Ergys Subashi

My work is focused on the development of MRI techniques for adaptive radiation therapy. I study and develop methods for improved target delineation by identifying functional tumor subunits with varying response to therapy. Additionally, I work on imaging methods to enhance sensitivity in target delineation, treatment assessment, and monitoring. I've developed a family of high spatiotemporal resolution 4D-MRI pulse sequences, applied in studying therapeutic effects in tumors, glioblastoma, renal function, and polycystic kidney disease. In my clinical role, I emphasize quality assurance (QA) in the safe planning and delivery of adaptive radiotherapy with the integrated MR-linac. Addressing uncertainties in MRI-guided radiotherapy, my work focuses on delivery-specific factors, stability, safety, and machine tolerance levels. My recent work highlights uncertainties related to patient anatomy and physiology, particularly in the abdomen where respiratory, cardiac, and gastrointestinal (GI) motion are often simultaneously present during delivery. I've devised sampling and reconstruction methods to improve resolution in MR imaging of periodic motion, aiding in clinically acceptable treatment plans despite motion complexity. Gastrointestinal tract motility is one of the main sources for intra/inter-fraction variability and uncertainty in the treatment of abdominal targets. I have designed and implemented a model for GI tract motility in a 4D imaging phantom of human anatomy. Accurate modeling of motility patterns can improve the assessment of delivered dose to GI tract organs-at-risk and contribute to the development, testing, and validation of deformable image registration and dose accumulation algorithms.