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. 

2025 Officers

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President
Susan Kost, PhD, DABR
Cleveland Clinic

Susan Kost is currently a medical physicist at the Cleveland Clinic Mercy 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 investigator's symposium. She previously served as Secretary of the chapter during the years 2022-2023.

Sarah Ashmeg, Ph.D
Past 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

Matthew Pic
President Elect
Matthew Goss; MS, DABR
Allegheny Health Network, Pittsburgh, PA

Matthew received a BS in Physics and a minor in mathematics from Penn State University in 2004, and an MS in Medical Physics from Duke University in 2007. Prior to joining Allegheny Health Network in 2018 as senior medical physicist, Mr. Goss worked for four years in Baltimore at RadAmerica, LLC as a clinical physicist and then at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York for seven years in the external beam treatment planning division. Matthew is a member of the board of trustees of the Radiating Hope Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing access to radiation cancer care in developing and underserved areas around the world. He is a member of the Global Clinical Education Working Group subcommittee for the International Council of the AAPM, and the former president of the Duke Medical Physics Alumni Association, and the Associate Program Director for the Allegheny Health Network Medical Physics Residency Program. 
He is board-certified in Therapeutic Radiological Physics by the American Board of Radiology (DABR) and holds a NY State license for Medical Therapeutic Physics. He is the primary mentor for the treatment planning rotation of the AHN residency program, has been engaged with ongoing clinical research in the treatment planning space, has several co-authorships on clinical research papers and published a first-author paper in 2023. He is also a member of the AAMD Continuing Education Committee, and the AAPM Train the Trainer Working Group, the Treatment Planning Working Group and the International Council Mentorship Program (ICAMP).

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.

TGray
Treasurer
Tara Gray, PhD, DABR
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.

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Treasurer Elect
Brian Kurko; MS, DABR, CMD
Wheeling Hospital - WVU Medicine

Brian received his BS in physics from Wheeling Jesuit University 1999.  After working at Wheeling Hospital for a number of years as a board-certified dosimetrist, he earned his MS from Illinois Institute of Technology in health physics in 2007.  He is still employed at Wheeling Hospital.

Brian has a strong history with planning and permanent prostate seed implants.  In addition to being the site lead, he also serves as the radiation safety officer for the hospital.  He oversaw the conversion from paper to electronic charting when Wheeling Hospital joined the WVU Medicine network.  He is currently serving in the inaugural class of AAPM state champions for the state of West Virginia.

Damian Rudder, M.Sc.
Board Representative
Damian Rudder, MSc, DABR
UPMC Hillman Cancer Center, UPMC Northwest

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 and also serves a regional chief of medical physics. I am currently a member of 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

Sarah Ashmeg2024
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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