Skip to main content
Give
Edit Icon - Click to update your profileUpdate Your Profile

Dario Rodrigues, PhD

Academic Title:

Assistant Professor

Primary Appointment:

Radiation Oncology

Additional Title:

Assistant Professor

Email:

drodrigues@som.umaryland.edu

Location:

Maryland Proton Treatment Center, 850 West Baltimore Street, 370, Baltimore, MD 21201

Phone (Primary):

410-369-5254

Education and Training

NOVA University Lisbon, Portugal, BS, Biomedical Engineering, 2005

NOVA University Lisbon, Portugal, MS, Biomedical Engineering, 2007

NOVA University Lisbon, Portugal, PhD, Biomedical Engineering, 2013

Duke University, NC, Research Scholar, Thermal Medical Physics, 2013

Thomas Jefferson University, PA, Postdoctoral Fellow, Thermal Oncology Physics, 2018

Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, PA, Hyperthermia Medical Physics Resident, 2018

Biosketch

Dr. Dario Rodrigues is one of the few thermal oncology physicists in the USA. His specialty is to treat cancer using focused heat generated by radio waves, a thermal therapy technique also known as hyperthermia, which is a potent enhancer of chemo- and radiotherapy. As a physicist, Dr. Rodrigues performs adjuvant hyperthermia treatments of pelvic, abdominal, and superficial tumors. He is also responsible for the treatment planning, thermal dosimetry, and quality assurance of the clinical hyperthermia equipment. In support of his clinical activities, his research involves the development of improved radiofrequency amd microwave applicators for applying heat to tissue, noninvasive sensors to track temperature changes at depth, and new treatment planning strategies to improve thermal dose delivery. This research is accomplished with a combination of theoretical modeling, engineering development, and equipment performance evaluation with phantom, animal, and human patient subjects. One of Dr. Rodrigues most prominent research outcome was a noninvasive sensor that is able to safely monitor brain temperature during prolonged surgeries. This sensor was designed using microwave radiometry principles, a technique that is also used to measure the radiation from distant stars. A more recent topic of Dr. Rodrigues’ research is the development of a hyperthermia applicator to treat brain tumors, a target difficult to achieve due to the presence of the skull which reflects radio waves. To overcome the challenging structure of the human head, Dr. Rodrigues designed a 72-antenna phased array applicator that is able to target deep-seated brain tumors as demonstrated in a preclinical setting using advanced multiphysics numerical simulations. Dr. Rodrigues is also the Director of the Hyperthermia Therapy Practice School. 

A keyword that Dr. Rodrigues uses throughout his clinical and research activities is temperature. Accumulating evidence indicates that physiologic responses to heat affect the tumor microenvironment through temperature-sensitive checkpoints that regulate vascular perfusion, tumor metabolism, lymphocyte trafficking, inflammatory cytokine expression as well as innate and adaptive immune function. Understanding the influence of temperature in blood perfusion and in the immune system are paramount avenues of research that Dr. Rodrigues is actively pursuing. On one hand, the ability to understand the changes of blood perfusion under thermal stress is key to developing accurate treatment planning and improved treatment delivery. On the other hand, the ability to fine-tune temperature to elicit a specific immune response would represent a significant advance in cancer treatment by enabling new and more effective multimodality therapies that Dr. Rodrigues wishes to bring to the clinic.

Dr. Dario Rodrigues is an Assistant Professor of Thermal Oncology Physics at the University of Maryland, Councilor of Engineering/Physics of the Society for Thermal Medicine, and Chair of the Thermal Medicine Standards Committee of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.

Research/Clinical Keywords

Radiofrequency/microwave hyperthermia, hyperthermia treatment planning, microwave radiometry, multiphysics mathematical modeling, thermoregulation of blood perfusion, magnetic nanoparticle hyperthermia, MR-guided thermal therapies

Highlighted Publications

Rodrigues DB, Dobsicek-Trefna H, Curto S, Winter L, Molitoris JK, Vrba J, Vrba D, Sumser K, Paulides MM: Radiofrequency and microwave hyperthermia in cancer treatment. (Chapter 11) in Prakash, P., Srimathveeravalli, G., (Eds.) Principles and technologies for electromagnetic energy based therapies, Elsevier, 2022, pp:281-311. DOI: 10.1016/B978-0-12-820594-5.00007-1.

Rodrigues DB, Ellsworth J, Turner P. Feasibility of heating brain tumors using a 915 MHz annular phased array. IEEE Antennas and Wireless Propagation Letters. 20(4):423-427, 2021. DOI: 10.1109/LAWP.2021.3050142.

Paulides MM, Rodrigues DB, Bellizzi G, Sumser K, Curto S, Neufeld E, Montanaro H, Dobsicek-Trefna H. ESHO benchmarks for computational modeling and optimization in hyperthermia therapy. International Journal of Hyperthermia. 38(1):1425-1442, Sep 2021. PMID: 34581246.

Stauffer PR, Rodrigues DB, Goldstein R, Nguyen T, Woodward R, Gibbs M, Bar-Ad V, Leeper D, Shi W, Judy KD, Hurwitz MD. Feasibility of removable balloon implant for simultaneous magnetic nanoparticle heating and HDR brachytherapy of tumor resection cavities in brain. International Journal of Hyperthermia. 37(1):1189-1201, 2020. DOI: 10.1080/02656736.2020.1829103.

Bakker A, Holman R, Rodrigues DB, Dobšíček-Trefná H, Stauffer PR, van Tienhoven G, Rasch C, Crezee H. “Analysis of clinical data to determine the minimum number of sensors required for adequate monitoring of minimum and maximum temperatures during superficial hyperthermia”. Int J Hyperthermia. 2018; In press. PMID: 29658357.

Paulides MM, Dobsicek-Trefna H, Curto S, Rodrigues DB: Recent technological advancements in radiofrequency- and microwave-mediated hyperthermia for enhancing drug delivery. Advanced Drug Delivery Reviews, 163-164:3-18, 2020. DOI: 10.1016/j.addr.2020.03.004.

Rodrigues DB, Maccarini PF, Salahi S, Oliveira TR, Pereira PJ, Limao-Vieira P, Snow BW, Reudink D, Stauffer PR. Design and optimization of an ultra wideband and compact microwave antenna for radiometric monitoring of brain temperature. IEEE Trans Biomed Eng. 2014; 61(7):2154-60. PMID: 24759979.

 

Additional Publication Citations

Professional Activity

Edit Icon - Click to update your profileUpdate Your Profile
×