The Accelerators Podcast

Send us Fan Mail TAP kicks off a journal club format by dissecting the phase III BART trial on adjuvant radiation therapy after radical cystectomy for muscle-invasive bladder cancer.  Cam Tharp, MS hosts radiation oncologists Drs. Comron Hassanzadeh and Stephanie Dudzinski to led discussion of this important trial.  The Accelerators Podcast is a Photon Media production. For more from Matt, visit h...

Send us Fan Mail Accelerator Dr. Simul Parikh hosts urologist Dr. Riccardo Bertolo , MD, PhD, first author of a recent article on late toxicities of radiotherapy for prostate cancer:  Real-World Burden and Management of Late Genitourinary Toxicity After Prostate Radiotherapy: Insights from IRRADIaTE, the Italian Registry of Radiotherapy-Associated Disorders and Urological Treatment & Evaluatio...

Send us Fan Mail Accelerator Dr. Matt Spraker hosts Drs. Ana Kiess , Brandon Mancini , and Dustin Boothe to review radiopharmaceutical therapies (RPTs), aka theranostics.  In part 2 of our RPT mini-series, Ana, Brandon, and Dustin share some of their experience with the practical aspects of launching a RPT program.  We discuss collaborating with administrators to launch a program and required clin...

Send us Fan Mail Accelerator Dr. Simul Parikh hosts Dr. Eliane Garlock to discuss health and longevity for our patients and ourselves. Eliane is a doctor of osteopathic medicine and radiation oncology resident at VCU. Simul and Eliane discuss the benefits of exercise, fiber and diets, smoking cessation, and alcohol as a carcinogen. They also cover supplements and complementary therapies such as vi...

Send us Fan Mail Accelerator Dr. Matt Spraker hosts Drs. Ana Kiess , Brandon Mancini , and Dustin Boothe to review radiopharmaceutical therapies (RPTs), aka theranostics.  The first episode in this TAP miniseries starts by reviewing how we define radiopharmaceutical therapy for our patients and colleagues. We review Lutathera and Pluvicto including indications for treatment.  We then review aspect...

Send us Fan Mail TAP is back with another live podcast for ASTRO 2025! Well, sort of.  The Accelerators (Drs. Matt Spraker and Simul Parikh ) didn't make it to the meeting this year and we were missing our time with our friends!  We invited Drs. Laura Dover , Jamie Pawlowski, and Jeff Ryckman to hang out and discuss some of the new data from this year's meeting.  Here are the studies we...

Send us Fan Mail The Accelerators co-host Dr. Matt Spraker is joined by two experts in brachytherapy for brain tumors, Radiation Onocologist and CMO of GT Medical Technologies Dr. Michael Garcia, MD, MS and Neurosurgeon Dr. Simon Hanft, MD, FAANS . We first review the origin story of GammaTile, an evolution of the practice of brachytherapy for brain tumors.  Simon then shares how he has deployed G...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome to Season 4!  The Accelerators (Dr. Matt Spraker and Cameron Tharp , MPH, RT(T)) kick it off with a sequel to our prior podcast on the Advanced Practice Radiation Therapist (APRT) role .  We host friends-of-the-show Drs. Join Luh and Marsha Haley, Radiation Oncologists who bring important past experiences and unique expertise to the discussion.  We kick off by examining so...

Send us Fan Mail The Accelerators (Drs. Matt Spraker and Simul Parikh ) host the 2025 ACRO candidates for Vice President/President-Elect in the first ever radiation oncology election debate!  Well, it's more like a friendly discussion, but Simul asked them their opinions on 4 great topics.  What differentiates ACRO from other radiation oncology societies?  Can you explain ACRO's position...

Send us Fan Mail Accelerators co-host Dr. Matt Spraker is joined by radiation oncologists Drs. Bobby Koneru and Mudit Chowdhary for an update on low dose radiotherapy for osteoarthritis!  Dr. Koneru is a radiation oncologist in Freeport, IL and prolific social media educator on benign indications. Dr. Chowdhary is a radiation oncologist at Northside Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia, and a friend of TA...

Send us Fan Mail The Accelerators (Drs. Matt Spraker and Simul Parikh ) host Dr. Stacy Wentworth, Radiation Oncologist, Author, and Podcaster! We discuss her career and how she developed her voice as a physician content creator. Do not miss her Less Radical narrative podcast about the life of Bernie Fisher, it is a masterpiece! In this episode, we cover our experiences with our evolving careers. A...

Send us Fan Mail The Accelerators (Drs. Matt Spraker and Simul Parikh ) host Dr. Donald Abrams , MD, Medical and Integrative Oncologist at the UCSF Oscher Center for Integrative Health. Donald offers a comprehensive review of a very poorly understood topic! We review the history of cannabis regulation in the US and globally, different delivery forms, and Donald's observations throughout his o...

Send us Fan Mail The Accelerators Podcast co-host Dr. Simul Parikh is heading back around the globe, this time to discuss breast cancer! He hosts Drs. Anna Kirby (Royal Marsden Hospital & Institute of Cancer Research), Sushil Beriwal (Allegheny Health Network, Varian Medical Systems), and Revathy Krishnamurthy (Tata Memorial Centre), Radiation/Clinical Oncologists from the UK, US, and India. T...

Send us Fan Mail Cameron Tharp, MPH, RTT joins The Accelerators (Drs. Matt Spraker and Simul Parikh ), and we host radiation therapist Shaun Caldwell, EdD, RTT to discuss the Advanced Practice Radiation Therapist (APRT) role.  Here are some things we discussed during the show: Mohan et al. on record and verify systems (1984) American Society of Radiologic Technologists ( ASRT ) American Registry o...

Send us Fan Mail The Accelerators (Drs. Matt Spraker and Simul Parikh ) host Christine Gnaster , MS, DABR, FAAPM, Vice President of Product of Radformation and medical physicist Chelsea Page-Robertson for a #MedEd discussion of AutoContour , ClearCheck , and the use of AI in Radiation Oncology.  Christine kicks us off with an approachable overview of how tools like AutoContour actually work. We di...

Send us Fan Mail The Accelerators (Drs. Matt Spraker and Simul Parikh ) team up with Vision RT for the first of two tech-forward episodes!  We are joined by Mike Tallhamer , MSc DABR, Chief of Radiation Physics at Advent Health for a masterclass on Surface Guided Radiotherapy (SGRT). We discuss how VisionRT has leveraged SGRT to enhance the radiotherapy planning and delivery. After reviewing SGRT...

Send us Fan Mail The Accelerators (Drs. Matt Spraker and Simul Parikh ) host Sam Mazin, Ph. D. and Sean Shirvani, MD, CTO and CMO of RefleXion. This Rad Onc startup have created a linear accelerator with on board PET/CT. This allows for SCINTIX biology-guided radiotherapy for bone and lung disease.  Sam and Sean join the show to share their story in medical entrepreneurship, discuss the technology...

Send us Fan Mail The Accelerators (Drs. Matt Spraker and Simul Parikh ) host Radiation Oncologists and elite GI educators Drs. Krish Jethwa and Nina Sanford . We discuss the exciting phase III ESOPEC study presented at ASCO 2024. The study demonstrated an overall survival benefit for perioperative FLOT chemotherapy versus pre-operative chemoradiation therapy for GE junction adenocarcinoma.  Krish&...

Send us Fan Mail The Accelerators (Drs. Matt Spraker and Simul Parikh ) host a very special guest!  Cameron Tharp, M.P.H., R.T.T. has joined the TAP team to help us out with show development and offer new perspective to our content.  We introduce Cameron and tease future discussions on a hot radiation therapy topic: Advanced Practice Radiation Therapy. Of course, Simul makes Cameron sit in The Hot...

Send us Fan Mail The Accelerators (Drs. Matt Spraker and Simul Parikh ) team up with Radformation for a very special #ESTRO24 episode! We host Dr. Dora Correia , a Portuguese Radiation Oncologist currently working at Cantonal Hospital Aarau in Switzerland and EORTC Y-ECI ROSC Chair as well as Ana Rato , Medical Dosimetrist and Clinical Success Manager with Radformation. In honor of ESTRO 2024, we...

Send us Fan Mail The Accelerators (Drs. Matt Spraker and Simul Parikh ) host Dr. Clifford Hudis , medical oncologist and CEO of the American Society of Clinical Oncology.  We discuss a wide range of topics surrounding organizational leadership. While we examined the topic through a physician's lens, anyone that works in healthcare will love this conversation!  Leadership coaching, physician-l...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, The Accelerators (Drs. Matt Spraker and Simul Parikh ) host Mary Calys , DPT, a lymphedema physical therapist, and Katelyn Nees . They are the Senior Clinical Specialist and Senior Market Development Director for Tactile Medical , respectively. Mary and Katelyn update our medical knowledge on the etiology and management of lymphedema with a special focus on breast...

Send us Fan Mail At the end of last year, Dr. Jason Beckta published a docu-podcast about clinical supervision of radiotherapy services (parts one , two , and three ). The series covers supervision terms, legal precedent, and dispels the misinformation shared by conflicted parties.  In this episode, The Accelerators (Drs. Matt Spraker and Simul Parikh ) join up with Jason to interview the famous D...

Send us Fan Mail The Accelerators (Drs. Matt Spraker and Simul Parikh ) host early career radiation oncologists Drs. Austin Sim , Anna Paulsson , and Avinash Chaurasia to discuss... early career (EC) issues in radiation oncology! It's no secret that this is a passion topic for TAP. One of our first episodes dished out practical tips for new attendings (and new residents ), and we've sinc...

Send us Fan Mail It's another Accelerators journal club with Dr. Simul Parikh ! In this episode Simul reviews a recent industry sponsored publication in Advances in Radiation Oncology. Image guidance improves freedom from recurrence rate after superficial radiation therapy for non-melanoma skin cancer The article retrospectively compares patients with skin cancer treated with image-guided sup...