Rachel M. Barbee, Ph.D., DABR
Department of Imaging Physics, Division of Diagnostic Imaging
About Dr. Rachel M. Barbee
Dr. Rachel Barbee (née Bartlett) is an ABR certified Nuclear Medical Physicist and Associate Professor in the Department of Imaging Physics at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. She obtained her PhD in Medical Physics from the University of Wisconsin – Madison studying environmental neurotoxins in utero using PET imaging of novel radiotracers. After defending her thesis, she joined the Nuclear Medicine group at Memorial Sloan Kettering in New York City as a post-doctoral fellow. Her work at MSKCC shifted her research focus from neurological conditions to the study of hypoxia in cancer. In 2012 she joined NYU Langone Health as the clinical nuclear medicine physicist and an Assistant Professor in the Department of Radiology, where in addition to providing clinical support she provided administrative support sitting on the IRB, IACUC, RDRC, and radiation safety committee in addition to educational roles for medical residents and clinical staff. In 2022 Dr. Barbee moved to Houston to join the Nuclear Medicine Physics group in the Department of Imaging Physics at MD Anderson Cancer Center where she provides daily support of clinical diagnostic and therapeutic nuclear medicine procedures.
Dr Barbee’s interest focuses on the practical implementation of radionuclide therapy, particularly theranostics, and personalized dosimetry. She is passionate about educating and improving the nuclear medicine community as an active member of the SNMMI MIRD (medical internal radiation dosimetry) committee and quality standards as a member of the nuclear medicine subcommittee of the ACR. In addition to the training of medical physicists and radiology residents, Dr. Barbee supports the education and certification of fellows serving on multiple committees of the ABR.
Present Title & Affiliation
Primary Appointment
Associate Professor, Imaging Physics, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX
Dual/Joint/Adjunct Appointment
Associate Professor, Imaging Physics, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX
Research Interests
Quantitative nuclear medicine imaging.
Kinetic modeling of PET image data to study the dynamics of the tracer molecule and obtain quantitative estimates of biochemical and physiologic parameters.
Dosimetry of diagnostic and therapeutic radionuclides
Clinical Interests
General nuclear medicine including gamma camera planar and SPECT, PET
Radiopharmaceutical dosimetry and treatment planning
Radiation safety including facility shielding
Standardization and streamlined efficiency of a clinical nuclear medicine department
Education & Training
Degree-Granting Education
| 2009 | University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin, US, Medical Physics, Ph.D |
| 2004 | University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin, US, Medical Physics, M.S |
| 2002 | Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon, US, Physics, BS |
Postgraduate Training
| 2009-2012 | Research Fellowship, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, New York |
Licenses & Certifications
| 2022 | Texas Licensure Medical Nuclear Physics |
| 2014 | American Board of Radiology - Nuclear Medical Physics |
| 2012 | NYS Licensure: Medical Nuclear Physics |
Experience & Service
Faculty Academic Appointments
Assistant Professor, Radiology, NYU Langone Medical Center, NYC, NY, 2012 - 2022
Intramural Institutional Committee Activities
Member, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, 2023 - Present
Voting Member, Medical Physics Graduate Program Steering Committee, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, 2023 - Present
Committee Member, Nuclear Medicine Tumor Board, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, 2023 - Present
Voting Member, Nuclear Medicine Research Peer Review Committee, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, 2022 - Present
Committee Member, NYUSoM Institutional Review Board, NYU Langone Health, 2019 - 2022
Committee Member, NYU Radioactive Drug and Research Committee, NYU Langone Health, 2017 - 2022
Committee Member, NYU Medical Isotope Committee, NYU Langone Health, 2016 - 2022
Committee Member, NYUSoM Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee, NYU Langone Health, 2012 - 2022
Editorial Activities
Associate Editor, Journal of applied clinical medical physics, 2026 - Present
Executive Guest Editor, Physica Medica: European Journal of Medical Physics, 2025 - Present
Guest Editor, Physics in medicine and biology, 2024 - Present
Professional Memberships
Selected Presentations & Talks
National Presentations
- 2025. Advancing patient care through nuclear medicine physics. Invited. AAPM Annual Meeting. Washington, D.C, District of Columbia, US.
- 2025. Quantitative SPECT: Comparison across platforms. Invited. AAPM Annual Meeting. Washington, D.C, District of Columbia, US.
- 2024. Accuracy and variability of Siemens Lu-177 XSPECT Quant. Conference. AAPM Annual Meeting, US.
- 2024. Current status and future of clinical dosimetry in RPT. Invited. 2024 SNMMI Therapeutics Conference. Bethesda, Maryland, US.
- 2024. Dosimetry for Radiopharmaceutical Therapy: Data Acquisition and Analysis. Invited. AAPM Annual Meeting, US.
- 2024. Current Status and Needs of QA/QC in RPT. Invited. AAPM Annual Meeting, US.
- 2024. Siemens XSPECT verses Flash 3D SPECT threshold-based Tc-99m sulfur colloid functional liver volume for liver primary chancer radiation therapy treatment planning. Conference. AAPM Annual Meeting, US.
- 2023. Consistency and Standardization. Invited. AAPM Summer School. College Park, Maryland, US.
- 2023. ACR Advances in NM Technology. Invited. AAPM Annual Meeting, US.
- 2022. Practical Considerations for Implementing Radionuclide Therapy In Nuclear Medicine. Invited. Best of Radiation Oncology. New Hyde Park, New York, US.
- 2012. Direct lymphatic administration of 18F-FDG for high resolution and multimodal PET/Cerendov lymphography. Conference. SNMMI Annual Meeting, US.
- 2011. A pilot study of using pre- and early (1 week) [18F]-misonidazole positron emission and computed tomography (18F-FMSIO PET/CT) scans as an early treatment response predictor in a series of head and neck cancer (HNC) patients undergoing chemoradiation. Conference. ASTRO Annual Meeting. Arlington, Virginia, US.
- 2010. Evaluating changes in tumor uptake of [18F]-FLT in patients with diffuse large cell lymphoma pre and post chemotherapy. Conference. SNMMI Annual Meeting, US.
- 2009. Maternal-Fetal dopaminergic receptor characteristics assessed in utero. Conference. SNMMI Annual Meeting, US.
- 2008. Paraquat uptake in adult and fetal macaque brains in vivo: A PET study. Conference. XI Turku PET Symposium, US.
- 2006. A PET/CT study of Cerebral Dopamine D2 receptors in Rhesus Macaque Fetus in utero. Conference. SNMMI Annual Meeting, US.
- 2004. Striatal aromatic amino acid decarboxylase turnover in vivo in primate brain: A microPET study. Conference. SNMMI Annual Meeting. Reston, Virginia, US.
- 2004. Dosimetry Estimates for [18F] Desmethoxyfallypride. Conference. SNMMI Annual Meeting, US.
International Presentations
- 2025. Initiatives of the SNMMI - Theranostics. Invited. 2nd Symposium on Molecular Radiotherapy Dosimetry: The future of theragnostics. Athens, GR.
- 2008. Paraquat uptake in adult and fetal macaque brains in vivo: A PET study. Conference. XI Turku PET symposium.
Grant & Contract Support
| Date: | 2025 - 2026 |
| Title: | Standardizing Clinical Deployment of Task Driven Quantitative SPECT Imaging Protocols |
| Funding Source: | QIAC |
| Role: | PI |
Selected Publications
Peer-Reviewed Articles
- Thompson, EA, Jacobsen, MC, Barbee, R, Sun, J, Zandbergen, C, Layman, RR. Quality control of opportunistic multi-energy CT bone mineral density quantification. Radiological Physics and Technology 19(2):806-816, 2026. e-Pub 2026. PMID: 42096119.
- Ding S, Barbee RM, Mawlawi O, Pan T. Automatic trending and analysis of SPECT quality assurance with artificial intelligence optical character recognition. Medical Physics 52(8), 2025. e-Pub 2025.
- Emily Thompson, Megan Jacobsen, Barbee RM, Jia Sun, Cayla Wood, Rick Layman. Quality Control of Opportunistic Multi-energy CT Bone Mineral Density Quantificaton. Radiological Physics and Technology.
Other Articles
- Barbee RM, Barbee D Consistency and Standardization. In: AAPM Radiopharmaceutical Therapy, 2023.
Patient Reviews
CV information above last modified September 11, 2026