November 9, 2016

Where are they now? Former TBCRU Trainee Donna Murrell

We thought it would be interesting to track the career development of trainees previously supported by studentships from Translational Breast Cancer Research Unit (TBCRU) in London.

Hello! My name is Donna Murrell and I was supported by a TBCRU studentship, funded by the Breast Cancer Society of Canada, from 2012-2014. I then successfully competed for a national Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation Fellowship for 2014-2016. You may have read some of my previous blog entries in 2014 and 2015. I studied in Dr. Paula Foster’s lab at Robarts Research Institute and I recently earned my PhD in Medical Biophysics and Molecular Imaging from Western University. My research project used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to study the development of breast cancer brain metastasis and dormant cancer cells to better understand how they are affected by radiation therapy.

My career goal is to become a clinical medical physicist and help to treat people who have cancer using radiation therapy. To prepare for this career, I completed a CAMPEP-accredited (Commission on Accreditation of Medical Physics Education Programs) course-based Masters Degree concurrently with my PhD. I am now working as a Physics Resident at the London Regional Cancer Program (LRCP) and will complete two years of clinical training in radiation oncology physics. I am really enjoying residency and am learning a lot very quickly!
Thank you to BCSC for your support of the TBCRU program and helping me to launch my career.

Donna Murrell, PhD – (pictured above in a radiation treatment room at the LRCP, with a linear accelerator that is used to deliver radiation treatment.)

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