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Professor Michelle Leech

Professor In (Radiation Therapy)
TRINITY CENTRE, S J H - PHASE II & III

 Michelle.Leech@tcd.ie

 3531896 3252


Biography

Prof. Michelle Leech is Professor (In) Radiation Therapy. She is the current Course Director of the BSc. Radiation Therapy at Trinity College and teaches at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels, receiving four awards for her teaching methods to date. Prof. Leech is past chair of blended learning at the European Society for Radiotherapy and Oncology (ESTRO) and is a faculty member for two international teaching courses. She is past chair of the ESTRO Radiation Therapist Committee, representing the profession of radiation therapist in Europe, including at both the European Union and European Commission. Prof. Leech is Editor-in chief of the ESTRO journal Technical Innovations and Patient Support in Radiation Oncology(tipsRO) and the only radiation therapist who is an editorial board member of the journal Radiotherapy and Oncology. Prof. Leech's research is focused in improving radiation therapy outcomes for patients. She achieves this first through her work as Trinity's lead collaborator on radiation medicine with the International Atomic Energy Agency, leading research projects on raising the standard of radiation therapy practice globally. Second, through the optimisation of radiation technology, leading projects in radiomics, the quantitative analysis of routine imaging for radiation therapy practice for better patient stratification, in treatment planning for the optimisation of dose volume constraints and in paediatric radiation therapy. Prof. Leech is an advocate for radiation therapy as a cancer treatment modality. She was the lead on Trinity's Massive Open Online Course on radiation therapy, housed on the FutureLearn platform and funded by both College and EIT Health.

Research Tags

  Education research   HUMAN CANCER   Radiomics   RADIOTHERAPY

Research Projects

 
 EPRO_Empowering European Patients in Radiation Oncology
 Analysis of Changes in Radiation Oncology Practice during the Covid 19 pandemic
 From diagnosis to survival: An introduction to Radiation Oncology
 Oncovideos: Developing Vocational skills in Oncology through e-learning

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Representations

Details Date
RTT representative on the Education Council of ESTRO Current
National RT Education representative for Irish Institute of Radiography and Radiation Therapy 2008-2013
Chair of the RTT Committee of ESTRO 2014-2019
Expert advisor to CORU on the Framework Code of Professional Conduct and Ethics for Radiographers and Radiation Therapists April 2012
Representative of IIRRT on the Health Service Executive's Health and Social Care Professions Advisory Group 2011-2013
Secretary of the IIRRT 2009-2011
Editor of Radiography Ireland 2012-2013
Member of the International Advisory Panel of the Journal of Medical Radiation Sciences Current

Languages

Language Skill Reading Skill Writing Skill Speaking
English Fluent Fluent Fluent
French Basic Basic Basic
German Basic Basic Basic
Irish Medium Medium Medium

Memberships

Membership of Professional Institutions, Associations, Societies

Details Date From Date To
Member of teaching faculty on ESTRO teaching course on Best practice in radiation oncology: A course to train RTT trainers. August 2009 Present
ESTRO member January 2007 Present
IIRRT member October 1996 Present
Course Director: ESTRO Teaching course on basic treatment planning March 2010 September 2014
Leech M, Katz M, Kazmierska J, McCrossin J, turner S. , Empowering patients in decision-making in radiation oncology-can we do better?, Molecular Oncology, DOI:10:1002/1878-026, 2020, Journal Article, PUBLISHED  DOI
Leech M, Coffey M, Mast M, Moura F, Osztavics A, Pasini D, Vaandering A, ESTRO ACROP guidelines for positioning, immobilisation and position verification of head and neck patients for radiation therapists, Technical Innovations and Patient Support in Radiation Oncology, 1, 2017, p1 - 7, Journal Article, PUBLISHED  TARA - Full Text  DOI
Coffey M, Leech M and Poortmans P, Benchmarking Radiation Therapist education for safe practice: The time is now, Radiotherapy and Oncology, 119, (1), 2016, p12 - 13, Journal Article, PUBLISHED  URL
5. Kazmierska J, Jornet Sala N, Leech M, Jereczek-Fossa B, Lievens Y and Yarnold J. , Radiotherapy: Seizing the opportunity in cancer care. , ESTRO, 2019, p1 - 16, Notes: [This was a policy paper of the Marie Curie legacy fund initiative of the European Society of Radiotherapy and Oncology, which is their stakeholder outreach programme. I represented the profession of radiation therapist on this interdisciplinary paper. This was presented first at the European Parliament where I had the opportunity to speak to the inequality in radiation therapist education in Europe to attending Members of the European Parliament and point out the resultant inequality in care of cancer patients in Member States. It was subsequently presented at an OECI (European Cancer Network) congress and initiated the inclusion of equality in cancer health professional education and radiation oncology as a specialty in Europe"s `Beating Cancer" plan. ], Report, PUBLISHED  TARA - Full Text  URL
Coffey M and Leech M, Introduction to the ESTRO European Qualifications Framework (EQF) 7 and 8: Benchmarking Radiation Therapist (RTT) advanced education, Technical Innovations and Patient Support in Radiation Oncology, 8, 2018, p19 - 21, Journal Article, PUBLISHED  TARA - Full Text  DOI
Leech M, Osman S, Jain S and Marignol L. , Personalization of the radiation therapy management of prostate cancer using MRI-based radiomics. , Cancer Letters, 498, 2021, p210 - 216, Journal Article, PUBLISHED  URL
Blaszczak W, Ahmed A, Leithner K, Schubert A, Leech M, Bonder C, Tsagakis I, Outlook of women in science: an interview with our authors., Molecular Oncology, 16, (5), 2022, Journal Article, PUBLISHED  DOI
Duffton A, Devlin L, Tsang Y, Mast M, Leech M, Advanced Practice: An ESTRO RTTC position paper, Technical Innovations and Patient Support in Radiation Oncology, 10, (2), 2019, p16 - 19, Journal Article, PUBLISHED  URL
Coffey M, Rosenblatt E, Vandevelde G, Osztavics A, Pasini D, Scherer P, Dickie C, Karadza V, Van Egten V, Leech M, A review of the Best Practice in Radiation Oncology project from 2008 to 2018, Technical Innovations and Patient Support in Radiation Oncology, 8, 2018, p3 - 7, Journal Article, PUBLISHED  TARA - Full Text  DOI
Leech M, Publishing interdisciplinary science, Radiotherapy and Oncology, ESTRO 2021, Madrid, Spain, 161, Elsevier, 2021, ppS459 - S459, Oral Presentation, PUBLISHED  DOI
  

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Ryan J and Leech M, Lung delineation and its impact on dose volume constraints in non-small cell lung cancer, Annual Conference of the Irish Institute of Radiography and Radiation Therapy, Dublin, November 2011, 2011, Poster, PUBLISHED
Leech, Michelle, Coffey, Mary, Hendy, Viola, Attitudes to Patient Sexual Health, Cancer Professional, (Summer 2010), 2010, p10 - 13, Journal Article, PUBLISHED
O'Neill K, Leech M, A Comparison of Lung, Heart and Contralateral Breast Dose with Two Breast Radiotherapy techniques, Annual Conference Irish Institute of Radiography and Radiation Therapy, Sligo, 8/11/2008, 2008, Poster, PRESENTED
Rourke C, Leech M, Downes A, Thirion P, 'Electronic Portal Imaging of Head and Neck Radiotherapy', Radiography Ireland, 11, (1), 2007, p28 - 31, Journal Article, PUBLISHED
Hynes M, Leech M, Analysis of the effect of Active Breathing Control on the Normal Tissue Complication Probability of Lung cancer patients using a biological planning system, Annual Conference Irish Institute of radiography and Radiation Therapy, Sligo, 8/11/2008, 2008, Poster, PRESENTED
Leech M, Coffey M, The Development of Postgraduate Education for Radiation Therapists in Ireland, All Ireland Radiation Therapy Study Day, NUI Galway, 2009, Invited Talk, PRESENTED
Healy K, Coffey M and Leech M, Soft tissue sarcomas of the trunk: A literature review, Radiography Ireland, 15, (2), 2012, p55 - 59, Journal Article, PUBLISHED
Leech M, Offline correction protocols, Bulgarian National Society meeting on Patient Positioning and Verification in Radiation Therapy. , Sofia, Bulgaria, August 30th-31st , 2013, Invited Talk, PRESENTED
Leech M, Radiation Therapists: Vision for the Future, South East Europe Technology in Radiation Oncology biannual conference, Zagreb, Croatia, November 6-8, 2015, SEETRO, Invited Talk, PRESENTED
Leech, M, Raising the professionalism of Radiation Therapists: The role of ESTRO, South East Europe Technology in Radiation Oncology biannual conference, Zagreb, Croatia, November 6-8, 2015, SEETRO, Invited Talk, PRESENTED

  

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Awards and Honours

Award Date
Emmanuel van der Schueren award November 2020
Certificate of Commendation Provost's Teaching Awards 2011, 2012 and 2013
St. Luke's Prize 2000
Civic Engagement Award nominee May 2020

Research Interests

Description Of Research Interests

Optimisation of radiation therapy Radiomics Radiation therapy practice Radiation Medicine Education