John Robert Cunningham, (January 5, 1927 – January 4, 2020) was a Canadian

medical physicist A medical physicist is a health professional with specialist education and training in the concepts and techniques of applying physics in medicine and competent to practice independently in one or more of the subfields (specialties) of medical physi ...

who was noted for his contributions in the development of computerized

radiation treatment planning In radiotherapy, radiation treatment planning (RTP) is the process in which a team consisting of radiation oncologists, radiation therapist, medical physicists and medical dosimetrists plan the appropriate external beam radiotherapy or internal ...

dose calculations in

radiation therapy Radiation therapy or radiotherapy, often abbreviated RT, RTx, or XRT, is a therapy using ionizing radiation, generally provided as part of cancer treatment to control or kill malignant cells and normally delivered by a linear accelerator. Radia ...

Early life and education

Cunningham, known as Jack, received his B.Eng. in Engineering Physics (1950) and M.Sc. in Radiation Physics (1951) from the

University of Saskatchewan A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

Saskatoon Saskatoon () is the largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It straddles a bend in the South Saskatchewan River in the central region of the province. It is located along the Trans-Canada Hig ...

. In 1955, he completed his Ph.D. at the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...

in physics. After working for Canada's Defense Research Board, he became a staff Medical Physicist at Toronto's Ontario Cancer Institute /

Princess Margaret Cancer Centre The Princess Margaret Cancer Centre (previously, ''Princess Margaret Hospital'') is a scientific research centre and a teaching hospital in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, affiliated with the University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine as part of the Univ ...

in 1958.

Career

During his medical physics career, Cunningham published over 70 peer-reviewed papers, book chapters, and conference proceedings, and is widely known for co-authoring ''The Physics of Radiology'' (1953) with Dr.

Harold E. Johns Harold Elford Johns (4 July 1915 – 23 August 1998) was a Canadian medical physicist, noted for his extensive contributions to the use of ionizing radiation to treat cancer. Early life and education Johns was born to missionary parents in S ...

. The final fourth edition (1983) remains a staple in medical physics education for medical physicists, technologists, and physicians. He is a pioneer in developing computational techniques for calculating absorbed dose from radiation beams, and computer software and algorithms he developed continue to be used in both commercial and open source treatment planning systems. Upon retirement from clinical medical physics in 1989, Cunningham became a consultant with Theratronics/MDS Nordion (Kanata, Ontario) until 1998 when he moved to Camrose Alberta.

Teaching

He was an adjunct professor at the

University of Alberta The University of Alberta, also known as U of A or UAlberta, is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford,"A Gentleman of Strathcona – Alexander Cameron Rutherfor ...

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

and regularly lectured at the

Cross Cancer Institute Cross Cancer Institute is the comprehensive cancer centre for northern Alberta. The institute, named for Wallace Warren Cross, is located in Edmonton near the southwest corner of the University of Alberta, and is one of two tertiary cancer centr ...

in the Department of Medical Physics until 2018. He and his wife Sheila lived in Calgary, Alberta, until his death on January 4, 2020, one day before his 93rd birthday.

Awards and recognition

In 1988, he was awarded the highest award given by the

American Association of Physicists in Medicine The American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM) is a scientific, educational, and professional organization of Medical Physicists. In 2011, it absorbed the American College of Medical Physics Their headquarters are located at 1631 Princ ...

, the William D. Coolidge Award, for his contributions to the field. In 2005, Cunningham was inducted as an

Officer of the Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the ...

. In 2006, he received the Canadian Organization of Medical Physicists Gold Medal Award for "outstanding contribution to the field of medical physics in Canada".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cunningham, John R. Canadian medical researchers Officers of the Order of Canada 1927 births 2020 deaths Canadian physicists University of Saskatchewan alumni Academic staff of the University of Toronto Medical physicists