Radiation Research Society honors 2 faculty

Two Washington University faculty members have received awards from the Radiation Research Society recognizing their contributions to research in the field and their service to the society.

Julie K. Schwarz, MD, PhD, assistant professor of radiation oncology, received the 2012 Michael Fry Research Award, which recognizes junior scientists who have made significant contributions to the field of radiation research.

Joseph L. Roti Roti, PhD, emeritus professor of radiation oncology, was one of three honored with a 2012 Distinguished Service Award. The award recognizes those who have helped further the goals and objectives of the Radiation Research Society. The other two recipients are Eric Hall, PhD, of Columbia University and the late William Bernhard, PhD, of the University of Rochester.

We are honored to have two of our faculty named as the top researchers in our field, says Dennis E. Hallahan, MD, the Elizabeth H. and James S. McDonnell III Distinguished Professor and head of the Department of Radiation Oncology. The Michael Fry Research Award is given to the most promising junior researcher in the field. And Joseph Roti Roti is being honored for his distinguished career and service to the society. They are the first recipients of these awards at Washington University.

Roti Roti earned a bachelor's degree in physics from Michigan Technological University in 1965, followed by a doctorate in biophysics from the University of Rochester in 1972. He began his career as an assistant and then associate professor of radiology at the University of Utah. He joined the Washington University faculty in 1985, becoming a full professor in 1987.

Roti Roti is known for a comprehensive study of possible effects of radiation produced by cellular phones. Other areas of interest include the effects of ionizing radiation on cells, including the cell cycle and how heat shock affects DNA replication and repair. He is the author of more than 120 papers and book chapters on these topics.

Schwarz earned a bachelor's degree in biology from Duke University in 1995. In 2004, she earned a joint medical degree and doctorate in cell and molecular biology from Washington University. She completed an internship in internal medicine and a residency in radiation oncology at Barnes-Jewish Hospital, and in 2009 joined the faculty of Washington University as an assistant professor.

Schwarz, who treats patients at Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine, specializes in thyroid and gynecologic cancers. Her research focuses on how radiologic imaging can provide information about the biology of the tumor. Such information can help predict how patients might respond to certain treatments. She also is interested in finding ways to image and identify potential sites of tumor metastasis before the tumor actually begins to spread.