research profile
Dr. Michael Lawless’ Research
My research focuses on theranostics and radiopharmaceutical therapy, with an emphasis on the clinical implementation of advanced, quantitative imaging techniques to support precision oncology. By leveraging imaging technologies embedded within the radiation oncology clinic, my work aims to improve patient selection, treatment planning, dosimetry, and response assessment in both radiation and radiopharmaceutical therapies.
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Theranostics, Radiopharmaceutical Therapy, and Dosimetry
A central focus of my research is the development and clinical translation of imaging methods for theranostic and radiopharmaceutical therapy workflows. This includes optimizing imaging for quantitative accuracy and reproducibility and integrating these data into patient-specific, voxel-level dosimetry frameworks.
By combining advanced imaging with state-of-the-art dose calculation techniques, this work supports individualized assessment of absorbed dose to tumors and normal tissues. These methods are intended to improve treatment personalization, enhance understanding of dose–response relationships, and inform clinical decision-making in radiopharmaceutical therapy.
Multi-Energy CT and Advanced Imaging
My research also investigates the novel application of multi-energy CT imaging to improve tissue differentiation beyond conventional CT. Using material decomposition and virtual imaging techniques available on platforms such as the Siemens Healthineers Somatom Definition Edge, this work focuses on clinically feasible approaches to enhance tissue characterization and integrate advanced imaging into routine treatment planning workflows.
Active Bone Marrow Identification
An important application of my work has been the identification and characterization of active bone marrow, particularly for therapies that pose risk to the hematopoietic system. My research aims to develop imaging-based methods to distinguish active from inactive marrow, supporting marrow-sparing strategies and improved assessment of hematologic toxicity in radiation and radiopharmaceutical therapies.