Modiri, Arezoo | University of Maryland School of Medicine

Academic Title:

Assistant Professor

Primary Appointment:

Radiation Oncology

Email:

AModiri@SOM.UMARYLAND.EDU

Phone (Primary):

410-706-2557

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Biosketch

Arezoo Modiri, Ph.D. is a research faculty member in the Department of Radiation Oncology at the University of Maryland. Dr. Modiri received her B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees in Electrical Engineering. During her Ph.D., she studied microwave-based medical diagnosis, specifically, Microwave-Imaging for Breast Cancer Detection. In September 2013, she joined the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center for her postdoctoral training. Her postdoctoral research was focused on 4D treatment planning for lung cancer, where she applied a swarm-intelligence-based algorithm to solve the optimization problem. She is now working on extending her treatment plan optimization research to emerging radiotherapy planning techniques. In recent years, her research has been mainly focused on developing and using mathematical models to include various complex objectives in the optimization of a treatment plan with the goal of improving the outcomes of treatment in terms of patient survival, and eventually, also bettering the post-treatment quality of life.

Highlighted Publications

Waxer J, Wong K, Modiri A, Charpentier A, Moiseenko V, Ronckers C, Taddei P, Constine L, Sprow G, Tamrazi B, MacDonald S, Olch A, Risk of Cerebrovascular Events Among Childhood and Adolescent Patients Receiving Cranial Radiotherapy: A PENTEC Normal Tissue Outcomes Comprehensive Review, International Journal of Radiation Oncology Biology Physics, 2022
Vicente EM, Modiri A, Kipritidis J, Yu KC, Sun K, Cammin J, Gopal A, Xu J, Mossahebi S, Hagan A, Yan Y, Rockwell Owen D, Mohindra P, Matuszak MM, Timmerman RD, Sawant A, Combining Serial and Parallel Functionality in Functional Lung Avoidance Radiation Therapy, International Journal of Radiation Oncology Biology Physics, Volume 113, Issue 2, Jun. 2022
Modiri A, Vogelius I, Rechner LA, et al. Outcome-based multiobjective optimization of lymphoma radiation therapy plans. The British Journal of Radiology. Nov 2021
Vicente, E.M., Modiri, A., Kipritidis, J., Hagan, A., Yu, K.C., Yan, Y., Owen, D.R., Matuszak, M.M., Mohindra, P., Sun, K. and Timmerman, R.D., 2021. Accounting for Serial and Parallel Functionality of the Lung May Minimize Post-Radiotherapy Loss of Respiratory Function in Lung Cancer Patients. International journal of radiation oncology, biology, physics, 111(3S), Nov. 2021 p.S53.
Kinkopf, P., Modiri, A., Yu, K.C., Yan, Y., Mohindra, P., Timmerman, R., Sawant, A. and Vicente, E., 2021. Virtual bronchoscopy-guided lung SAbR: Dosimetric implications of using AAA versus Acuros XB to calculate dose in airways. Biomedical Physics and Engineering Express, 7(6), Sep. 2021 p.065010.
E. Vicente, A. Modiri, J Kipritidis, A Hagan, K Yu, H Wibowo, Y Yan, D Owen, M Matuszak, P Mohindra, R Timmerman, A Sawant, “Functionally Weighted Airway Sparing (FWAS): a Functional Avoidance Method for Preserving Post-treatment Ventilation in Lung Radiotherapy,” Physics in Medicine and Biology, Jun. 2020
E. M. Nichols, A. Modiri, P. Mohindra, "Cardiotoxicity and Radiation Therapy: A Review of Clinical Impact in Breast and Thoracic Malignancies." Appl Rad Oncol. 2020
L. Rechner*, A. Modiri*, L. Stick, M. Maraldo, M. Aznar, S. Rice, A. Sawant, S. Bentzen, I. Vogelius, L. Specht, "Biological optimization for mediastinal lymphoma radiotherapy – a preliminary study", Accepted to be published in Acta Oncologica, 2020, *Drs. Rechner and Modiri are co-first authors.
A. Anvari, A. Modiri, R. Pandita, J. Mahmood, A. Sawant, "On-line dose delivery verification in small animal image-guided radiotherapy", Medical Physics, 2020.
E. Vicente, A. Modiri, K. Yu, H. Wibowo, Y. Yan, R. D. Timmerman, A. Sawant, "Accounting for respiratory motion in small serial structures during radiotherapy planning: proof of concept in virtual bronchoscopy-guided lung functional avoidance radiotherapy", Physics in Medicine and Biology, 2019
L. B. Stick, I. R. Vogelius, A. Modiri, S. R. Rice, M. V. Maraldo, A. Sawant, S. M. Bentzen, “Inverse radiotherapy planning based on bioeffect modelling for locally advanced left-sided breast cancer Radiotherapy and Oncology”, Radiotherapy and Oncology Green Journal, 2019
A. Modiri, L.B. Stick, S.R. Rice, L.A. Rechner, I.R. Vogelius, S.M. Bentzen and A. Sawant, “Individualized estimates of overall survival in radiation therapy plan optimization - A concept study,” Medical Physics, 2018
M. Hamzeei, A. Modiri, N. Kazemzadeh, A. Hagan, and A. Sawant, “Inverse-Planned Deliverable 4D-IMRT for Lung SBRT,” Medical Physics, 2018
N. Kazemzadeh*, A. Modiri*, S. Samanta, Y. Yan, R. Bland, T. Rozario, H. Wibowo, Ch. Ahn, R. Timmerman, A. Sawant, "Virtual bronchoscopy-guided treatment planning to map and mitigate radiation-induced airway injury in lung SAbR", International Journal of Radiation Oncology* Biology* Physics, 2018 - *Drs. Kazemzadeh and Modiri are co-first authors.
A. Hagan; A. Sawant; M. Folkerts; A. Modiri, "Multi-GPU configuration of 4D intensity modulated radiation therapy inverse planning using global optimization," Physics in Medicine and Biology, 2018 - Chosen as a featured article.
A. Modiri, P. Sabouri, X. Gu, R. Timmerman, A. Sawant, "Inversed-Planned Respiratory Phase Gating in Lung Conformal Radiation Therapy," International Journal of Radiation Oncology* Biology* Physics, 2017
A. Modiri, S. Goudreau, A. Rahimi, K. Kiasaleh, "Review of Breast Screening: Towards Clinical Realization of Microwave Imaging," Medical Physics, 2017
A. Modiri, X. Gu, A. Hagan, R. Bland, P. Iyengar, R. Timmerman, A. Sawant, "Inverse 4D Conformal Planning for Lung SBRT Using Particle Swarm Optimization," Physics in Medicine and Biology, 2016.
A. Modiri, X. Gu, A. Hagan, A. Sawant, "Radiotherapy Planning Using an Improved Search Strategy in Particle Swarm Optimization," IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering, 2016.
D. Cao, A. Modiri, G. Sureka, and K. Kiasaleh, "DSP Implementation of the Particle Swarm and Genetic Algorithms for Real-Time Design of Thinned Array Antennas," IEEE Antennas and Wireless Propagation Letters, 2012.
A. Modiri and K. Kiasaleh, "Efficient Design of Microstrip Antennas for SDR Applications Using Modified PSO Algorithm," IEEE Transactions on Magnetics, 2011.
A. Modiri and K. Kiasaleh, "Modification of Real-Number and Binary PSO Algorithms for Accelerated Convergence," IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation, 2011.

Additional Publication Citations

A Modiri, A Mendes, S Lam, A Berman, S Feigenberg, A Sawant, “Cardiotoxicity Mitigation in Central Lung Hypofractionated Radiotherapy Using Nonuniform Spatiotemporal Dose Modulation”, AAPM 2019, Med. Phys.
E Vicente, A Modiri, K Yu, H Wibowo, Y Yan, R Timmerman , A Sawant, “Accounting for Respiration-Induced Motion of Peripheral Airways in Virtual Bronchoscopy-Guided Lung Stereotactic Ablative Radiotherapy Planning”, AAPM 2019, Med. Phys.
A Modiri, L Rechner, LB Stick, MV Maraldo, SR Rice, A Sawant, SM Bentzen, I Vogelius, L Specht, “Is Underdosing the Target a Risk Worth Taking? Outcome Risk Modeling in Lymphoma Radiotherapy”, ASTRO 2019, Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys.
L Rechner, A Modiri, LB Stick, MV Maraldo, SR Rice, A Sawant, SM Bentzen, IR Vogelius, “Outcome-optimized radiotherapy planning using risk modeling for lymphoma–a preliminary study”, ESTRO 2019, Radiation & Oncology.
EM Vicente, A Modiri, J Kipritidis, A Hagan, KC Yu, H Wibowo, Y Yan, RD Timmerman, A Sawant, “Combining Virtual Bronchoscopy with 4DCT-Based Ventilation Mapping to Preserve Serial-and Parallel-Functioning Lung Elements in Lung Stereotactic Ablative Radiotherapy (SABR)”, ASTRO 2019, Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys.
A. Modiri, S.R. Rice, C. Schonewolf, A.T. Berman, S.J. Feigenberg, Ch.B. Simone II, S. Bentzen, A. Sawant, “Modeling Patient-specific Risk Factors for Central Lung Tumor SBRT Planning”, ASTRO 2018, Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys.
A. Modiri, S. Samanta, A. Hagan, T. Rozario, Y. Yan, K. Yu, H. Wibowo, R. Timmerman, A. Sawant, “Patient-Specific Mapping, Modeling and Mitigating Radiation-Induced Airway Injury in Lung SAbR”, AAPM 2018, Med. Phys.
A. Modiri, S. Rice, C. Schonewolf, A. Berman, S. Feigenberg, C. Simone, S. Bentzen, A. Sawant, “Prospectively Incorporating Patient-Specific Survival Model in Central Lung SBRT Planning”, AAPM 2018, Med. Phys.
A. Hagan, A. Sawant, A. Modiri, “GPU-Accelerated Optimization of Biologically Effective Dose for Inverse-Planned Nonuniform Spatio-Temporal Fractionation”, AAPM 2018, Med. Phys.
E. Vicente, A. Modiri, J. Kipritidis, A. Hagan, K. Yu, H. Wibowo, R. Timmerman, A. Sawant, “Integrating Virtual Bronchoscopy with Ventilation Mapping for Preserving Post-Treatment Respiratory Function in Lung Stereotactic Ablative Radiotherapy”, AAPM 2018, Med. Phys.
A. Modiri; L.B. Stick, L. Rechner, S.M. Bentzen, I. Vogelius, L. Specht, A. Sawant, "Outcome-Driven Inverse Treatment Planning for Conformal Lymphoma Radiotherapy", AAPM 2017, Med. Phys.
A. Hagan, A. Sawant, M. Folkerts, M. Svatos, A. Modiri, "GPU-Accelerated Research Eclipse Treatment Planning System for Higher-Dimensional Motion-Adaptive Inverse Treatment Planning", AAPM 2017, Med. Phys.
A. Modiri, A. Sawant, "Quantification of Dosimetric Error in Real-Time MLC Tracking for Lung SBRT", AAPM 2017, Med. Phys.
M. Hamzeei, A. Modiri, A. Hagan, N. Kazemzadeh, A. Sawant, "Mixed-Integer Optimization-Based Aperture Sequencing for Deliverable 4D IMRT in Lung SBRT", AAPM 2017, Med. Phys.
N. Kazemzadeh, A. Modiri, M. Hamzeei, A. Hagan, T. Rozario, Y. Yan, H. Wibowo, J. Yu, R.D. Timmerman, A. Sawant, "Virtual Bronchoscopy-Guided Risk-Management Based Treatment Planning to Mitigate Radiation-Induced Airway Injury in Lung SAbR",AAPM 2017, Med. Phys.
A. Modiri; L.B. Stick, S.R. Rice, I. Vogelius, S.M. Bentzen, A. Sawant, “Outcome-Driven Inverse Treatment Planning Technique for Conformal Breast Radiotherapy”, ASTRO 2017, Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys.
L.B. Stick, I. Vogelius, A. Modiri, S.R. Rice, A. Sawant, S.M. Bentzen, "Radiation Therapy Planning Using Bioeffect Modeling for Left-Sided Breast Cancer", ASTRO 2017, Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys.
A. Modiri; A. Sawant, “Beam-Specific Optimal Respiratory Phase Gating in Lung Radiotherapy”, ASTRO 2016, Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys.
A. Modiri; A. Sawant, “Variable-Beam Fractionation for SAbR”, AAPM 2016, Med. Phys.
A. Hagan; A. Modiri; M. Svatos; A. Sawant, “4D IMRT Planning Using An Early Prototype GPU-Enabled Eclipse Workstation”, AAPM 2016, Med. Phys.
T. Chiu; T. Long; A. Modiri; Z. Tian; A. Sawant; Y. Yan; S. Jiang; X. Gu, “4pi Dynamic Conformal Arc Therapy Dynamic Conformal Arc Therapy (DCAT) for SBRT”, AAPM 2016, Med. Phys.
A. Modiri; P. Sabouri; X. Gu; R. Timmerman; A. Sawant, “Swarm Intelligence-Based Personalized Respiratory Gating in Lung SAbR”, AAPM 2016, Med. Phys.
A. Modiri; X. Gu; A. Hagan; A. Sawant, "Improved swarm intelligence solution in large scale radiation therapy inverse planning," IEEE Great Lakes Biomedical Conference (GLBC), 2015, May 2015.
A. Modiri; X. GU; A. Hagan; A. Sawant, SU-ET-06: “4D Particle Swarm Optimization to Enable Lung SBRT in Patients with Central And/or Large Tumors.” AAPM 2015, Medical Physics.
A. Modiri; A. Hagan; X. GU; A. Sawant, SU-ET-500: “Initial Implementation of GPU-Based Particle Swarm Optimization for 4D IMRT Planning in Lung SBRT.” AAPM 2015, Medical Physics.
A. Sawant; A. Modiri; R. Bland; Y Yan; C. Ahn; R. Timmerman, SU-C-BRA-07: “Virtual Bronchoscopy-Guided IMRT Planning for Mapping and Avoiding Radiation Injury to the Airway Tree in Lung SAbR.” AAPM 2015, Medical Physics.
M. Folkerts; A. Modiri; B. Ungun; X. Jia; S. Jiang; A. Sawant, SU-C-BRD-02: “Monte Carlo Based VMAT Dose Re-Optimization for Patient Specific Quality Assurance and Failed Plan Recovery Using Re-Weighted Aperture MUs.” AAPM 2015, Medical Physics.
R. Bland; R. Timmerman; C. Ahn; Y. Yan; A. Modiri; A. Sawant, “Dose Response Relationship for Stereotactic Ablative Body Radiation Therapy Associated Airway Collapse”, ASTRO 2015, Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys.
A. Modiri, X. Gu, and A. Sawant, TH-A-9A-02: BEST IN PHYSICS (THERAPY)-“4D IMRT Planning Using Highly-Parallelizable Particle Swarm Optimization", AAPM 2014, Medical Physics.
A. Modiri and K. Kiasaleh, "Experimental results for a novel microwave radiator structure targeting non-invasive breast cancer detection," Global Humanitarian Technology Conference (GHTC), 2013 IEEE , pp.203,208, 20-23 Oct. 2013.
A. Modiri and K. Kiasaleh, "Non-invasive microwave breast cancer detection - A comparative study," Global Humanitarian Technology Conference (GHTC), 2013 IEEE, pp.197, 202, 20-23 Oct. 2013.
A. Modiri, K. Kiasaleh, S. Chandrahas, "Characterizing a proposed sixteen-element array antenna designed for microwave imaging of breast cancer," Radio and Wireless Symposium (RWS), 2013 IEEE , vol., no., pp.265,267, 20-23 Jan. 2013.
J. Singh, A. Modiri, K. Kiasaleh, "Novel UWB hybrid dipole antenna with quasi-isotropic radiation pattern," Radio and Wireless Symposium (RWS), 2013 IEEE , vol., no., pp.124,126, 20-23 Jan. 2013.
A. Modiri and K. Kiasaleh, “A Novel Discrete Particle Swarm Optimization Algorithm for Estimating Dielectric Constants of Tissue”, the 34^th Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society ,EMBC2012, San Diego, 28 Aug.-1 Sep. 2012.
A. Modiri, K. Kiasaleh, "Improvements on Active Microwave Radiometry for Breast Cancer Detection", Metroplex Day, Annual Conference on Research Opportunities, Arlington, TX, 3 Feb. 2012.
A. Modiri and K. Kiasaleh, “Permittivity Estimation for Breast Cancer Detection Using Particle Swarm Optimization Algorithm”, 33rd Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society ,EMBC2011, Boston, 31 Aug.-3 Sep. 2011.
A. Modiri and K. Kiasaleh, “Real Time Reconfiguration of Wearable Antennas”, IEEE Topical Conference on Biomedical Wireless Technologies, Networks & Sensing Systems, BioWireleSS 2011, RWW 2011, Phoenix, AZ, 16 - 20 Jan. 2011.
A. Modiri and K. Kiasaleh, “Efficient Design of Microstrip Antennas for SDR Applications Using Modified PSO Algorithm”, 14th Biennial IEEE Conference on Electromagnetic Field Computation (CEFC), Chicago, IL, 9-12 May 2010

Research Interests

Optimization algorithms

Radiotherapy planning

Biological risks of radiation

Bio-electromagnetics

Microwave imaging

Awards and Affiliations


Jun. 2020	The Journal of Physics in Medicine & Biology identified my work “as counting amongst the most impactful of early-career researchers output in the field.”

Apr. 2019	AAPM Summer School Scholarship – Practical Medical Image Analysis
Oct. 2018	ASTRO Annual Meeting Abstract Award – Best in Physics and the Basic/Translational Science Award in the Junior Investigator Radiation Physics category
Jun. 2018	Abstracts were chosen in the category of Science Highlights by the AAPM
Jan. 2018	Paper was chosen as a featured article in the Journal of Physics in Medicine and Biology
Jun. 2016 – Jun. 2018	AAPM Science Council Associates Mentorship Program Award

Jul. 2014	Best in Physics (Therapy), Abstract – The 56^th annual meeting of the AAPM
May 2014	President David Daniel Fellowship Award, University of Texas at Dallas
May 2013	Travel Grant, Phi-Kappa-Phi Society
Aug. 2012	Golden Key International Honour Society Nomination, University of Texas at Dallas
Spring 2012	Teaching Assistant Excellence Award, University of Texas at Dallas
Spring 2010 – Spring 2012	Teaching Assistant Graduate Scholarship, University of Texas at Dallas
Summers 2009-2011	Research Assistant Graduate Scholarship, University of Texas at Dallas

Grants and Contracts

Jul 2021	The University of Maryland Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum Cancer Center (UMGCCC) pilot study grant on CT-based surrogates of cardiotoxicity
Jul. 2020	Varian Research Grant to study “Risk-model-based radiotherapy treatment planning to optimize individual overall survival”

Apr. 2019	Varian Research Grant to study “Improving lung functionality preservation after radiation therapy using Virtual Bronchoscopy-guided treatment planning”

Jun. 2016	Research Seed Grant Award, Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Maryland

Professional Activity

2021- AAPM member of Undergraduate Summer Fellowship and Outreach Subcommittee

2021- AAPM member of Machine Learning Subcommittee as Consultant

2019- Member (modeler), PENTEC (PEdiatric Normal Tissue Effects in the Clinic)

2019 Invited reviewer, AAPM Working Group on SBRT (aka HyTEC)

2017- Full member, the American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM)

2016- Junior Member, American Association of Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology (ASTRO)

2016-2017 Industry Advisory Board Member, The Shoulders of Giants Inc.

2016 Invited reviewer, International Journal of Engineering Science and Technology

2015-2016 Member, Association of Iranian Physicists in Medicine

2015 Board Member, The Shoulders of Giants Inc.

2013- Invited Reviewer, IET Microwaves, Antennas & Propagation Journal

2013-2017 Junior Member, American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM)

2013-2015 Member, Phi Kappa Phi Society

2013-2015 Volunteer Scientist, Dallas ISD, Irma Rangel Women’s Leadership School, Dallas, TX

2013- Invited Reviewer, IET Microwaves, Antennas & Propagation Journal

2012- Volunteer Reviewer, Elsevier Editorial System

2012 Invited Reviewer, “Swarm Intelligence for Electrical Engineering” book

2012 Volunteer Reviewer, IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques

2011 Student Volunteer, 8^th International Conference on Body Sensor Networks

2010 Volunteer Reviewer, IEEE CEFC2010

2011-2012 Member, IEEE Communication Society

2011- Member, IEEE Microwave Theory and Techniques Society

2011- Member, IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society

2011- Member, IEEE Women Engineers

2009- Member, IEEE Graduate Student

Links of Interest

http://arezoomodiri.weebly.com/

Arezoo Modiri, PhD

Biosketch

Highlighted Publications