Amy Renne

Amy Renné is a 3^rd year medical physics PhD student at the University of Chicago focusing her thesis work on targeted radionuclide therapy and isotope production. Completing her bachelor’s degree at Stevens Institute of Technology in physics with a minor in mathematics, she transitioned to medical physics her senior year after working at Argonne National Laboratory as a Lee Teng Fellowship intern. After the conclusion of this work, she was hired as a full-time research aide working primarily in Monte Carlo simulation problems for isotope production. Currently, she is focusing on the radiobiological effects of Tb-155, a promising Auger electron emitter. Because of the very short range of Auger electrons in the body, they can destroy cancer cells without harming healthy tissue when successfully delivered to cancer cell DNA. Amy is working on novel production and delivery methods of Tb-155 in order to explore the efficacy of Auger emitters in metastatic small-cell cancer treatment. She is in the process of designing targeting ligands which are selective not only to cancer cells, but to cancer cell DNA specifically. In parallel, she is using GammaSphere to develop a new rapid cross section measurement method for compound nucleus light-ion reactions using prompt gamma analysis. Enjoying computational challenges, she also works on nuclear reaction and cellular dosimetry modeling to optimize experimental outcomes.

Education

• University of Chicago, Doctoral Candidate - Medical Physics (2021-present)
• Stevens Institute of Technology, Bachelor’s of Science Highest Honors - Physics (2017-2020)

Honors and Awards

• Argonne Physics Division Employee of the Month (September 2021)
• Argonne Lee Teng Fellowship (May 2019)
• Stevens Institute of Technology Innovation and Entrepreneurship Fellowship (May 2018)
• KU Leuven and CERN Visiting Scholar (May 2017)