Sherar Lab Home

Our laboratory is working on the development of image guided minimally invasive therapies (MIT) for cancer treatment, with foci in thermal therapy and ultrasound image guidance. This work is based on the broad hypothesis that image guided MIT's can achieve equivalent or better efficacy and improved complication profiles than standard treatments for some solid tumour sites.

Specifically, we are currently engaged in clinical trials in microwave thermal therapy for prostate cancer, radiofrequency thermal therapy for kidney cancer and the use of high frequency ultrasound imaging to monitor the process of apoptosis as an early surrogate marker for tumour response to radiation or chemotherapy in basal cell carcinoma and other superficial cancers. Earlier, laboratory stage work on the development of a novel, completely non-invasive ultrasound image guided ultrasound thermal therapy system with application to renal cancer is in progress. Another main area of focus is the development of treatment planning systems for MIT's including thermal therapy and photodynamic therapy.

Graduate students are involved in all aspects of the research cycle from, theoretical analysis and modelling, technology development and evaluation to animal and finally human trials.

Tissue Property Measurement	Principal Investigator
Mihaela Pop	Dr. Michael Sherar
Arthur Worthington
	Scientific Collaborators
Mathematical Modelling	Dr. Gregory Czarnota
and Treatment Planning	Dr. John Hunt
Sean Davidson	Dr. Michael Jewett
Dr. J. Carl Kumaradas	Dr. Michael Kolios
Mihaela Pop	Dr. John Trachtenberg
Wu Xia	Dr. William Whelan

Applicator Development and Testing	Graduate Students
Sean Davidson	Claire McCann
Wu Xia	Claudia Strobele
	Wu Xia
Image-Based Treatment Monitoring
Dr. Mark Gertner	Research Staff
Peter Bevan	Sean Davidson
Claudia Strobele	Dr. Mark Gertner
	Arthur Worthington
High Frequency Ultrasound Imaging
Ralph Baddour	Alumni
	Peter Bevan
Clinical Trials	Dr. J. Carl Kumaradas
Sean Davidson	Mihaela Pop
Dr. Mark Gertner	Ralph Baddour

General inquiries about the research conducted in this lab: Sean Davidson. For more information on other areas of research, please visit the University Health Network (UHN) and UHN Research web sites. For information on pursuing graduate studies, contact the Department of Medical Biophysics in the University of Toronto. Please Note: The University Health Network does not make appointments nor provide medical advice, consultations or referrals over the Internet. Please consult your regular physician regarding such matters.