David Waddington

Dr. David Waddington is an NHMRC Emerging Leadership Fellow at the Image X Institute within the Faculty of Medicine and Health at the University of Sydney. He is a member of the University of Sydney Nano Institute and collaborates internationally with institutions like the Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging at Massachusetts General Hospital. His work focuses on advancing MRI-based imaging technologies for cancer treatment guidance and developing nanoparticle probes for targeted drug delivery.

Education: David holds a PhD in Science from the University of Sydney (2018) and earned a University Medal in Physics from UNSW (2010). He was a recipient of a prestigious Postgraduate Fulbright Scholarship (2013–2014) at Harvard University.

Research Interests: His projects include the Australian MRI-Linac initiative to improve radiation therapy accuracy through real-time tumor tracking and distortion correction, as well as innovations in low-cost MRI systems and AI-driven image reconstruction. He explores hyperpolarized nanodiamonds for enhanced MRI contrast and synthesizes nanoparticles to improve diagnostic imaging precision in cancer treatment.

• Key projects: Australian MRI-Linac, MANGO Study, Low-Cost MRI Development
• International collaborations: Martinos Center (Massachusetts General Hospital)

Awards: His achievements include two Best in Physics awards at AAPM (2020, 2022), Summa Cum Laude awards at ISMRM (2016, 2020), and grants such as the FMH Rewarding Research Success (2022) and SEMCAN Viral Bytes Prize (2020).

Grants & Students: Leads grants like the 'AI Platform for Targeted Radiotherapy' and 'Advancing Dynamic MRI'. Advises James on developing deep learning techniques for adaptive MRI-guided radiotherapy. His work has produced two patent applications and TEDx talks on medical innovation.

Labs/Teams: Affiliated with the ACRF Image X Institute and collaborates with interdisciplinary teams in radiation oncology and biomedical engineering.