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 * The Department of Medical Physics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison was founded in 1982 by professor John R. Cameron, within the School of Medicine and Public Health to be the first independent department of medical physics in the country. To this day, it remains the only university-based department dedicated to medical physics research in the USA.
 * The Department of Medical Physics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison was founded in 1982 by professor John R. Cameron, within the School of Medicine and Public Health to be the first independent department of medical physics in the country. To this day, it remains the only university-based department dedicated to medical physics research in the USA.

History

 * The department was organized as one of the basic science divisions within the medical school and employs approximately 30 primary faculty and 20 scientific staff to carry out research in the field of applied medical physics. The program supports approximately 90 graduate students, largely doctoral trainees, to study advancements in imaging and therapy. Since 2008 the department has been housed on the 1st floor and basement level of the Wisconsin Institutes for Medical Research (WIMR) building in the main medical center campus.  Previous to 2008 the department was largely housed on the basement floor of the Medical Sciences Center building in the center of the campus, across from the physics building and using facilities from the old hospital on campus including radiology and radiotherapy suites.

Major Achievements

 * The department faculty led to key discoveries that have changed the practice in medical physics, including founding Chair and Professor John R. Cameron's work in radiation dosimetry, and founding of Medical Physics Publishing. Bone densitometry was researched and commercialized through the efforts of Professor Richard Mazess, in the Lunar system. The field of treatment planning was partially created through the Pinnacle software created in the laboratory of Dr Thomas 'Rock' Mackie PhD. Dr Mackie was also the creator of the tomotherapy concept creating the first system to image and treat patients in real time in a circular rotating gantry. This product remains a major radiotherapy treatment modality for image-guided radiation therapy.  The concept of digital subtraction angiography was pioneered in the department by Professor Charles Mistretta, and several subsequent developments in subtraction angiography were developed for other modalities including CT and MRI.

Mission & Vision

 * The mission of the department is to provide:
 * basic and translational research that charts the future of medical physics
 * mentored research training in medical physics for students and residents
 * CAMPEP accredited instruction in graduate medical physics
 * medical physics services as needed in clinical physics, dosimetry, calibration, radionuclides, and tissue phantoms

Services

 * The services provided by faculty and staff in the department include:
 * Accredited Dosimetry & Calibration Laboratory and Medical Radiation Research.
 * Radionuclide production & distribution for research
 * Small Animal Imaging & Radiotherapy Facility
 * Diagnostic Radiological Physics Services for UWHealth
 * Research Imaging Services within the WIMR buliding