Colette J. Shen

Colette J. Shen, MD, PhD, serves as an Assistant Professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine and practices as a radiation oncologist at the N.C. Basnight Cancer Hospital. Her clinical and research focus centers on treating patients with central nervous system, pediatric, and head and neck malignancies.

Dr. Shen's research interests include improving treatments and long-term outcomes for cancer patients, with specific emphasis on stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) for brain metastases, novel radiopharmaceutical techniques to enhance cancer treatments, and evaluating long-term toxicities following radiotherapy, particularly to the brain. She has demonstrated through institutional treatment outcomes that SRS can be safely delivered concurrently with systemic therapy and that repeated SRS courses can delay or avoid whole brain radiotherapy.

Her publication record shows recent work spanning radiation therapy for pediatric cancers, HPV malignancies, and the intersection of molecular biology with radiation oncology. Her research demonstrates a strong focus on optimizing radiation treatments while minimizing long-term toxicities, particularly neurocognitive effects in both adult and pediatric populations.

Scientific Awards:

• Frank L. Coulson, Jr. Award for Clinical Excellence, Johns Hopkins Hospital (2017)
• Dr. O.H. Perry Pepper Research Paper Prize, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine (2012)
• Whitaker International Fellows and Scholars Program Scholarship (2010)
• NIH Ruth Kirschstein NRSA Predoctoral MD/PhD Fellowship (2009)
• Paul and Daisy Soros Foundation Graduate Fellowship (2006)

Dr. Shen collaborates extensively with researchers from radiology, physics, neurology, and neuropsychology to evaluate and correlate imaging-based and neurocognitive changes following focal radiotherapy to the brain. She is part of an international research consortium focused on reducing health risks associated with radiation therapy for childhood cancers. Her work bridges clinical practice with translational research to improve cancer treatment outcomes while preserving quality of life for survivors.