Ellen Donovan

Dr. Ellen Donovan is a Visiting Professor at the University of Surrey's School of Biosciences, affiliated with the Centre for Vision, Speech and Signal Processing (CVSSP). She also serves as a Research Adviser for the Research Design Service South East region since 2017. Her research focuses on advancing radiotherapy techniques for breast cancer patients, particularly leveraging medical imaging data to improve treatment outcomes and quantify radiomics features. Donovan has a PhD from the Institute of Cancer Research, University of London, and prior degrees from the University of Cambridge and the University of Aberdeen.

• Education:
  • BA (Hons) Natural Sciences, University of Cambridge (1987)
  • MSc Medical Physics, University of Aberdeen (1992)
  • PhD, Institute of Cancer Research, University of London (2005)

Her research interests include optimizing radiotherapy delivery, reducing treatment duration, and minimizing secondary cancer risks. She explores quantitative imaging data (radiomics) to correlate with treatment efficacy and patient outcomes. Donovan is a principal investigator in landmark trials like the FAST and IMPORT series, which evaluate hypofractionated radiotherapy and partial-breast irradiation.

Her publications highlight advancements in adaptive radiotherapy, heart-sparing techniques, and breath-hold methods to minimize cardiac exposure. Recent work focuses on reproducibility in radiomics and clinical trial outcomes for breast cancer treatments.

• Awards:
  • National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) Mentor for Clinical Academics

Donovan supervises PhD and MSc students in radiomics and radiotherapy tool development. She teaches radiotherapy physics and clinical academic career development at institutions like the Princes Teaching Trust and British Institute of Radiology.

Her lab, CVSSP, integrates interdisciplinary approaches to enhance medical imaging and signal processing in oncology. Future work emphasizes precision radiotherapy and AI-driven radiomics for personalized treatment planning.