Lakshmi Santanam
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Washington University in St. Louis
Papers
2
Total Citations
128
H-Index
2
About
Lakshmi Santanam is a leading medical physicist whose work centers on the precision and safety of advanced radiotherapy technologies. Her primary research areas include real-time motion management, multileaf collimator (MLC) tracking, and the clinical translation of proton therapy systems. She made a landmark contribution to the field as the lead author of AAPM Task Group 264 (2020, 92 citations), which established the first comprehensive guidelines for the safe clinical implementation of MLC tracking—a transformative technique that enables real-time tumor tracking during radiotherapy without requiring specialized robotic or gimbaled systems. This work has been instrumental in moving MLC tracking from research into routine clinical practice, directly improving treatment accuracy for moving tumors. Dr. Santanam also played a pivotal role in the commissioning and initial clinical deployment of the first gantry-mounted proton therapy system (2016, 36 citations), documenting the rigorous process that brought this compact, single-room proton platform to patients at the S. Lee Kling Proton Therapy Center. Her contributions bridge the gap between cutting-edge engineering and safe, effective patient care, making her a key figure in the evolution of modern radiation oncology.
Research Focus
Key Achievements
Top Papers
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