SUMMARY
April Chau, Ph.D., focuses her research on multimodality imaging of the heart, which uses different types of scans to get a more complete picture of cardiac health. During her graduate studies, she investigated how radiation therapy affects the heart and compared various treatment planning techniques to better understand and reduce cardiac toxicity. Since completing her residency, Dr. Chau's clinical research has focused on magnetic resonance (MR)-guided radiotherapy, particularly for liver cancer, and on processing large datasets to improve treatment for brain metastases.
She is deeply committed to improving patient care, identifying unmet needs and fostering collaboration within the global medical physics community — especially in low- and middle-income countries.
Focus areas
- Image-guided radiotherapy.
- Multimodality functional imaging.
- Medical physics needs in low- and middle-income countries.
- Auto segmentation and treatment planning.
Significance to patient care
In radiation therapy, one of the most important parts of successful treatment is making sure the right amount of radiation reaches the exact location of the tumor. Dr. Chau's research uses advanced imaging and planning techniques — such as combining different types of scans and using 4D MRI with large datasets — to help healthcare professionals more accurately identify tumors, understand how severe they are and track how they move. This can make treatment more precise and effective.
Additionally, in high-income countries, quality care is generally delivered based on patient-centric needs with adequate resources. Through collaboration, Dr. Chau is working to share imaging improvements worldwide to increase access to quality care in countries with fewer medical resources.