Professor Annette Haworth
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Professor Annette Haworth

FACPSEM, PhD (UWA), MSc (UWA), BSc(Hons, Leeds, UK)
Professor of Medical Physics
Director, Institute of Medical Physics
Phone
+61 2 8627 5457
Address
A28 - Physics Building
The University of Sydney
Professor Annette Haworth

Prof Haworth is an ACPSEM accredited medical physicist with more than 25 years hospital based, clinical medical physics experience. She has held the Chair of Medical Physics role at the University of Sydney since 2016. Annette is the Director of the Institute of Medical Physics and the course director for the Master of Medical Physics course. Since August 2023 Prof Haworth has also held the conjoint role of Director, Radiation Oncology Medical Physics at Westmead and Blacktown Hospitals. With proud links to the University of Sydney, both hospitals provide a full range of high-quality radiation therapy treatments and are actively engaged in further developing their reputation as a world leaders in radiation oncology related research and development.

Prof Haworth’s research work includes the development of radiobiological models and advanced imaging techniques for biologically targeted radiation therapy. Prof Haworth has an international reputation in the field of brachytherapy; she has represented the Australasian Brachytherapy Group (ABG) on several local and international brachytherapy related committees and is a co-facilitator of the ABG multidisciplinary Clinical Brachytherapy Workshops. Prof Haworth’s PhD (awarded with distinction) involved development of bio-effect models in prostate cancer radiotherapy. After developing the first Australian program for prostate cancer therapy with permanently-implanted radioactive seeds, she maintained a focus on prostate cancer radiotherapy, and in 2010-2014 successfully lead a PdCCRS funded project to further develop the bioeffect model for focal brachytherapy, establish imaging protocols to extract data to inform the model and develop software to automate treatment planning for brachytherapy and external beam radiation therapy using the bio-effect model.Annette leads a research team with multiple national and international collaborations,a team of post-doctoral fellows and multiple PhD students. She has received several competitive grants including an NHMRC project grant (2016) to further the development of the “BiRT” project (https://birt.sydney.edu.au/). The BiRT project will develop imaging biomarkers to provide quantitative tumour characteristic descriptors to inform a biological model for radiotherapy treatment planning and treatment response in multiple tumour site including prostate, liver, colorectal cancer and breast.

Prof Haworth has had significant involvement in the design, management and quality assurance of clinical trials. She is a Life Member of the clinical trials TransTasman Radiation Oncology Group (TROG), and member of the Board of Directors. Annette is the principal investigator for the SI-BiRT (sequential imaging in biofocussed radiotherapy) clinical trials (ANZCTR UTN U1111-1221-9589).

I lead a team of physicists, computer scientists, doctors, surgeons and pathologists are working together to devise radiation therapy treatments that are tailored to the specific patient. Unlike other treatments where the same radiation dose is delivered to all patients with the same type of tumour, our goal is customise the radiation dose to the specific patient, not the specific tumour. We want to deliver just the right amount of radiation to cure each cancer without causing lasting side effects. Our team is working on methods using AI and medical imaging techniques to define the biological distribution of cells in a cancer. We want to design and deliver radiation treatments whereby only the treatment resistant cells get very large doses of radiation, whilst the less aggressive cells get lower doses. This way we can maximise the chances of effectively treating the cancer whilst minimising the radiation dose, and hence harm, to the healthy surrounding tissue.

Research Student

Project title

Institution

Elizabeth Claridge Mackonis (PhD)

A Framework for the Safe and Effective Implementation of New Technology for Radiation Oncology

University of Sydney

Taka Hiok (PhD)

Towards a personalisedtheranosticsplatform through an improved understanding of the biological effects of radionuclide therapy

University of Sydney

Arpita Dutta (PhD)

Development of imaging biomarkers to evaluate treatment response in patients undergoing prostate cancer radiotherapy

University of Auckland

Yutong Zhao (PhD)

Practical implementation of prostate cancer radiotherapy based on tumour biological characterization

University of WA (completed February 2024)

Jaysree Ukath(PhD)

Four-dimensional verification of moving targets in radiation therapy

University of Sydney

Michael Lloyd (PhD)

Investigations into Impact and Utilisation of Secondary Hadrons in Particle Therapy.

University of Sydney

Mahesh Chandroth (PhD)

Development of a bone equivalent normoxic polymer gel for dosimetric verification in radiation oncology.

University of Sydney

Thi Hoang Anh Le (Annie) (PhD)

Developing a personalized approach to radiation therapy using 3D-printed bolus

University of Sydney

Kazi Ridita Mahtaba (PhD)

A Biologically Targeted Approach for Optimizing Salvage Radiotherapy of Recurrent Prostate Cancer

University of Sydney

Fidel Navarro Salazar (PhD)

Novel radiation therapeutic approaches using functional imaging for poor prognosis primary liver cancer.

University of Sydney

Him Chan

Using PSMA PET/CT and artificial intelligence to detect prostate cancer and assess treatment response to radiation therapy

University of Auckland

Danielle Chrystall (PhD)

Development and clinical evaluation of Direct Beam-view Tracking: A real-time motion management strategy that uses artificial intelligence to automatically segment fiducial markers in beam’s eye view images in radiation therapy.

University of Sydney

https://birt.sydney.edu.au

Fellow, Australasian College of Physical Scientists in Medicine

Member, Australasian Brachytherapy Group (Chair 2013-2015)

Member, ESTRO

Member, IMP

Member, TROG (Life membership awarded 2018)

In 2021 Prof Haworth was awared a University of Sydney DVCR Cancer Gift, providing salary support for a five-year period to pursue her imprtant work in cancer research. In 2015 Prof Haworth was awarded the prestigious Judith Stitt Award, by the American Brachytherapy Society. In 2007 she received the inaugural TROG Outstanding Achievement Award having served as the TROG physicist and member of the Scientific Committee 2003–2011 and was awarded Life Membership in in 2018. Annette is a past chair of the Australasian Brachytherapy Group and has received multiple awards for her work in the area of prostate brachytherapy.

Project titleResearch student
Bone marrow sparing extended-field radiation therapy for gynaecological cancers to reduce haematological toxicityGemma BUSUTTIL
Improving the Implementation of New Technology for Radiation OncologyElizabeth CLARIDGE MACKONIS
Developing a personalized approach to radiation therapy using 3D-printed bolusAnnie LE
A Biologically Targeted Approach for Optimizing Salvage Radiotherapy of Recurrent Prostate CancerKazi Ridita MAHTABA
Novel radiation therapeutic approaches using functional imaging for poor prognosis primary liver cancer.Fidel NAVARRO SALAZAR
Four-dimensional verification of moving targets in radiation therapyJaysree UKATH

Publications

Book Chapters

  • Haworth, A., Ibbott, G. (2013). Medical Physics for Clinical Trials. In Jacob Van Dyk (Eds.), The Modern Technology of Radiation Oncology, Vol 3, (pp. 487-510). Madison, WI, United States: Medical Physics.
  • Hickey-Moody, A., Haworth, R. (2009). Affective Literacies. In Masny, Diana; Cole, David R (Eds.), Multiple Literacies Theory: A Deleuzian Perspective, (pp. 79-91). Rotterdam, Netherlands: Sense Publishers. [More Information]

Journals

  • Wigg, A., Tibballs, J., Woodman, R., Stuart, K., Le, H., Roberts, S., Olynyk, J., Strasser, S., Wallace, M., Martin, J., Haworth, A., et al (2024). A randomised controlled trial of Standard Of Care versus RadioAblaTion in Early Stage HepatoCellular Carcinoma (SOCRATES HCC). BMC Cancer, 24(1). [More Information]
  • Le Bao, V., Cloak, K., Sidhom, M., Kneebone, A., Holloway, L., Haworth, A., Dowling, J., Walker, A., Arumugam, S., Jameson, M., et al (2024). Evaluating the relationship between contouring variability and modelled treatment outcome for prostate bed radiotherapy. Physics in Medicine and Biology, 69(8), 085008. [More Information]
  • Claridge Mackonis, E., Haworth, A., Stensmyr, R., Poldy, R., White, P., Moutrie, Z., Gorjiara, T., Seymour, E., Erven, T., Hardcastle, N. (2024). Improving motion management in radiation therapy: findings from a workshop and survey in Australia and New Zealand. Physical and Engineering Sciences in Medicine. [More Information]

Conferences

  • Haworth, A., Sun, Y., Ebert, M., Reynolds, H., Betts, J., Wraith, D., Mitchell, C., Murphy, D., Parameswaran, B., Williams, S. (2019). Use of contemporary prostate brachytherapy approaches in clinical trials. Mini-Micro and Nano Dosimetry (MMND 2018), Mooloolaba: Institute of Physics Publishing. [More Information]
  • Ghasab, M., Paplinski, A., Betts, J., Reynolds, H., Haworth, A. (2017). Automatic 3D modelling for prostate cancer brachytherapy. 2017 IEEE International Conference on Image Processing (ICIP 2017), China: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). [More Information]

2024

  • Wigg, A., Tibballs, J., Woodman, R., Stuart, K., Le, H., Roberts, S., Olynyk, J., Strasser, S., Wallace, M., Martin, J., Haworth, A., et al (2024). A randomised controlled trial of Standard Of Care versus RadioAblaTion in Early Stage HepatoCellular Carcinoma (SOCRATES HCC). BMC Cancer, 24(1). [More Information]
  • Le Bao, V., Cloak, K., Sidhom, M., Kneebone, A., Holloway, L., Haworth, A., Dowling, J., Walker, A., Arumugam, S., Jameson, M., et al (2024). Evaluating the relationship between contouring variability and modelled treatment outcome for prostate bed radiotherapy. Physics in Medicine and Biology, 69(8), 085008. [More Information]
  • Claridge Mackonis, E., Haworth, A., Stensmyr, R., Poldy, R., White, P., Moutrie, Z., Gorjiara, T., Seymour, E., Erven, T., Hardcastle, N. (2024). Improving motion management in radiation therapy: findings from a workshop and survey in Australia and New Zealand. Physical and Engineering Sciences in Medicine. [More Information]

2023

  • Claridge Mackonis, E., Hardcastle, N., Haworth, A. (2023). A survey of compliance with stereotactic ablative body radiotherapy quality recommendations. Journal of Medical Imaging and Radiation Oncology. [More Information]
  • Beaulieu, L., Ballester, F., Granero, D., Tedgren, Å., Haworth, A., Lowenstein, J., Ma, Y., Mourtada, F., Papagiannis, P., Rivard, M., et al (2023). AAPM WGDCAB Report 372: A joint AAPM, ESTRO, ABG, and ABS report on commissioning of model-based dose calculation algorithms in brachytherapy. Medical Physics, 50(8), e946-e960. [More Information]
  • Min, H., Dowling, J., Jameson, M., Cloak, K., Faustino, J., Sidhom, M., Martin, J., Cardoso, M., Ebert, M., Haworth, A., Holloway, L., et al (2023). Clinical target volume delineation quality assurance for MRI-guided prostate radiotherapy using deep learning with uncertainty estimation. Radiotherapy and Oncology, 186. [More Information]

2022

  • Claridge Mackonis, E., Sykes, J., Hardcastle, N., Espinoza, A., Brown, A., Perez, G., Evans, B., Sheehan, H., Haworth, A. (2022). A comparison of in-house and shared RapidPlan models for prostate radiation therapy planning. Physical and Engineering Sciences in Medicine, 45(4), 1029-1041. [More Information]
  • Finnegan, R., Reynolds, H., Ebert, M., Sun, Y., Holloway, L., Sykes, J., Dowling, J., Mitchell, C., Williams, S., Murphy, D., Haworth, A. (2022). A statistical, voxelised model of prostate cancer for biologically optimised radiotherapy. Physics And Imaging In Radiation Oncology, 21, 136-145. [More Information]
  • Pudsey, L., Haworth, A., White, P., Moutrie, Z., Jonker, B., Foote, M., Poder, J. (2022). Current status of intra-cranial stereotactic radiotherapy and stereotactic radiosurgery in Australia and New Zealand: key considerations from a workshop and surveys. Physical and Engineering Sciences in Medicine, 45(1), 251-259. [More Information]

2021

  • Chlap, P., Min, H., Vandenberg, N., Dowling, J., Holloway, L., Haworth, A. (2021). A review of medical image data augmentation techniques for deep learning applications. Journal of Medical Imaging and Radiation Oncology, 65(5), 545-563. [More Information]
  • Wang, Y., Tadimalla, S., Hayden, A., Holloway, L., Haworth, A. (2021). Artificial intelligence and imaging biomarkers for prostate radiation therapy during and after treatment. Journal of Medical Imaging and Radiation Oncology, 65(5), 612-626. [More Information]
  • Thwaites, D., Moses, D., Haworth, A., Barton, M., Holloway, L. (2021). Artificial intelligence in medical imaging and radiation oncology: Opportunities and challenges. Journal of Medical Imaging and Radiation Oncology, 65(5), 481-485. [More Information]

2020

  • Kneebone, A., Fraser-Browne, C., Duchesne, G., Fisher, R., Frydenberg, M., Herschtal, A., Williams, S., Brown, C., Delprado, W., Haworth, A., Turner, S., Woo, H., et al (2020). Adjuvant radiotherapy versus early salvage radiotherapy following radical prostatectomy (TROG 08.03/ANZUP RAVES): a randomised, controlled, phase 3, non-inferiority trial. The Lancet Oncology, 21(10), 1331-1340. [More Information]
  • Barber, J., Yuen, J., Jameson, M., Schmidt, L., Sykes, J., Gray, A., Hardcastle, N., Choong, C., Poder, J., Walker, A., Haworth, A., Thwaites, D., et al (2020). Deforming to Best Practice: Key considerations for deformable image registration in radiotherapy. Journal of Medical Radiation Sciences, 67(4), 318-332. [More Information]
  • Marcello, M., Denham, J., Kennedy, A., Haworth, A., Steigler, A., Greer, P., Holloway, L., Dowling, J., Jameson, M., Roach, D., et al (2020). Increased Dose to Organs in Urinary Tract Associates With Measures of Genitourinary Toxicity in Pooled Voxel-Based Analysis of 3 Randomized Phase III Trials. Frontiers in Oncology, 10, 1-20. [More Information]

2019

  • Sun, Y., Williams, S., Byrne, D., Keam, S., Reynolds, H., Mitchell, C., Wraith, D., Murphy, D., Haworth, A. (2019). Association analysis between quantitative MRI features and hypoxia-related genetic profiles in prostate cancer: A pilot study. British Journal of Radiology, 92(1104), 1-7. [More Information]
  • Sun, Y., Reynolds, H., Wraith, D., Williams, S., Finnegan, M., Mitchell, C., Murphy, D., Haworth, A. (2019). Automatic stratification of prostate tumour aggressiveness using multiparametric MRI: a horizontal comparison of texture features. Acta Oncologica, 58(8), 1118-1126. [More Information]
  • Cloak, K., Jameson, M., Paneghel, A., Wiltshire, K., Kneebone, A., Pearse, M., Sidhom, M., Tang, C., Fraser-Browne, C., Holloway, L., Haworth, A. (2019). Contour variation is a primary source of error when delivering post prostatectomy radiotherapy: Results of the Trans-Tasman Radiation Oncology Group 0803 Radiotherapy Adjuvant Versus Early Salvage (RAVES) benchmarking exercise. Journal of Medical Imaging and Radiation Oncology, 63(3), 390-398. [More Information]

2018

  • Smith, R., Hanlon, M., Panettieri, V., Millar, J., Matheson, B., Haworth, A., Franich, R. (2018). An integrated system for clinical treatment verification of HDR prostate brachytherapy combining source tracking with pretreatment imaging. Brachytherapy, 17(1), 111-121. [More Information]
  • Marcello, M., Ebert, M., Haworth, A., Steigler, A., Kennedy, A., Bulsara, M., Kearvell, R., Joseph, D., Denham, J. (2018). Association between measures of treatment quality and disease progression in prostate cancer radiotherapy: An exploratory analysis from the TROG 03.04 RADAR trial. Journal of Medical Imaging and Radiation Oncology, 62(2), 248-255. [More Information]
  • Marcello, M., Ebert, M., Haworth, A., Steigler, A., Kennedy, A., Joseph, D., Denham, J. (2018). Association between treatment planning and delivery factors and disease progression in prostate cancer radiotherapy: Results from the TROG 03.04 RADAR trial. Radiotherapy and Oncology, 126(2), 249-256. [More Information]

2017

  • Smith, R., Haworth, A., Panettieri, V., Millar, J., Franich, R. (2017). 3D catheter reconstruction in HDR prostate brachytherapy for pre-treatment verification using a flat panel detector. Physica Medica, 39, 121-131. [More Information]
  • Ma, Y., Vijande, J., Ballester, F., Carlsson Tedgren, A., Granero, D., Haworth, A., Mourtada, F., Fonseca, G., Zourari, K., Papagiannis, P., et al (2017). A generic TG-186 shielded applicator for commissioning model-based dose calculation algorithms for high-dose-rate 192Ir brachytherapy. Medical Physics, 44(11), 5961-5976. [More Information]
  • Antony, R., Herschtal, A., Todd, S., Phillips, C., Haworth, A. (2017). A pilot study on geometrical uncertainties for intra ocular cancers in radiotherapy. Australasian Physical and Engineering Sciences in Medicine, 40(2), 433-439. [More Information]

2016

  • Smith, R., Haworth, A., Panettieri, V., Millar, J., Franich, R. (2016). A method for verification of treatment delivery in HDR prostate brachytherapy using a flat panel detector for both imaging and source tracking. Medical Physics, 43(5), 2435-2442. [More Information]
  • Haworth, A., Mears, C., Betts, J., Reynolds, H., Tack, G., Leo, K., Williams, S., Ebert, M. (2016). A radiobiology-based inverse treatment planning method for optimisation of permanent l-125 prostate implants in focal brachytherapy. Physics in Medicine and Biology, 61(1), 430-444. [More Information]
  • Haworth, A. (2016). Brachytherapy: a dying art or missed opportunity. Australasian Physical and Engineering Sciences in Medicine, 39(1), 5-9. [More Information]

2015

  • Ballester, F., Carlsson Tedgren, A., Domingo, G., Haworth, A., Mourtada, F., Fonseca, G., Zourari, K., Papagiannis, P., Rivard, M., et al (2015). A generic high-dose rate 192Ir brachytherapy source for evaluation of model-based dose calculations beyond the TG-43 formalism. Medical Physics, 42(6), 3048-3062. [More Information]
  • Reynolds, H., Williams, S., Zhang, A., Chakravorty, R., Rawlinson, D., Ong, C., Esteva, M., Mitchell, C., Parameswaran, B., Finnegan, M., et al (2015). Development of a registration framework to validate MRI with histology for prostate focal therapy. Medical Physics, 42(12), 7078-7089. [More Information]
  • Brown, E., Cray, A., Haworth, A., Chander, S., Lin, R., Subramanian, B., Ng, M. (2015). Dose planning objectives in anal canal cancer IMRT: The TROG ANROTAT experience. Journal of Medical Radiation Sciences, 62(2), 99-107. [More Information]

2014

  • Carter, H., Martin, A., Schofield, D., Duchesne, G., Haworth, A., Hornby, C., Sidhom, M., Jackson, M. (2014). A decision model to estimate the cost-effectiveness of intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) compared to three dimensional conformal radiation therapy (3DCRT) in patients receiving radiotherapy to the prostate bed. Radiotherapy and Oncology, 112(2), 187-193. [More Information]
  • Pearse, M., Fraser-Browne, C., Davis, I., Duchesne, G., Fisher, R., Frydenberg, M., Haworth, A., Jose, C., Joseph, D., Woo, H., et al (2014). A Phase III trial to investigate the timing of radiotherapy for prostate cancer with high-risk features: background and rationale of the Radiotherapy - Adjuvant Versus Early Salvage (RAVES) trial. BJU International, 113(Suppl 2), 7-12. [More Information]
  • Reynolds, H., Williams, S., Zhang, A., Ong, C., Rawlinson, D., Chakravorty, R., Mitchell, C., Haworth, A. (2014). Cell density in prostate histopathology images as a measure of tumor distribution. Progress in Biomedical Optics and Imaging, 9041, 90410S. [More Information]

2013

  • Dempsey, C., Smith, R., Nyathi, T., Ceylan, A., Howard, L., Patel, V., Das, R., Haworth, A. (2013). ACPSEM brachytherapy working group recommendations for quality assurance in brachytherapy. Australasian Physical and Engineering Sciences in Medicine, 36(4), 387-396. [More Information]
  • Haworth, A., Wilfert, L., Butler, D., Ebert, M., Todd, S., Bucci, J., Duchesne, G., Joseph, D., Kron, T. (2013). Australasian brachytherapy audit: Results of the 'end-to-end' dosimetry pilot study. Journal of Medical Imaging and Radiation Oncology, 57(4), 490-498. [More Information]
  • Haworth, A., Butler, D., Wilfert, L., Ebert, M., Todd, S., Hayton, A., Kron, T. (2013). Comparison of TLD calibration methods for 192Ir dosimetry. Journal of Applied Clinical Medical Physics, 14(1), 258-272. [More Information]

2012

  • Foroudi, F., Wilson, L., Bressel, M., Haworth, A., Hornby, C., Pham, D., Cramb, J., Gill, S., Tai, K., Kron, T. (2012). A dosimetric comparison of 3D conformal vs intensity modulated vs volumetric arc radiation therapy for muscle invasive bladder cancer. Radiation Oncology, 7(1), 111. [More Information]
  • Senthi, S., Gill, S., Haworth, A., Kron, T., Cramb, J., Rolfo, A., Thomas, J., Duchesne, G., Hamilton, C., et al (2012). Benchmarking dosimetric quality assessment of prostate intensity-modulated radiotherapy. International Journal of Radiation Oncology Biology Physics, 82(2), 998-1005. [More Information]
  • Nguyen, B., Hornby, C., Kron, T., Cramb, J., Rolfo, A., Pham, D., Haworth, A., Tai, K., Foroudi, F. (2012). Optimising the dosimetric quality and efficiency of post-prostatectomy radiotherapy: A planning study comparing the performance of volumetric-modulated arc therapy (VMAT) with an optimised seven-field intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) technique. Journal of Medical Imaging and Radiation Oncology, 56(2), 211-219. [More Information]

2011

  • Roozen, K., Kron, T., Haworth, A., Franich, R. (2011). Evaluation of EBT radiochromic film using a multiple exposure technique. Australasian Physical and Engineering Sciences in Medicine, 34(2), 281-289. [More Information]
  • Fox, C., Kron, T., Leahy, M., Duchesne, G., Williams, S., Tai, K., Haworth, A., Herschtal, A., Foroudi, F. (2011). Interfraction patient motion and implant displacement in prostate high dose rate brachytherapy. Medical Physics, 38(11), 5838-5843. [More Information]
  • Hayton, A., Haworth, A., Waterhouse, D., Todd, S., Pillainayagam, J. (2011). Lack of backscatter factor measurements in HDR applications with MOSkins. Australasian Physical and Engineering Sciences in Medicine, 34(4), 545-552. [More Information]

2009

  • Hickey-Moody, A., Haworth, R. (2009). Affective Literacies. In Masny, Diana; Cole, David R (Eds.), Multiple Literacies Theory: A Deleuzian Perspective, (pp. 79-91). Rotterdam, Netherlands: Sense Publishers. [More Information]

Selected Grants

2020

  • CRFI-Annette Haworth, Haworth A, DVC Research/CRFI-Frank Taylor - Bequest

2019

  • Cancer imaging and targeted radiation therapy: Innovation, discovery and translation, Keall P, O'Brien R, Nguyen D, Shieh C, Haworth A, Kuncic Z, Booth J, Eade T, Grieve S, Cancer Institute NSW/Translational Program Grant