Potential Global Collaborators
Shannon O'Reilly, PhD
Radiate Knowledge Creator
Dr. Shannon O’Reilly is a globally engaged medical physicist committed to medical physics capacity building, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. She has played a key role in designing and implementing online training platforms and structured clinical rotations for medical physics trainees. Currently she is working to develop public education programs focused on cancer prevention and HPV vaccination in Ghana, recognizing the critical importance of community engagement in global cancer control. She is also actively involved in outreach initiatives to expand the medical physics pipeline.
Afua Yorke, PhD
Medical Physicist
Dr. Afua Yorke is an Assistant Professor and board-certified medical physicist at the University of Washington–Fred Hutch Cancer Center. Her expertise lies in radiation oncology, global oncology program development, and implementation science. She has led projects focused on addressing cancer care disparities in low-resource settings, securing institutional and professional society funding to advance her research. Dr. Yorke conceived the idea for GLOCASSA during research collaborations in Ghana and Uganda, where she observed the impact of centralized RT services on treatment adherence. Drawing on her training and global experience, she has shaped GLOCASSA into a patient-centered tool that directly addresses barriers faced by cancer patients in both LMICs and rural U.S. communities.
Sarah Ashmeg, PhD
Medical Physicist
Dr. Sarah Ashmeg is a board-certified medical physicist dedicated to strengthening global cancer care and medical physics capacity, particularly in conflict-affected and resource-limited settings. Her work centers on workforce development, education, and mentorship for medical physicists in low- and middle-income countries. Dr. Ashmeg is actively engaged in international initiatives across Africa and the Middle East, supporting the development of medical physics education programs, virtual and hybrid training platforms, and professional networks for early-career physicists. Through collaborations with professional societies, academic institutions, and humanitarian organizations, she works to expand access to qualified medical physics expertise, promote radiation safety, and build resilient radiotherapy services in underserved regions.
Stephen Avery, PhD
Medical Physicist
Dr. Stephen Avery is a Professor of Radiation Oncology at the University of Pennsylvania, where he also serves as Director of Global Radiation Physics. Dr. Avery is the Principal Investigator of the NIH R25 AMPERE (Access for Medical Physicists to Education and Research Excellence) global program and was the inaugural Chair of the AAPM International Council’s Global Medical Physics Education and Training Committee. His leadership extends across Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, where he has worked to expand equitable access to radiation oncology education, technology, and infrastructure. He is also Co-Director of the Global Health Catalyst Summit, leading international initiatives focused on oncology education, including the development of VR/AI-based training platforms and academic–industry partnerships.
Wilfred Ngwa, PhD
Medical Physicist
Dr. Wil Ngwa is Founding Director of the Global Health Catalyst summits at Harvard and Johns Hopkins. He leads development of transformative healthcare programs at the United States Advanced Research Project’s Agency for Health (ARPA-H). He is a pioneer of the Comprehensive Cancer Center in the Cloud (C4) powered by AI and co-founder of the global oncology university the education component of the C4, training tens of thousands of oncology health professionals and supporting the establishment of comprehensive cancer centers of excellence in different low- and middle-income countries. He is Co-chair of the Africa-Oxford-Harvard-Hopkins Clinical trials network.
Joe Weygand, PhD
Medical Physicist
Dr. Joe Weygand is the Director of Global Radiation Oncology at Dartmouth's Geisel School of Medicine and the Program Manager of Therapeutic Medical Physics for the philanthropic organization RAD-AID International. He has volunteered in radiation oncology and radiology departments in Tanzania, Senegal, Uganda, Ghana, Mongolia, Türkiye, Malawi, Nigeria, and Kenya. Dr. Weygand led a team that helped establish the first ever radiotherapy center in the country of Malawi. He is also highly active in virtual medical physics education, leading lecture series for radiation oncology residents in Kenya and Tanzania, radiology residents in Guyana, and clinical medical physicists in Türkiye, in addition to organizing medical physics seminars, treatment planning workshops, and practical courses on hypofractionated radiotherapy. Lastly, he is interested in the structural causes of radiological health inequities with a focus on the historical, economic, and political factors that influence global access to imaging and radiotherapy services.
Stephen Avery, PhD
Medical Physicist
Dr. Stephen Avery is a Professor of Radiation Oncology at the University of Pennsylvania, where he also serves as Director of Global Radiation Physics. Dr. Avery is the Principal Investigator of the NIH R25 AMPERE (Access for Medical Physicists to Education and Research Excellence) global program and was the inaugural Chair of the AAPM International Council’s Global Medical Physics Education and Training Committee. His leadership extends across Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, where he has worked to expand equitable access to radiation oncology education, technology, and infrastructure. He is also Co-Director of the Global Health Catalyst Summit, leading international initiatives focused on oncology education, including the development of VR/AI-based training platforms and academic–industry partnerships.
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Samuel Khumbula
PhD Student
Samuel (Khumbula) Takwirira is a PhD student in Physics at the University of New Hampshire who is deeply committed to democratizing access to cutting-edge radiation oncology treatment modalities, particularly in low- and middle-income countries like Zimbabwe. He is an alumnus of the SUPERS program at the University of Pennsylvania, where he completed an intensive program focused on radiation science, gaining significant experience with advanced techniques like Pencil Beam Scanning (PBS) and Monte Carlo simulations (TOPAS). He aims to leverage this expertise and his strong background in medical physics to help establish advanced radiation therapy imaging and oncology services in Zimbabwe, with a particular interest in advancing the promising new field of FLASH radiation therapy. His current research involves irradiating cryogenic ammonia targets to investigate, among other objectives, the Physicochemical model of FLASH. This work leverages his previous biomedical experience from the New Hampshire IDeA Network of Biomedical Research Excellence (NH-INBRE), where he studied reaction mechanisms toward more environmentally friendly pharmaceuticals. Samuel is actively working towards becoming a board-certified medical physicist (DABR) to achieve his vision of equitable, high-quality cancer care across the globe.
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