John Kildea

Associate Member

Medical Physics Unit, McGill University

Other appointments:

Medical Physicist, McGill University Health Centre 

Assistant Professor, Department of Oncology

Associate Member, Department of Physics

PI, Cancer Research Program, RI-MUHC

depdocs.com/jkildea

Address:                           

Cedars Cancer Centre, Medical Physics, DS1.7141
McGill University Health Centre - Glen Site
1001 boul. Décarie
Montréal, QC H4A 3J1

Telephone:

514 934 1934 ex 44154

E-mail:

john.kildea at mcgill.ca

Education:

B.Sc: Queen's University Belfast (Physics, 1998))

Ph.D: University College Dublin (Astrophysics, 2003)

M.Sc: McGill University (Medical Physics, 2010)

Postdoctoral research: McGill University (Astrophysics, 2003-2006), Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (Astrophysics, 2006-2008)

Clinical residency: McGill University Health Centre (Radiotherapy physics, 2010-2012)

Visiting scholarships: Universität Leipzig (1996), Alaska Pacific University (1997), University of Arizona (2006-2008), Trinity College Dublin (2014)

• Health Physics for Medical Physicists (MDPH-613)
• Medical Physics undergraduate research projects (MDPH 396) - Please email john.kildea at mcgill.ca if you are interested in a fun, computationally-intensive medical physics research project
• Introductory Radiation Physics for Radiologists
• Clinical Medical Physics Notes
• Radiotherapy Laboratory (MDPH 603) - one laboratory session per semester

Research focus:

• ROKS (Knowledge Sharing in Radiation Oncology) - translational research
• NICE (Neutron-Induced Carcinogenic Effects) - fundamental research

Knowledge Sharing in Radiation Oncology

• This translational research is harnessing the power of data generated by previous radiation oncology patients in order to improve the experience, safety and outcomes of future patients. 

  The objectives of the ROKS group are:

  (a) develop knowledge-based and evidence-based radiotherapy treatments,
  (b) use data to improve the experience and outcomes of radiation oncology patients.

• We use three methods to achieve our objectives. They are:

1.  by facilitating guidelines, policies and procedures written by experts,
2.  by learning from adverse events, and
3.  by learning from data.

• The ROKS research group currently comprises one PI (John Kildea), two M.Sc students (Ackeem Joseph and Logan Montgomery) and one research assistant (David Herrera). Our group is an integral part of the HIG (Health Informatics Group collaboration).
• More information about the ROKS research group, including photos and presentations, is available on our homepgae.

Neutron-Induced Carcinogenic Effects

• This fundamental research effort has as its goal an improvement in our understanding of the production and carcinogenic effects of secondary neutrons in photon-beam and proton-beam radiotherapy.

• The NICE group is a collaboration between McGill, Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (Chalk River, Ontario), the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, and Detec Inc. 

• We are investigating neutron carcinogenesis through a combination of measurements and Monte Carlo modelling. Our approach is similar to that of the European ANDANTE project but it underpinned by our neutron spectral measurement technique using the Nested Neutron Spectrometer and CNL's world-class radio-biological facilities at Chalk River.

• More information about the NICE research group, including photos and presentations, is available on our homepage.

Key Publications:

(see Google Scholar for complete list)

Maglieri, R., Licea, A., Evans, M., Seuntjens, J., & Kildea, J. (2015). Measuring neutron spectra in radiotherapy using the nested neutron spectrometer. Medical physics, 42(11), 6162-6169. Selected for Editor's Picks in the Journal of Medical Physics, November 2015.

J. Kildea, M.D.C. Evans, W. Parker, Comprehensive web-based QA in radiation oncology, Annual meeting of the Canadian Organization of Medical Physicists (COMP), July 11-14, 2012, Halifax, NS.

J. Kildea, M.N. Anjum, M.D.C. Evans, W. Parker, Comprehensive web-based QA in radiation oncology, Med. Phys. 38, 3498 (2011).

M.D.C. Evans, J. Kildea, W. Parker, E.B. Podgorsak, W. Beckham, Feasibility study for open door low energy treatments using maze-type bunkers designed for dual energy linacs, Med. Phys. 37, 3892 (2010).

A. McCann, D. Hanna, J. Kildea, M. McCutcheon, Astropart. Phys. 32(6), (2010).

Acciari, V. A., et al. "A connection between star formation activity and cosmic rays in the starburst galaxy M82." Nature 462.7274 (2009): 770-772.

Kildea, J., et al. "The Whipple Observatory 10m gamma-ray telescope, 1997–2006." Astroparticle Physics 28.2 (2007): 182-195.