Jonathan Sackett, MD
Jonathan Sackett, MD
Contact Information
Background
Dr. Jonathan Sackett's journey began with physics research at CERN in Geneva, where a conversation about the first hospital-based proton treatment center inspired his pursuit of an interdisciplinary career bridging physics and medicine. During medical school at Loma Linda University, he was selected for the competitive NIH Medical Research Scholars Program, where he developed AI techniques for prostate cancer imaging at the National Cancer Institute. He recently completed the ASTRO-Varian Radiation Oncology Research Training fellowship, focusing on AI applications in radiotherapy planning. His research centers on developing artificial intelligence solutions to improve cancer imaging and radiation treatment planning, with particular expertise in genitourinary and central nervous system malignancies.
- American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO)
- Radiological Society of North America (RSNA)
- ASTRO-Varian PGY-4 Fellowship Grant (2023-Present)
- NIH Medical Research Scholars Program (2018-2019)
- School of Medicine "Future Faculty" Scholarship – Loma Linda University (2020)
- Academic Scholarship – Loma Linda University School of Medicine (2015-2020)
- Senior Academic Excellence Award, Southern Adventist University (2014)
- Academic Scholarship, Southern Adventist University (2009-2014)
Clinical
American Board of Radiology (Radiation Oncology) - Expected 2025
Education
Research
Dr. Sackett believes that the future of radiation oncology lies in the thoughtful integration of advanced computational methods with compassionate patient care. His research philosophy centers on developing technologies that not only improve treatment outcomes but also increase accessibility to high-quality cancer care globally. Through his continued collaboration with industry partners and academic institutions, he aims to ensure that innovative treatments reach the patients who need them most, regardless of geographic or economic barriers.
Impactful Projects
1. Artificial Intelligence Applications in Cancer Imaging and Treatment Planning
Prostate MRI Quality and AI Detection: Multi-institutional studies demonstrating variable prostate MRI quality across institutions, leading to collaboration with NVIDIA on automated cancer detection systems. Recent work includes AI-based treatment planning automation for prostate SBRT.
Advanced Treatment Planning Automation: Development of novel approaches for VMAT planning optimization and automated treatment plan generation, including beam's eye view to fluence map networks for scalable radiotherapy planning.
Selected Publications:
- Sackett J, Choyke PL, Turkbey B. "Prostate Imaging Reporting and Data System Version 2 for MRI of Prostate Cancer: Can We Do Better?" AJR American Journal of Roentgenology (2019)
- Sackett J, Shih JH, Reese SE, Brender JR, Harmon SA, Barrett T, et al. "Quality of prostate MRI: is the PI-RADS standard sufficient?" Academic Radiology (2021)
- Sanford TH, Zhang L, Harmon SA, Sackett J, Yang D, Roth H, et al. "Data augmentation and transfer learning to improve generalizability of an automated prostate segmentation model." AJR American Journal of Roentgenology (2020)
- Sanford T, Harmon SA, Turkbey EB, Kesani D, Tuncer S, Madariaga M, Yang C, Sackett J, et al. "Deep-Learning-Based Artificial Intelligence for PI-RADS Classification to Assist Multiparametric Prostate MRI Interpretation: A Development Study." Journal of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (2020)
- Harmon SA, Gesztes W, Young D, Mehralivand S, McKinney Y, Sanford T, Sackett J, et al. "Prognostic features of biochemical recurrence of prostate cancer following radical prostatectomy based on multiparametric MRI and immunohistochemistry analysis of MRI-guided biopsy specimens." Radiology (2021)
- Arberet S, Ghesu FC, Gao R, Kraus M, Sackett J, Kuusela E, Kamen A. "Beam's eye view to fluence maps 3D network for ultra fast VMAT radiotherapy planning." Medical Physics (2025)
- Gao R, Diallo M, Liu H, Magliari A, Sackett J, Verbakel W, et al. "Automating High Quality RT Planning at Scale." arXiv preprint (2025)
2. Advanced Radiotherapy for Central Nervous System Malignancies
Glioblastoma Progression Research: Investigation of rapid early progression patterns in IDH-wildtype glioblastoma, focusing on pre-radiation planning MRI characteristics that predict treatment resistance.Complex CNS Tumor Management: Clinical research on advanced radiotherapy techniques for challenging CNS malignancies including NF2-related tumors and outcomes research in proton and photon reirradiation.
Selected Publications:
- Sackett JJ, Struve TD, Pater LE, Breneman J. "NF2-Related Tumors and Malignant Peripheral Nerve Sheath Tumors." In: Adult CNS Radiation Oncology: Principles and Practice, 2nd ed. Springer (2024)
- Park JE, Mathew P, Sackett J, Wu T, Villegas M, Hallett M. "Investigation of the posterior parietal cortex to ventral premotor connection in writer's cramp using transcranial magnetic stimulation." Experimental Brain Research (2022)
Recent Conference Presentations:
- Sackett JJ, Ahmed K, Struve TD, Pater LE, Andaluz N, Forbes J, et al. "Rapid Early Progression after Surgery for IDH-Wildtype Glioblastoma and the Importance of the Pre-Radiation Planning MRI." International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology, Physics (2024)
- MacDonald T, Sackett JJ, Gaskill-Shipley M, et al. "Neurologic Events and Outcomes in Patients Receiving Proton and Photon Reirradiation for High Grade Non-Codeleted Gliomas." International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology, Physics (2023)