Martina Descovich, PhD
Professor
Radiation Oncology
School of Medicine

Dr. Descovich specializes in the physics of stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) and stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT). SRS and SBRT are advanced modalities of radiation therapy, enabling high targeting accuracy. The CyberKnife system is a medical device entirely dedicated to SRS and SBRT treatments.

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It combines a sophisticated tracking system with a robotically mounted linear accelerator capable of delivering radiation from hundreds of different directions while synchronizing with respiratory induced target motion. Radiosurgery treatments are complex and require a team of specialized experts. Dr. Descovich has been the lead physicist responsible for the CyberKnife program since the installation of the CyberKnife VSI at Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center in 2010.

Awards

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• Nomination: Academic Senate Distinction in Teaching Award, UCSF, 2021
• Lawrence Margolis, M.D. Lifetime Teaching Award, UCSF Radiation Oncology, 2020
• Nomination: Academic Senate Distinction in Teaching Award, UCSF, 2019
• Jean Pouliot’s Teaching Award, UCSF Radiation Oncology, 2019
• Nomination: Posdoctoral Scholar Association Outstanding Faculty Mentorship Award, UCSF, 2012
• Travel Grant Award, American Brachytherapy Society, 2006
• Outstanding Performance Award, Lawrence Berkeley National Lab., 2004

Education & Training

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• Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Champion Training University of California 2021
• Physics Residency Radiation Oncology University of California, San Francisco 2007
• Postdoctoral Studies Nuclear Science Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. 2005
• Ph.D. Nuclear Physics University of Liverpoool, UK 2003
• BS/MS Physics University of Padua, Italy 1999

Interests

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• CyberKnife
• stereotactic radiosurgery
• stereotactic body radiation therapy
• motion management

Publications (47)

Top publication keywords:
Prostatic NeoplasmsPhantoms, ImagingRadiation PneumonitisFiducial MarkersFour-Dimensional Computed TomographyLung NeoplasmsHeadRadiotherapy, ConformalRectumRadiotherapy DosageRadiotherapy, Image-GuidedRadiotherapy Planning, Computer-AssistedRadiotherapy, Intensity-ModulatedRadiosurgeryRobotics

• Real-time lung extraction from synthesized x-rays improves pulmonary image-guided radiotherapy.
  Physics in medicine and biology 2025 Fu X, Hasse K, Xu D, Xu Q, Descovich M, Ruan D, Sheng K
• AAPM task group report 135.B: Quality assurance for robotic radiosurgery.
  Medical physics 2024 Wang L, Descovich M, Wilcox EE, Yang J, Cohen AB, Fuerweger C, Prabhu A, Garrett JA, Taylor DD, Noll M, Dieterich S
• Robust localization of poorly visible tumor in fiducial free stereotactic body radiation therapy.
  Radiotherapy and oncology : journal of the European Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology 2024 Xu D, Descovich M, Liu H, Sheng K
• Linac- and CyberKnife-based MRI-only treatment planning of prostate SBRT using an optimized synthetic CT calibration curve.
  Journal of applied clinical medical physics 2024 Scholey J, Nano T, Singhrao K, Mohamad O, Singer L, Larson PEZ, Descovich M
• Deep match: A zero-shot framework for improved fiducial-free respiratory motion tracking.
  Radiotherapy and oncology : journal of the European Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology 2024 Xu D, Descovich M, Liu H, Lao Y, Gottschalk AR, Sheng K

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• A digital male pelvis phantom series showing anatomical variations over the course of fractionated radiotherapy treatment.
  Medical physics 2023 Faddegon B, Descovich M, Chen K, Ramos-Méndez J, Iii MR, Wahl N, Taylor P, Griffin K, Lee C
• End-to-end validation of fiducial tracking accuracy in robotic radiosurgery using MRI-only simulation imaging.
  Medical physics 2023 Singhrao K, Zubair M, Nano T, Scholey JE, Descovich M
• Predicting successful clinical candidates for fiducial-free lung tumor tracking with a deep learning binary classification model.
  Journal of applied clinical medical physics 2023 Lafrenière M, Valdes G, Descovich M
• Improved accuracy of relative electron density and proton stopping power ratio through CycleGAN machine learning.
  Physics in medicine and biology 2022 Scholey J, Vinas L, Kearney V, Yom S, Larson PEZ, Descovich M, Sudhyadhom A
• Irradiation of Nf1 mutant mouse models of spinal plexiform neurofibromas drives pathologic progression and decreases survival.
  Neuro-oncology advances 2021 Laurent D, Smith AE, Bessler WK, Mendonca M, Chin-Sinex H, Descovich M, Horvai AE, Clapp DW, Nakamura JL
• Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy and High-Dose-Rate Brachytherapy Boost in Combination With Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy for Localized Prostate Cancer: A Single-Institution Propensity Score Matched Analysis.
  International journal of radiation oncology, biology, physics 2020 Chen WC, Li Y, Lazar A, Altun A, Descovich M, Nano T, Ziemer B, Sudhyadhom A, Cunha A, Thomas H, Gottschalk A, Hsu IC, Roach M
• Improved contrast and noise of megavoltage computed tomography (MVCT) through cycle-consistent generative machine learning.
  Medical physics 2020 Vinas L, Scholey J, Descovich M, Kearney V, Sudhyadhom A
• Technical Note: Performance of CyberKnife® tracking using low-dose CT and kV imaging.
  Medical physics 2020 Nano TF, Capaldi DPI, Yeung T, Chuang CF, Wang L, Descovich M
• DoseGAN: a generative adversarial network for synthetic dose prediction using attention-gated discrimination and generation.
  Scientific reports 2020 Kearney V, Chan JW, Wang T, Perry A, Descovich M, Morin O, Yom SS, Solberg TD
• DoseNet: a volumetric dose prediction algorithm using 3D fully-convolutional neural networks.
  Physics in medicine and biology 2018 Kearney V, Chan JW, Haaf S, Descovich M, Solberg TD
• A continuous arc delivery optimization algorithm for CyberKnife m6.
  Medical physics 2018 Kearney V, Descovich M, Sudhyadhom A, Cheung JP, McGuinness C, Solberg TD
• Influence of respiratory motion management technique on radiation pneumonitis risk with robotic stereotactic body radiation therapy.
  Journal of applied clinical medical physics 2018 Chapman CH, McGuinness C, Gottschalk AR, Yom SS, Garsa AA, Anwar M, Braunstein SE, Sudhyadhom A, Keall P, Descovich M
• Respiration-Induced Intraorgan Deformation of the Liver: Implications for Treatment Planning in Patients Treated With Fiducial Tracking.
  Technology in cancer research & treatment 2017 Paulsson AK, Yom SS, Anwar M, Pinnaduwage D, Sudhyadhom A, Gottschalk AR, Chang AJ, Descovich M
• Interfraction Anatomical Variability Can Lead to Significantly Increased Rectal Dose for Patients Undergoing Stereotactic Body Radiotherapy for Prostate Cancer.
  Technology in cancer research & treatment 2016 Wahl M, Descovich M, Shugard E, Pinnaduwage D, Sudhyadhom A, Chang A, Roach M, Gottschalk A, Chen J
• An Evaluation of Robotic and Conventional IMRT for Prostate Cancer: Potential for Dose Escalation.
  Technology in cancer research & treatment 2016 Pinnaduwage DS, Descovich M, Lometti MW, Varad B, Roach M, Gottschalk AR
• Investigating the clinical advantages of a robotic linac equipped with a multileaf collimator in the treatment of brain and prostate cancer patients.
  Journal of applied clinical medical physics 2015 McGuinness CM, Gottschalk AR, Lessard E, Nakamura JL, Pinnaduwage D, Pouliot J, Sims C, Descovich M
• Dosimetric Comparison Between 3-Dimensional Conformal and Robotic SBRT Treatment Plans for Accelerated Partial Breast Radiotherapy.
  Technology in cancer research & treatment 2015 Goggin LM, Descovich M, McGuinness C, Shiao S, Pouliot J, Park C
• Dose-volume analysis and the temporal nature of toxicity with stereotactic body radiation therapy for prostate cancer.
  Practical radiation oncology 2015 Seymour ZA, Chang AJ, Zhang L, Kirby N, Descovich M, Roach M, Hsu IC, Gottschalk AR
• Comparison between target margins derived from 4DCT scans and real-time tumor motion tracking: insights from lung tumor patients treated with robotic radiosurgery.
  Medical physics 2015 Descovich M, McGuinness C, Kannarunimit D, Chen J, Pinnaduwage D, Pouliot J, Kased N, Gottschalk AR, Yom SS
• Analysis of dose distribution and risk of pneumonitis in stereotactic body radiation therapy for centrally located lung tumors: a comparison of robotic radiosurgery, helical tomotherapy and volumetric modulated arc therapy.
  Technology in cancer research & treatment 2014 Kannarunimit D, Descovich M, Garcia A, Chen J, Weinberg V, Mcguinness C, Pinnaduwage D, Murnane J, Gottschalk AR, Yom SS
• Evaluation of ray tracing and Monte Carlo algorithms in dose calculation and clinical outcomes for robotic stereotactic body radiotherapy of lung cancers.
  Journal of radiosurgery and SBRT 2014 Braunstein SE, Dionisio SA, Lometti MW, Pinnaduwage DS, Chuang CF, Yom SS, Gottschalk AR, Descovich M
• Improving plan quality and consistency by standardization of dose constraints in prostate cancer patients treated with CyberKnife.
  Journal of applied clinical medical physics 2013 Descovich M, Carrara M, Morlino S, Pinnaduwage DS, Saltiel D, Pouliot J, Nash MB, Pignoli E, Valdagni R, Roach M, Gottschalk AR
• Comparison between prone and supine patient setup for spine stereotactic body radiosurgery.
  Technology in cancer research & treatment 2012 Descovich M, Ma L, Chuang CF, Larson DA, Barani IJ
• SU-E-T-446: Effect of Dose Calculation Grid Size Variability on the Specification of Spinal Cord Dose Tolerance for Spinal Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy.
  Medical physics 2012 Gros S, Descovich M, Barani I, Ma L
• Temporal compartmental dosing effects for robotic prostate stereotactic body radiotherapy.
  Physics in medicine and biology 2011 Shiao SL, Sahgal A, Hu W, Jabbari S, Chuang C, Descovich M, Hsu IC, Gottschalk AR, Roach M, Ma L
• A two-step optimization method for improving multiple brain lesion treatments with robotic radiosurgery.
  Technology in cancer research & treatment 2011 Ma L, Sahgal A, Hwang A, Hu W, Descovich M, Chuang C, Barani I, Sneed PK, McDermott M, Larson DA
• Apparatus dependence of normal brain tissue dose in stereotactic radiosurgery for multiple brain metastases.
  Journal of neurosurgery 2011 Ma L, Petti P, Wang B, Descovich M, Chuang C, Barani IJ, Kunwar S, Shrieve DC, Sahgal A, Larson DA
• Stereotactic body radiotherapy as monotherapy or post-external beam radiotherapy boost for prostate cancer: technique, early toxicity, and PSA response.
  International journal of radiation oncology, biology, physics 2010 Jabbari S, Weinberg VK, Kaprealian T, Hsu IC, Ma L, Chuang C, Descovich M, Shiao S, Shinohara K, Roach M, Gottschalk AR
• A dosimetric comparison between Gamma Knife and CyberKnife treatment plans for trigeminal neuralgia.
  Journal of neurosurgery 2010 Descovich M, Sneed PK, Barbaro NM, McDermott MW, Chuang CF, Barani IJ, Nakamura JL, Lijun M
• Equivalence in dose fall-off for isocentric and nonisocentric intracranial treatment modalities and its impact on dose fractionation schemes.
  International journal of radiation oncology, biology, physics 2010 Ma L, Sahgal A, Descovich M, Cho YB, Chuang C, Huang K, Laperriere NJ, Shrieve DC, Larson DA
• Dose gradient near target-normal structure interface for nonisocentric CyberKnife and isocentric intensity-modulated body radiotherapy for prostate cancer.
  International journal of radiation oncology, biology, physics 2010 Hossain S, Xia P, Huang K, Descovich M, Chuang C, Gottschalk AR, Roach M, Ma L
• Comparison between hybrid direct aperture optimized intensity-modulated radiotherapy and forward planning intensity-modulated radiotherapy for whole breast irradiation.
  International journal of radiation oncology, biology, physics 2010 Descovich M, Fowble B, Bevan A, Schechter N, Park C, Xia P
• Nonrandom intrafraction target motions and general strategy for correction of spine stereotactic body radiotherapy.
  International journal of radiation oncology, biology, physics 2009 Ma L, Sahgal A, Hossain S, Chuang C, Descovich M, Huang K, Gottschalk A, Larson DA
• Physical performance and image optimization of megavoltage cone-beam CT.
  Medical physics 2009 Morin O, Aubry JF, Aubin M, Chen J, Descovich M, Hashemi AB, Pouliot J
• Effect of composite sector collimation on average dose fall-off for Gamma Knife Perfexion.
  Journal of neurosurgery 2008 Ma L, Verhey L, Chuang C, Descovich M, Smith V, Huang K, McDermott M, Sneed P
• Whole-procedure clinical accuracy of gamma knife treatments of large lesions.
  Medical physics 2008 Ma L, Chuang C, Descovich M, Petti P, Smith V, Verhey L
• Sci-Thurs PM: Delivery-12: Correction and calibration of megavoltage cone-beam CT images for the calculation of the dose of the day.
  Medical physics 2008 Aubry JF, Cheung J, Yom S, Gottschalk A, Aubin M, Morin O, Descovich M, Beaulieu L, Pouliot J
• Characteristics of megavoltage cone-beam digital tomosynthesis.
  Medical physics 2008 Descovich M, Morin O, Aubry JF, Aubin M, Chen J, Bani-Hashemi A, Pouliot J
• Patient dose considerations for routine megavoltage cone-beam CT imaging.
  Medical physics 2007 Morin O, Gillis A, Descovich M, Chen J, Aubin M, Aubry JF, Chen H, Gottschalk AR, Xia P, Pouliot J
• Dose calculation using megavoltage cone-beam CT.
  International journal of radiation oncology, biology, physics 2007 Morin O, Chen J, Aubin M, Gillis A, Aubry JF, Bose S, Chen H, Descovich M, Xia P, Pouliot J
• Image-guided radiotherapy using megavoltage cone-beam computed tomography for treatment of paraspinous tumors in the presence of orthopedic hardware.
  International journal of radiation oncology, biology, physics 2006 Hansen EK, Larson DA, Aubin M, Chen J, Descovich M, Gillis AM, Morin O, Xia P, Pouliot J
• Order-to-chaos transition in rotational nuclei.
  Physical review letters 2005 Stephens FS, Deleplanque MA, Lee IY, Macchiavelli AO, Ward D, Fallon P, Cromaz M, Clark RM, Descovich M, Diamond RM, Rodriguez-Vieitez E