About

About

Welcome to the home of the Pennsylvania-Ohio-West Virginia Chapter of AAPM. We hold an annual meeting, a Spring Annual Meeting and support our regional trainees with MedPhys Slam Competitions.

Thanks for visiting our website, and please don’t hesitate to email us if you’d like more information about membership, becoming a sponsor, or attending one of our functions!

The Pennsylvania-Ohio-West Virginia Chapter Officers consist of an acting President, President-Elect, Past-President, Secretary, Secretary-Elect, Treasurer, and Chapter Representative to the Board. 

2023 Officers

Sarah Ashmeg, Ph.D
President
Sarah Ashmeg, PhD, DABR
UPMC, St. Clair Hospital

I serve as a clinical therapeutic physicist at UPMC, St. Clair Hospital. I earned my BSc in Physics from King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. My first exposure to the field was at King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center in Riyadh. I received my MSc in medical physics from Duke University, then my PhD in Nanoscale sciences from SUNY Albany. I am an active volunteer with MPWB and Rayos Contra Cancer.

HeadShot
President - Elect
Susan Kost, PhD, DABR
Cleveland Clinic

Susan Kost is currently a medical physicist at the Cleveland Clinic Akron General Hospital. She joined the medical physics staff after completing residency in therapy physics at main campus that included a third year of research mainly focused on surface guided radiotherapy for the treatment of breast cancer.

Susan is clinically-focused and passionate about Medical Physics 3.0 and views her practice not as a mere technical exercise, but as a means to enhance the patient experience through quality and safety. Part of that approach is to “be seen” by the patient and educate them on the role physicists have in their treatment. She also drives innovation through her research on Monte Carlo simulation for internal dosimetry.

She has been active in the Penn-Ohio-West Virginia chapter of the AAPM since the beginning of residency, attending both the annual fall symposiums and spring meetings and presenting her research at the young investigators symposium. She previously served as Secretary of the chapter during the years 2022-2023.

Peter Sandwall, Ph.D.
Past President
Peter Sandwall, PhD, DABR
OhioHealth, Mansfield Hospital

Dr. Peter Sandwall, PhD DABR is a clinical therapeutic physicist at OhioHealth, Mansfield Hospital. A graduate of West Virginia Wesleyan College and the University of Cincinnati, Dr. Sandwall is an adjunct at North Central State College and President of a small consulting firm, Precision Physics.

An active volunteer, Dr. Sandwall is a board member of Radiating Hope and has served multiple organizations including the Boy Scouts of America, Health Physics Society, Rayos Contra Cancer, and Rotary International. Dr. Sandwall previously served as President of the Ohio River Valley Chapter of the AAPM.

Abigail Dare, M.S.
Secretary
Abigail Dare, MS, DABR
Allegheny Health Network

Abby received her BS in Nuclear Engineering from Missouri University of Science & Technology (Rolla, MO) in 2017. She earned her MS in Medical Physics from Vanderbilt University (Nashville, TN) in 2019 and completed a CAMPEP-accredited medical physics residency at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (Nashville, TN) in 2021. She then joined the team at Allegheny Health Network as a clinical medical physicist in 2021 and became board-certified in Therapeutic Medical Physics in 2022. She is currently a Professional Ph.D. student through University of Florida.

Her main interests include adaptive radiotherapy, brachytherapy, process improvement, and treatment planning. She is an Instructor of Radiological Science at Drexel University College of Medicine and an active member of the American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM) both at the national level and with the local Penn-Ohio chapter.

Rajesh Pidikiti, Ph.D.
Treasurer
Rajesh Pidikiti, PhD, DABR
Makshi Physics Consulting Services

Rajesh is the owner of Makshi Physics Consulting Services providing diagnostic medical physics and radiation safety services in four states: Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, and Texas. He is double boarded with ABR certifications in Diagnostic Radiological Physics and Therapeutic Radiological Physics. Prior to starting his own business, Rajesh has worked as a medical physicist at University Hospitals, Procure Proton Therapy, and Willis-Knighton Health System in Shreveport, LA. Rajesh received his Ph.D. from UT Southwestern Medical Center in 2012 and completed his residency followed by a proton physics fellowship at MD Anderson Cancer Center.

TGray
Treasurer - Elect
Tara Gray
Cleveland Clinic

I am currently a Staff Medical Physicist at Cleveland Clinic Main Campus. I have a background in nuclear science with a graduate focus on medical physics. I recently completed my residency including an additional year of research training in Medical Physics at the Cleveland Clinic and was subsequently hired as a staff physicist at Cleveland Clinic Main Campus.

During my education and training, I have been especially committed to providing avenues to improve physics and medical physics education as well as introducing physics career paths to grade school students, especially those in underserved communities, through volunteer and outreach work. As the Chief Medical Physics Resident at Cleveland Clinic, I was committed to leading and helping to educate other medical physics residents on many clinical and research activities. My research and clinical interests include Stereotactic Radiosurgery (SRS), Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy (SBRT), Brachytherapy, proton therapy, process improvement and special procedures.

I have been an active member and volunteer for the AAPM Penn-Ohio-West Virginia chapter since residency, including presenting my research projects at multiple Young Investigators Symposiums. I look forward to the opportunity to serve you as your next treasurer of our chapter.

Jeremy Donaghue, M.S.
Board Representative
Jeremy Donaghue, MS, DABR
Cleveland Clinic Fairview Hospital

Jeremy Donaghue, MS, DABR is a medical physicist for Cleveland Clinic Fairview Hospital.  His areas of interest include SBRT, programmatic planning, work flow efficiencies.  Jeremy is the Board Representative and former secretary for the Penn Ohio West Virginia Chapter of AAPM.  He is also a member of AAPM’s Med Phys 3.0 Smart Tools committee.  In the past, he has presented on topics mainly focused on SBRT and MCO.

Damian Rudder, M.Sc.
Board Representative - Elect
Damian Rudder, MSc, DABR
UPMC Pittsburgh, PA

I have been practicing medical physicist for the last 30+ years. I am originally from Trinidad and Tobago and have a myriad of experience both in the US and internationally. Most of my work has been as a clinical radiation oncology physicist. I have worked for the United Nations agency – the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO)/ World Health Organization (WHO) as a consultant physicist in its Radiological Health Program. I was part of the initial group of physicists that formed the Trinidad and Tobago Medical Physics Organization in 1993. I served as its president from 1996 - 1999. We were able to gain membership to the International Medical Physics Organization. Currently, I am a medical physicist with UMPC Hillman Cancer Center at its Northwest Campus. I also currently serve on the Global Needs Assessment Committee and the Global Representatives Sub-Committee under the International Council of AAPM.

I previously served as the President of the chapter in 2022.

To nominate someone for a future office, please fill out this form:

Past Presidents

Peter Sandwall2023
Damian Rudder2022
Gisele Pereira2021
Alf Siochi2019-2020
Andrew Godley2018
Kurt Blodgett2017
David Jordan2016
Valdir Colussi2014-2015
Keli Wilson2013
Michael Ohm2012
Barry Wessels2011
Greg Bednarz2010
Marty Weinhous2009
Allan Wilkinson2008
Dan Pavord2007
Chuck Wissuchek2005-2006
Paul Geis2004
Allan Wilkinson2003
Paul Geis2001-2002
Dan Pavord2000
John Bayouth1999
Marcel M. Szal1998
Andrew Bukovitz1997
Raymond Kaczur1994-1996
Marc Rosenthal1993
Daniel A. Berkley1992
Michael Sermon1990-1991
Marcel M. Szal1989
Bipin K. Agarwal1988
Jagdish Bhatnagar1987
Daniel Giel1985-1986
Dennis Owens1984
Michael Dennis1983
Prakash N. Shrivastava1981
Jagdish Bhatnagar1980
Andrew Bukovitz1979
Virgil Yoder1976-1977
Krishnadas Banerjee1974-1975

Past Board Members

Chapter Board Representative
Jeremy Donaghue2022-2024
Valdir Colussi2019-2021
Keli Wilson2016-2018
Barry Wessels2013-2015
Kevin Falon2010-2012
Chuck Wissuchek2007-2009
Allan Wilkinson2004-2006
Dan Pavord2001-2003
Marty Weinhous1998-2000
Andrew Wu1995-1997
Chang Saw1992-1994
Andrew Wu1989-1991
Prakash N. Shrivastava1986-1988
David Gur1983-1985
Krishnadas Banerjee1980-1982
Roy Summers1977-1979
Andrew Bukovitz1974-1976
Secretary
Susan Kost2022-2023
Bryan Coopey2020-2021
Jeremy Donaghue2018-2019
Alf Siochi2016-2017
Kurt Blodgett2015
Michael Ohm2014
Tony Combine2009-2013
Raj Selvaraj2008
Matthew Vossler2003
Allan Wilkinson1996-2000
Christine Berta1994-1995
Carla Setto1992-1993
David L. Wonderly1990-1991
Margaret S. Eddy1989
Michael G. Dalbow1988
Marcel M. Szal1987
Daniel A. Berkley1985-1986
Michael Sermon1983-1984
Christopher Serago1981
Roger Ladle1979-1980
Jerry Cohen1976-1977
Robert Golden1974-1975
Treasurer
Rajesh Pidikiti2023-2024
Stephen Gajdos2021-2022
Zhilei (Julie) Shen2019-2020
Valdir Colussi2017-2018
Michael Ohm2015-2016
Chris Deibel2002-2014
Twyla Wolloughby2000
Dan Pavord1998-1999
Daniel A. Berkley1996-1997
Mark Perna1994-1995
David L. Wonderly1992-1993
Neal Smarra1990-1991
Mitchell Jarosz Jr.1989
Neal Smarra1987-1988
Robert Specht1983-1986
Lawrence Sweeney1981
James Barnes1979-1980
Barbara Fasiska1976-1977
Mitchell Jarosz Jr.1974-1975

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