Nicolette Taku, MPhil, MPH
Department of Radiation Oncology, Division of Radiation Oncology
Present Title & Affiliation
Primary Appointment
Assistant Professor, Department of Radiation Oncology, Division of Radiation Oncology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX
Assistant Professor (Joint appointment), Department of Radiation Oncology, The University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX
Volunteer Clinical Assistant Professor, University of Houston College of Medicine, Houston, TX
Dual/Joint/Adjunct Appointment
Assistant Professor, Department of Radiation Oncology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Galveston, TX
Assistant Professor, Department of Radiation Oncology, The University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX
Volunteer Clinical Assistant Professor, University of Houston College of Medicine, Houston, TX
Education & Training
Degree-Granting Education
| 2017 | Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US, MD |
| 2017 | University of Cambridge, Cambridge, GB, Radiation Oncology, MPhil |
| 2010 | Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana, US, Health Education & Communication, MPH |
Postgraduate Training
| 2020-2021 | Clinical Fellowship, Educator Fellowship Program, The University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston, Texas |
| 2018-2022 | Clinical Residency, Radiation Oncology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas |
| 2017-2018 | Clinical Internship, The University of Texas Houston Medical School, Houston, Texas |
Licenses & Certifications
| 2023 | American Board of Radiology |
| 2021 | Spanish Bilingual Certification |
Experience & Service
Administrative Appointments/Responsibilities
Medical Student Education Site Director, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, 2023 - Present
Other Professional Positions
Intern, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) of the United Nations, Vienna, 2017 - 2017
Member, Admissions Committee, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 2014 - 2015
Research Assistant, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 2013 - 2015
Co-President, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 2012 - 2013
Global Fellow, Heartland Alliance for Human Needs and Human Rights, Cali, 2011 - 2012
Research Assistant, Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, Kenema, 2009 - 2009
Honors & Awards
| 2015 | Gates Cambridge Scholarship, University of Cambridge |
| 2015 | Rose Meadow Levinson Memorial Prize, Perelman School of Medicine |
| 2013 | Medical Student Scholarship, Medical Society of Eastern Pennsylvania |
| 2012 | John Morgan Scholarship, Perelman School of Medicine |
| 2010 | 34 Award, Tulane University |
| 2010 | Dean's Grant, Tulane University |
| 2010 | Doris K. Joffrion Award, Tulane University |
| 2010 | Student Athlete Award, Tulane University Newcomb |
| 2009 | USA Spirit of Service Award, Tulane University Conference |
| 2006 | Dean's Honor Scholarship, Tulane University |
Professional Memberships
Selected Presentations & Talks
National Presentations
- 2024. Management Strategies for Sexual Function Following Pelvic Radiation for Gynecologic Cancers. Invited. American Radium Society 106th Annual Meeting. Indian Wells, California, US.
- 2021. Clinical outcomes following definitive treatment of young-onset, locally advanced rectal cancer: A single institution experience. Conference. American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting. Chicago, IL, US.
- 2020. External Beam Radiotherapy in West Africa:1979–2019. Conference. American Society of Radiation Oncology 62nd Annual Meeting. Virtual, US.
- 2019. Patterns of care for pediatric patients diagnosed with grade II gliomas. Conference. American Society of Radiation Oncology 61st Annual Meeting. Chicago, IL, US.
- 2019. Patterns of care and facility volume-associated outcomes for grade II and grade III gliomas. Conference. American Radium Society 101st Annual Meeting. Dana Point, CA, US.
- 2018. Prevalence and predictors of active surveillance utilization among Hispanic, black, and white men diagnosed with favorable intermediate-risk prostate cancer. Conference. American Society of Radiation Oncology 60th Annual Meeting. San Francisco, CA, US.
- 2017. Prevalence and predictors of active surveillance utilization among Hispanic, black, and white men diagnosed with favorable intermediate-risk prostate cancer. Conference. American Society of Radiation Oncology 59th Annual Meeting. San Diego, CA, US.
- 2014. Quantifying Vaginal Motion Associated with Daily Endorectal Balloon During Whole Pelvis Radiotherapy for Gynecologic Cancers. Conference. Radiation Oncology 56th Annual Meeting. San Francisco, CA, US.
International Presentations
- 2024. Management Strategies for Early-Stage Breast Cancer. Invited. Izmir, TR.
- 2019. Radiotherapy in Ghana: Impact of the IAEA Technical Cooperation Programme. Conference. African Organization for Research and Training in Cancer (AORTIC) 11th International Conference on Cancer in Africa, MZ.
- 2017. External Beam Radiotherapy in West Africa: 1975 – 2015. Conference, RW.
- 2016. Pre and post-irradiaton hypothalamic-pituitary axis dysfunction in adults treated for brain tumors. Conference. European Society for Radiotherapy and Oncology Annual Meeting, IT.
- 2016. Organizational response of the hypothalamus ad pituitary to external beam radiation. Conference. International Conference on Translational Research in Radio-Oncology, Physics for Health in Europe, CH.
Grant & Contract Support
| Date: | 2021 - 2022 |
| Title: | Radio-Pathomic Development of Automated Segmentation/Annotation and Deep-Learning-Assisted Predictive Models for Lymph-Node Metasases, R25 |
| Funding Source: | NIH/NIAID |
| Role: | PI |
Selected Publications
Peer-Reviewed Articles
- Sahin, O, Kamel, S, Wahid, K, Dede, C, Taku, N, He, R, Naser, M, Sharafi, CS, Mäkitie, AA, Kann, BH, Kaski, K, Sahlsten, J, Jaskari, J, Amit, M, Chronowski, G, Diaz Jr, EM, Garden, AS, Goepfert, RP, Guenette, JP, Gunn, GB, Hirvonen, J, Hoebers, F, Hutcheson, KA, Guha-Thakurta, N, Johnson, JM, Kaya, D, Khanpara, SD, Nyman, K, Lai, SY, Lango, MN, Learned, KO, Lee, A, Lewis, CM, Maniakas, A, Moreno, AC, Myers, JN, Phan, J, Pytynia, KB, Rosenthal, D, Sandulache, VC, Schellingerhout, D, Shah, SJ, Sikora, AG, Mohamed, AS, Chen, MM, Fuller, C. International multispecialty expert physician preoperative identification of extranodal extension in patients with oropharyngeal cancer using computed tomography. Cancer 131(7), 2025. e-Pub 2025. PMID: 40159431.
- Shi, JJ, McGinnis, GJ, Peterson, SK, Taku, N, Chen, YS, Yu, R, Wu, C, Mendoza, TR, Shete, S, Ma, HY, Volk, R, Giordano, SH, Shih, YT, Nguyen, DK, Kaiser, KW, Smith, GL. Pilot study of a Spanish language measure of financial toxicity in underserved Hispanic cancer patients with low English proficiency. Frontiers in Psychology 14, 2023. e-Pub 2023. PMID: 37492449.
- Taku N, Wahid KA, van Dijk LV, Sahlsten J, Jaskari J, Kaski K, Fuller CD, Naser MA. Auto-detection and segmentation of involved lymph nodes in HPV-associated oropharyngeal cancer using a convolutional deep learning neural network. Clin Transl Radiat Oncol 36:47-55, 2022. e-Pub 2022. PMID: 35782963.
- Taku N, Chronowski G, Brandon Gunn G, Morrison WH, Gross ND, Moreno AC, Ferrarotto R, Frank SJ, Fuller CD, Goepfert RP, Phan J, Lai SY, Reddy JP, Rosenthal DI, Garden AS. Unilateral Radiation Therapy for Tonsillar Cancer: Treatment Outcomes in the Era of Human Papillomavirus, Positron-Emission Tomography, and Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys 113(5):1054-1062, 2022. e-Pub 2022. PMID: 35504500.
- Taku N, Yi-Qian YN, Chang GJ, Ludmir EB, Raghav KPS, Rodriguez-Bigas MA, Holliday EB, Smith GL, Minsky BD, Overman MJ, Messick C, Boyce-Fappiano D, Koong AC, Skibber JM, Koay EJ, Dasari A, Taniguchi CM, Bednarski BK, Morris VK, Kopetz S, Das P. Benchmarking Outcomes for Definitive Treatment of Young-Onset, Locally Advanced Rectal Cancer. Clin Colorectal Cancer 21(1):e28-e37, 2022. e-Pub 2022. PMID: 34794903.
- Wahid KA, Ahmed S, He R, van Dijk LV, Teuwen J, McDonald BA, Salama V, Mohamed ASR, Salzillo T, Dede C, Taku N, Lai SY, Fuller CD, Naser MA. Evaluation of deep learning-based multiparametric MRI oropharyngeal primary tumor auto-segmentation and investigation of input channel effects: Results from a prospective imaging registry. Clin Transl Radiat Oncol 32:6-14, 2022. e-Pub 2022. PMID: 34765748.
- Taku N, Polo A, Zubizarreta EH, Prasad RR, Hopkins K. External Beam Radiotherapy in Western Africa: 1969-2019. Clinical Oncology 33(12):511-e520, 2021. e-Pub 2021. PMID: 34140206.
- Wahid KA, Ahmed S, He R, van Dijk LV, Teuwen J, McDonald BA, Salama V, Mohamed AS, Salzillo T, Dede C, Taku N, Lai SY, Fuller CD, Naser MA. Evaluation of deep learning-based multiparametric MRI oropharyngeal primary tumor auto-segmentation and investigation of input channel effects: Results from a prospective imaging registry. Clin Transl Radiat Oncol 16(32):6-14, 2021. e-Pub 2021. PMID: 34765748.
- Wentzel A, Luciani T, van Dijk LV, Taku N, Elgohari B, Mohamed ASR, Canahuate G, Fuller CD, Vock DM, Elisabeta Marai G, Team SMART SMAORT. Precision association of lymphatic disease spread with radiation-associated toxicity in oropharyngeal squamous carcinomas. Radiother Oncol 161:152-158, 2021. e-Pub 2021. PMID: 34126138.
- Taku N, Woodhouse KD, Liao KP, Anakwenze CP, Harrison RA, Zaky W, Paulino AC, Yeboa DN. Patterns of care for pediatric patients with newly-diagnosed grade II gliomas. Childs Nerv Syst 37(5):1563-1572, 2021. e-Pub 2021. PMID: 33404712.
- Rigaud, B, Anderson, BM, Yu, ZH, Gobeli, M, Cazoulat, G, Söderberg, J, Samuelsson, E, Lidberg, D, Ward, C, Taku, N, Cardenas, CE, Rhee, DJ, Venkatesan, AM, Peterson, CB, Court, LE, Svensson, S, Löfman, F, Klopp, AH, Brock, K. Automatic Segmentation Using Deep Learning to Enable Online Dose Optimization During Adaptive Radiation Therapy of Cervical Cancer. International Journal of Radiation Oncology Biology Physics 109(4):1096-1110, 2021. e-Pub 2021. PMID: 33181248.
- Anakwenze CP, McGovern S, Taku N, Liao K, Boyce-Fappiano DR, Kamiya-Matsuoka C, Ghia A, Chung C, Trifiletti D, Ferguson SD, Li J, Yeboa DN. Association Between Facility Volume and Overall Survival for Patients with Grade II Meningioma after Gross Total Resection. World Neurosurg 141:e133-e144, 2020. e-Pub 2020. PMID: 32407910.
- Pasalic D, Betancourt-Cuellar SL, Taku N, Ludmir EB, Lu Y, Allen PK, Tang C, Antonoff MB, Fuller CD, Rosenthal DI, Morrison WH, Phan J, Garden AS, Welsh JW, Chang JY, Liao Z, Erasmus JJ, Nguyen QN. Outcomes and toxicities following stereotactic ablative radiotherapy for pulmonary metastases in patients with primary head and neck cancer. Head Neck 42(8):1939-1953, 2020. e-Pub 2020. PMID: 32129548.
- Rigaud B, Cazoulat G, Vedam S, Venkatesan AM, Peterson CB, Taku N, Klopp AH, Brock KK. Modeling Complex Deformations of the Sigmoid Colon Between External Beam Radiation Therapy and Brachytherapy Images of Cervical Cancer. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys 106(5):1084-1094, 2020. e-Pub 2020. PMID: 32029345.
- Pasalic D, Lu Y, Betancourt-Cuellar SL, Taku N, Mesko SM, Bagley AF, Chance WW, Allen PK, Tang C, Antonoff MB, Balter PA, Mehran RJ, Welsh JW, Liao Z, Gomez D, Erasmus JJ, Nguyen QN. Stereotactic ablative radiation therapy for pulmonary metastases: Improving overall survival and identifying subgroups at high risk of local failure. Radiother Oncol 145:178-185, 2020. e-Pub 2020. PMID: 32044530.
- Boyce-Fappiano D, Gjyshi O, Pezzi TA, Allen PK, Solimman M, Taku N, Bernstein MB, Cabanillas ME, Amini B, Tatsui CE, Rhines LD, Wang XA, Briere TM, Yeboa DN, Bishop AJ, Li J, Ghia AJ. Spine stereotactic radiosurgery for metastatic thyroid cancer: a single-institution experience. J Neurosurg Spine:1-9, 2020. e-Pub 2020. PMID: 32059183.
- Tinoco M, Waga E, Tran K, Vo H, Baker J, Hunter R, Peterson C, Taku N, Court L. RapidPlan development of VMAT plans for cervical cancer patients in low- and middle-income countries. Med Dosim 45(2):172-178, 2020. e-Pub 2020. PMID: 31740042.
- Taku N, Narayan V, Wang X, Vapiwala N. Prevalence, Predictors, and Implications for Appropriate Use of Active Surveillance Management Among Black Men Diagnosed With Low-risk Prostate Cancer. Am J Clin Oncol 42(6):507-511, 2019. e-Pub 2019. PMID: 31045876.
- Rigaud B, Klopp A, Vedam S, Venkatesan A, Taku, N, Simon A, Haigron P, Crevoisier R, Brock K, Cazoulat G. Deformable image registration for dose mapping between external beam radiotherapy and brachytherapy images of cervical cancer. Phys Med Biol 64(11), 2019. e-Pub 2019. PMID: 30913542.
- Burnet NG, Scaife JE, Romanchikova M, Thomas SJ, Bates AM, Wong E, Noble DJ, Shelley LE, Bond SJ, Forman JR, Hoole AC, Barnett GC, Brochu FM, Simmons MP, Jena R, Harrison K, Yeap PL, Drew A, Silvester E, Elwood P, Pullen H, Sultana A, Seah SY, Wilson MZ, Russell SG, Benson RJ, Rimmer YL, Jefferies SJ, Taku N, Gurnell M, Powlson AS, Schönlieb CB, Cai X, Sutcliffe MP, Parker MA. Applying physical science techniques and CERN technology to an unsolved problem in radiation treatment for cancer: the multidisciplinary 'VoxTox' research programme. CERN Ideasq J Exp Innov 1(1):3-12, 2017. e-Pub 2017. PMID: 29177202.
- Taku N, Gurnell M, Burnet N, Jena R. Time Dependence of Radiation-induced Hypothalamic-Pituitary Axis Dysfunction in Adults Treated for Non-pituitary, Intracranial Neoplasms. Clin Oncol (R Coll Radiol) 29(1):34-41, 2017. e-Pub 2017. PMID: 27697410.
- Taku N, Koulouri O, Scoffings D, Gurnell M, Burnet N. The use of 11carbon methionine positron emission tomography (PET) imaging to enhance radiotherapy planning in the treatment of a giant, invasive pituitary adenoma. BJR Case Rep 3(2):20160098, 2017. e-Pub 2017. PMID: 30363212.
- Taku N, Dise J, Kenton O, Yin L, Teo BK, Lin LL. Quantification of vaginal motion associated with daily endorectal balloon placement during whole pelvis radiotherapy for gynecologic cancers. Radiother Oncol 120(3):532-536, 2016. e-Pub 2016. PMID: 27247058.
- Lin LL, Kirk M, Scholey J, Taku N, Kiely JB, White B, Both S. Initial Report of Pencil Beam Scanning Proton Therapy for Posthysterectomy Patients With Gynecologic Cancer. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys 95(1):181-189, 2016. e-Pub 2016. PMID: 26372435.
Review Articles
- Salzillo TC, Taku N, Wahid KA, McDonald BA, Wang J, van Dijk LV, Rigert JM, Mohamed ASR, Wang J, Lai SY, Fuller CD. Advances in Imaging for HPV-Related Oropharyngeal Cancer: Applications to Radiation Oncology. Semin Radiat Oncol 31(4):371-388, 2021. e-Pub 2021. PMID: 34455992.
- Taku N, Wang L, Garden AS, Rosenthal DI, Gunn GB, Morrison WH, Fuller CD, Phan J, Reddy JP, Moreno AC, Spiotto MT, Chronowski G, Shah SJ, Mayo LL, Gross ND, Ferrarotto R, Zhu XR, Zhang X, Frank SJ. Proton Therapy for HPV-Associated Oropharyngeal Cancers of the Head and Neck: a De-Intensification Strategy. Curr Treat Options Oncol 22(6):54, 2021. e-Pub 2021. PMID: 34086150.
Abstracts
- Taku N, Yi-Qian YN, Ludmir EB, Raghav KPS, Rodriguez-Bigas MA, Holliday EB, Smith GL, Minsky BD, Overman MJ, Messick C, Boyce-Fappiano D, Koong AC, Skibber JM, Koay EJ, Dasari A, Taniguchi CM, Bednarski BK, Morris VK, Kopetz S, Das P. Clinical outcomes following definitive treatment of young-onset, locally advanced rectal cancer: A single institution experience. American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting.
Patient Reviews
CV information above last modified July 25, 2025