{"id":34985,"date":"2026-04-22T10:20:35","date_gmt":"2026-04-22T15:20:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cancer.wisc.edu\/research\/?p=34985"},"modified":"2026-04-22T10:28:20","modified_gmt":"2026-04-22T15:28:20","slug":"faculty-spotlight-dr-shannon-oreilly","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cancer.wisc.edu\/research\/faculty-spotlight-dr-shannon-oreilly\/","title":{"rendered":"Faculty Spotlight \u2013 Dr. Shannon O’Reilly"},"content":{"rendered":"

Can you please introduce yourself and your career path?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I am an Associate Professor in the Department of Human Oncology and a member of the UW Carbone Cancer Center. I completed my bachelor\u2019s through PhD at the University of Florida, where I studied nuclear engineering and medical physics. I first learned about medical physics and proton therapy at the same time during my undergraduate training. My engineering advisor had been performing detection measurements at the UF Proton Therapy Institute and told me about the work taking place there while also explaining medical physics. Prior to that, I had been considering careers in biomedical engineering or medical school; however, when I heard about proton therapy and the field of medical physics, it immediately felt like the perfect fit.\u00a0 I went on to focus my PhD research on proton Monte Carlo dose calculations. After graduation, I completed residency training at the University of Pennsylvania, which was one of the few programs offering proton therapy experience at the time. Following residency, I began working full-time at the same institution as a proton physicist. Along the way, I have been fortunate to gain experience with three different proton systems, which has provided a valuable perspective on the technology and clinical implementation.\u00a0 For me, proton therapy and medical physics have always gone hand in hand.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Can you talk about your role in proton therapy?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Currently my second home is the proton gantry control room.\u00a0 We are actively commissioning the new proton system to ensure safe patient treatments in the future.\u00a0 Additionally, I am assisting with setting up workflows, documentation and planning guidelines. I have been involved in testing the integration between different systems, as well as commissioning advanced imaging technologies to ensure accurate proton dose calculations.<\/p>\n

My research interests include functional lung imaging, Monte Carlo dosimetry, dual energy CT for proton therapy and reducing radiation-induced toxicities. I\u2019ve investigated whether constraints derived from photon therapy treatments are appropriate for proton therapy. I am passionate about education and have lectured graduate students and medical residents on proton therapy basics and planning.\u00a0 I also mentored medical physics residents on their proton rotations and created a free online module for anyone looking to learn the basics of proton therapy: https:\/\/www.globalmedphys.com\/trainingmodules<\/a>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What aspect of proton therapy most excites you? What are you looking forward to <\/strong>seeing in the next couple years in the field?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I am most excited about the expansion of proton therapy in the US and globally.\u00a0 Today, more than 120 proton therapy facilities are operating worldwide and approximately 65 additional centers are currently under construction or in development. Advances such as compact single-room systems and increasing clinical evidence are helping drive the\u00a0democratization of proton therapy, expanding access beyond the areas in which they have been historically concentrated. \u00a0For example, Uganda and Vietnam have recently announced they will be getting protons.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Do you have any advice for students and trainees looking to follow your career path and <\/strong>get involved in the field?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I would encourage students and trainees to attend local AAPM chapter events and take advantage of established fellowship and mentorship opportunities, such as the AAPM Mentorship Program, ICAMP, SUFP, and AMPERE. These programs are great ways to learn more about the career, build connections, and gain valuable experience. As you explore the field of medical physics, look for areas that genuinely capture your interest.\u00a0When you\u2019re working on something you\u2019re passionate about, it rarely feels like work. I really enjoyed my PhD, as it gave me the chance to focus on proton therapy, a field that has remained exciting and meaningful to me ever since.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dr. Shannon O\u2019Reilly, a UW Carbone member and ITPT Education & Training committee member, found her perfect fit in proton therapy and medical physics. Since then, she\u2019s trained across three proton systems and built educational resources that reach learners worldwide. Read her full interview to hear how she\u2019s shaping the next era of proton therapy and why global expansion of access inspires her daily.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":61,"featured_media":34989,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[182],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-34985","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-theranostics"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cancer.wisc.edu\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34985","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cancer.wisc.edu\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cancer.wisc.edu\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cancer.wisc.edu\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/61"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cancer.wisc.edu\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34985"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cancer.wisc.edu\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34985\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":34987,"href":"https:\/\/cancer.wisc.edu\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34985\/revisions\/34987"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cancer.wisc.edu\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34989"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cancer.wisc.edu\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34985"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cancer.wisc.edu\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34985"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cancer.wisc.edu\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34985"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}