Jean Pouliot

The Department of Radiation Oncology at UCSF will truly miss Jean. Jean joined the faculty of the UCSF Department of Radiation Oncology in 2000, and was Director of the Physics Division and Vice Chair within Radiation Oncology since 2008. He was active in both the MD-PhD and UCSF-UCB Bioengineering Graduate Programs. Under his leadership, the department reached a new height in offering state-of the art radiotherapy technology and personalized brachytherapy treatments. Jean was a pioneer in Image-guided radiation therapy (IGRT), he developed Megavoltage Cone-Beam CT for in-room treatment verification and brought image guided HDR brachytherapy into the clinical paradigm. His research contributions on Dose-Guided Radiation Therapy, Deformable Image Registration, and tumor evolution studies during cancer irradiation had a tremendous impact in the medical physics field and paved the road toward the development of adaptive radiation therapy. His seminal works on dose optimization in brachytherapy, namely on an inverse planning (IPSA) methodology for the dose distribution optimization of image-guided High-Dose-Rate and Permanent Prostate Implant Brachytherapy, is used in thousands of clinics around the world and has allowed tens of thousands of patients to receive better cancer treatments. His dedication to science and patient care was embedded in a philosophy that values training as highly as discovery. Jean strongly believed in empowering the new generation of scientists and clinicians. He was recognized as a top-of-the-class supervisor and mentor by undergraduate and graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and residents for more than two decades.
Jean was a colleague, friend, and mentor to many. He will always be remembered for his jovial nature and optimistic outlook, enduring friendship and love, recognition of people's strengths over weakness, as well as his mastery of solid collegial and professional relationships across the world. Our department will continue to recognize him for his significant contributions and leadership, including mentoring of many of our faculty. He is survived by his wife Michele Aubin and daughters Annick and Sophie. Jean will be truly missed but not forgotten.

Jean, I will always remember your kind, gentle, and courageous spirit. Rest in peace. My heart goes out to your family.

With deepest sympathy,
Patti Weisselberg

Nous vous adressons nos très sincères condoléances. Nos pensées sont avec vous.
Famille Touitou