The Department of Medical Biophysics is an interdisciplinary department with a strong history of excellence and discovery in cancer research, treatment, and beyond. Located primarily at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, Sunnybrook Research Institute, and SickKids Research Institute, the department offers research training leading to the Master of Science and Doctor of Philosophy degrees. The multidisciplinary program in cancer research and broader biomedical research cuts across the conventional boundaries of biology, physics, translational medicine and engineering to deliver a modern, advanced academic curriculum and world-class research training.
In this specialization within our PhD program, students complete a thesis-based PhD, while completing a structured medical physics course curriculum. The specialized program provides a research-intensive environment that immerses students in clinical technologies pertinent to medical imaging, such as computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging and nuclear medicine, and radiation therapy. Cutting edge research involving machine learning, theranostics, and heavy particle therapy are ongoing. Students gain skills to pursue the production of high quality research and develop leadership skills.
Huge streams of data are constantly being collected, but how can we make sense of this data and use it to our advantage. Medical Biophysics researchers combine methods from mathematics, statistics, computer science and machine learning to analyze and understand these large datasets, which include data from genomics, epigenomics, transcriptomics, single cell sequencing, proteomics, digital pathology and medical imaging. A large portion of current MBP research is looking at how we can use large-scale data to develop algorithms or models to understand biological systems and relationships, specifically targeted at the diagnosis and treatment of disease.
