Michael Lawless

Biography

I am an Associate Professor in the Department of Radiation Medicine with primary roles in clinical medical physics leadership and translational research. Clinically, I serve as Director of Theranostic Physics and provide leadership for the TomoTherapy service line. I am also heavily involved in our department’s brachytherapy services.

A central component of my clinical role is directing the medical physics aspects of our theranostic program, including imaging optimization, quantitative accuracy, and quality assurance for radiopharmaceutical therapy workflows. This work supports patient selection, treatment planning, and response assessment for emerging theranostic applications and integrates advanced imaging with therapeutic decision-making.

I also maintain responsibility for the quality assurance and maintenance of the TomoTherapy treatment platform, ensuring safe, accurate, and reliable delivery of helical IMRT and image-guided treatments. In addition, I provide clinical coverage for brachytherapy, including high-dose-rate (HDR) iridium treatments for gynecologic, prostate, and skin cancers, iodine-125 eye plaque therapy, and intravascular brachytherapy.

My research focuses on theranostics and radiopharmaceutical therapy, with an emphasis on the novel application and clinical implementation of advanced imaging modalities. Specific areas of interest include multi-energy CT techniques, quantitative imaging approaches, and active bone marrow identification to improve tissue characterization, treatment planning, and response assessment. This work aims to advance precision imaging strategies that directly inform clinical decision-making in radiation oncology and radiopharmaceutical therapy.