David Westerly

David Westerly serves as Associate Professor in the Department of Radiation Oncology at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus School of Medicine. His expertise bridges medical physics and clinical radiation oncology with emphasis on treatment accuracy and safety.

His educational foundation includes:

• PhD in Medical Physics, University of Wisconsin-Madison (2009)
• BA in Physics, University of Montana–Missoula (2004)

Dr. Westerly's research spans electron therapy dosimetry, proton accelerator development, and multi-platform cancer imaging. He pioneers x-ray-induced acoustic imaging for dosimetry verification and investigates normal tissue regeneration post-radiotherapy. His group develops safety protocols for gland-sparing in head/neck cancers and implements incident learning systems across healthcare networks. Recent work focuses on physics plan review standardization and quality assurance in medical physics training.

His publication record reveals consistent innovation in radiation therapy physics, particularly in dosimetric accuracy enhancement and imaging integration. Key trends include advancing electron beam collimation standards, optimizing pulse line ion accelerators for isotope production, and validating VMAT quality assurance methodologies.

Board-certified by the American Board of Radiology in Therapeutic Medical Physics, Dr. Westerly collaborates extensively with clinicians and physicists including Miften, Kavanagh, and Schefter. His departmental work drives clinical implementation of high-dose imaging for stereotactic body radiotherapy and develops protocols for proton therapy applications.