “surgery for mesothelioma after radiotherapy (SMART)” approach, which has revolutionized clinical care and outcome for this rare, complex, and difficult-to-treat disease.  This high-impact study was published in Lancet Oncol in 2021, after completion of this clinical trial over an 11-year period. His teaching accomplishments have been acknowledged by teaching awards including the Accelerated Education Program (AEP) Highest Overall Teaching Effectiveness Score Award (2021), the Undergraduate Medical Education Outstanding Contribution to the Program Award (2016), as well as the Postgraduate Classroom Teaching Award (2012). In addition to his administrative activities in UTDRO, Dr. Cho is an active member of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons, having served as Examiner for Radiation Oncology over four consecutive years (2017-2020).

Sten Myrehaug

Dr. Myrehaug completed his MD in 2005 at the University of Alberta and his Radiation Oncology residency training at the University of Toronto in 2010. From 2010-2011 he was a clinical research fellow at the National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health in the USA and joined Sunnybrook’s Odette Cancer Centre as a Radiation Oncologist in 2015, appointed at the rank of Assistant Professor. At the Odette Cancer Centre, he is the CNS Spine Lead (since 2017), and the GI Site Group Lead (since 2021). Dr. Myrehaug’s research and clinical work focuses on defining and advancing the role of radiation therapy in the management of neuroendocrine malignancies, and developing advanced imaging and radiation techniques in the management of central nervous system (CNS) malignancies. In addition to his work on patient outcomes, Dr. Myrehaug also conducts prospective trials in advanced MRI, CT, and ultrasound imaging to investigate imaging characteristics that could predict patient response to SBRT. Dr. Myrehaug has made important contributions to Education through curriculum development in SBRT for pancreatic cancer and post-operative spine SBRT. He has served as a Faculty Council Member for UTDRO (2016-2020), and his teaching abilities have been recognized with the 2020 Excellence in Postgraduate Research Supervision Award.

Ian Poon

Dr. Poon earned his MD from the University of Ottawa in 1995 and his residency training in Radiation Oncology at the University of Toronto in 2000. In 2001, he completed a clinical fellowship focusing on precision radiation therapy, Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT) and 3D Conformal Radiation at the University of California, San Francisco. In 2003, he joined the staff at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Odette Cancer Centre as a Radiation Oncologist specializing in the treatment of lung and head & neck cancers and was appointed Assistant Professor, University of Toronto.  His main areas of interest have focused on the use of intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) in advanced head and neck cancer, and oligometastatic disease. Indeed, Dr. Poon is regarded as a national and international expert in stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT).

Arman Sarfehnia

Dr. Sarfehnia is a Medical Physicist at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre. He completed his PhD at McGill University in 2010 and his residency in Therapeutic Radiation Physics in 2012. Dr. Sarfehnia has been appointed as an Assistant Professor at UTDRO since November 2014. He is also appointed as a Staff Medical Physicist and Lead of the Quality Assurance Program at the Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre – Odette Cancer Centre, and Affiliate Scientist at the Sunnybrook Research Institute. Dr. Sarfehnia has made outstanding scholarly contributions throughout his career. Highlights of his work include leading advancements in the field of radiation dosimetry, developing a graphite probe calorimeter device for routine clinical dosimetry, and establishing calorimeter-based absorbed dose standards. Dr. Sarfehnia has also played important roles in training and education. Dr. Sarfehnia and his trainees have captured major national and international awards including Young Investigator Awards bestowed on the basis of excellence in research, as well as many travel awards and grants. Furthermore, Dr. Sarfehnia was selected as the recipient of the Postgraduate Medical Education: Excellence in Research Supervision Award from U of T in 2020.

Dr. Philip Wong

Dr. Wong completed his MSc degree in Medical Biophysics in 2001, MD and subsequent residency training in Radiation Oncology at McGill University in 2010. In 2013, he completed fellowship training at the University of Toronto specializing in High-precision Radiotherapy and Translational Research in Soft Tissue Sarcoma and subsequently returned to McGill University as an Active Radiation Oncologist in the Department of Radiation Oncology. In 2020, Dr. Wong was recruited to the Princess Margaret Radiation Medicine Program, Department of Radiation Oncology as a Clinician Investigator, at academic rank of Assistant Professor, University of Toronto. Dr. Wong’s work centers on improving care and management of sarcomas as well as introducing innovative technologies to palliative radiation therapy.

Congratulations again to all our successful candidates for 2022 – UTDRO is so proud of all your achievements!