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Nishele Lenards

Clinical Professor
Hlth Prof-Dosimetry
University of Wisconsin-La Crosse

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Nishele Lenards

Clinical Professor

Hlth Prof-Dosimetry

Specialty area(s)

Medical Dosimetry, Radiation Oncology, Distance Learning, Educational Technology

Brief biography

Professional Career: most of my professional career has been working in the field of Radiation Oncology.
Teaching Career: most of my teaching experience has been working with adult learners in didactic and clinical environments as well as in the face-to-face and online learning environments.

Current position at UW-L: I am the Director of the Online Medical Dosimetry Program at UW-La Crosse in the College of Science and Health – Health Professions Department. I developed the first online program at UW-L in 2003-04. I am responsible for the administrative aspect of the program as well as teaching part of the online program curriculum.

Expert Distance Educator: I have been an online learner since the mid-90’s and an online instructor since 2003, therefore I have a special interest in distance learning and educational technology and consider myself an expert in online learning. My master's and doctoral work were in distance learning.
**The best part of teaching online is sharing experiences with people all over the country and having the most diverse group of students possible.

Personal: I am married with two grown children (and two yellow lab dogs). I enjoy crafting &  genealogy/genetic genealogy.

Current courses at UWL

Fall Semester
DOS 513 Cross-sectional Anatomy
DOS 514 Physics 
DOS 515 Computers & Networking 
DOS 518 Professional Issues in Medical Dosimetry 
DOS 750 Professional e-Portfolio
DOS 751 Research Methods in Medical Dosimetry III (research advisor)
DOS 783 CMD Seminar III

Spring Semester
DOS 711 Research Methods in Medical Dosimetry I (research advisor)
DOS 523 Treatment Planning & Dose Calculations
DOS 750 Professional e-Portfolio
DOS 781 CMD Seminar I

Summer Semester
DOS 751 Research Methods in Medical Dosimetry II (research advisor)
DOS 741 Protocols & Studies in Radiation Oncology
DOS 782 CMD Seminar II

Education

Northcentral University, Prescott Valley AZ
Doctorate of Philosophy in Education; Specialization: Educational Technology & E-Learning (2017)
Dissertation: Student Perceptions of Asynchronous Multimodal Instructor Feedback: A Multiple Case Study

University of Wisconsin - Stout, Menomonie WI
Master of Science Degree in Education (2007)
Certificate: E-Learning & Online Teaching (2008)

University of St. Francis, Joliet IL
Bachelor of Science Degree in Health Arts (1999)

Aultman Hospital School of Radiation Therapy, Canton OH
Diploma/Registered Radiation Therapist (1991)

University of Akron/Akron City Hospital School of Radiologic Technology, Akron OH
Diploma/Registered Radiologic Technologist (1990)

Certifications/Licensures
E-learning & Online Teaching, 2008
Certified Medical Dosimetrist, 1995 (#1475246)
Registered Radiation Therapist, 1991 (#239154)
Registered Radiographer, 1990 (#239154)

Career

Research and publishing

Peer-Reviewed Publications

Coffey A, Moreno J, Lenards N, Hunzeker A, Tobler M. A survey of medical dosimetrists' perceptions of efficiency and consistency of auto-contouring software. Med Dosim. 2022; In Press. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.meddos.2022.05.003 

Lee J, Huelskamp C, Nappi C, Lenards N, Hunzeker A, Cetnar A. A dosimetric comparison of 3D DCAT vs VMAT for palliative and early-stage liver lesions using eclipse TPS. Med Dosim. 2022; In Press. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.meddos.2022.04.002

Larsen K, Cimmiyotti J, Momoh R, Lenards N, Hunzeker A, Mundy D. Case study of a bolus helmet used to maintain optic chiasm and nerve sparing while improving target coverage using IMPT. Med Dosim. 2022; 47(3):252-257. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.meddos.2022.03.003

Czmielewski C, Gallina V, Tripoli D, Lenards N, Hunzeker A. Analyzing changes in radiotherapy treatment planning error reporting during the COVID-19 pandemic. Med Dosim. 2022; 47(3):248-251. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.meddos.2022.04.001

Yorio S, Lenards N, Hunzeker A. A case study of DIBH to spare abdominal organs at risk for renal cell carcinoma MR-guided radiotherapy. Med Dosim. 2022; 47(2):e19-23. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.meddos.2022.01.002

Inshetski R, Lenards N, Hunzeker A. Robust optimization used to mitigate setup uncertainties in vulvar patients receiving VMAT. Med Dosim. 2022; 47(2):129-135. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.meddos.2021.11.003

Hadsell CS, Lenards N, Hunzeker A, Tallhamer MJ, Hadsell MJ. The effect of measurement geometry on patient specific QA pass/fail rates for stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) plans. Med Dosim. 2021; 46(4): 389-397. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.meddos.2021.05.001

Casto Z, Liu M, Lenards N, Hunzeker A, Zoller W, Blakaj DM. Multiple case dosimetric evaluation of VMAT scalp irradiation using 3D milled bolus. Med Dosim. 2021; 46(4): 324-327. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.meddos.2021.03.007

Wilson A, Keefe J, Habibulla H, Lenards N, Hunzeker A, Tobler M, Zeiler S, Fellows A. Incidence of work related musculoskeletal disorders in medical dosimetry. Med Dosim. 2021; 46(4): 377-381. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.meddos.2021.04.003

Wilson L, Rohe R, Lenards N, Hunzeker A, Tobler M, Zeiler S, Fellows A. Minimizing clearance issues with prone breast patients on Varian linear accelerators through isocenter placement. Med Dosim. 2021; 46(4): 319-323. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.meddos.2021.03.004

Yiga T, Lin T, Williamson B, Lenards N, Hunzeker A, Tobler M, Zeiler S, Fellows A. A case study of evaluating bilateral lung dose for VMAT treatment planning using a partial sagittal arc. Med Dosim. 2021; 46(3): 236-239. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.meddos.2020.12.004

Lenards N. A Quantitative Comparative Study of Medical Dosimetry Graduates With and Without Prior Radiation Therapy Certification. Med Dosim. 2020; 45(4):374-381. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.meddos.2020.05.005

Deiter N, Chu F, Lenards N, Hunzeker A, Lang K, Mundy D. Evaluation of Replanning in Intensity-Modulated Proton Therapy for Oropharyngeal Cancer: Factors Influencing Plan Robustness. Med Dosim. 2020; 45(4):384-392. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.meddos.2020.06.002

Eskens M, Nguyen H, Deere W, Lenards N, Hunzeker A, Tobler M. A Retrospective Evaluation of Mixed Energy Volumetric Modulated Arc Therapy for Anal Cancers with Lymph Node Involvement. Med Dosim. 2020; 45(4):339-345. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.meddos.2020.04.002 

Keil J, Carda J, Reihart J, Seidel M, Lenards N, Hunzeker A. A dosimetric study using split x-jaw planning technique for the treatment of endometrial carcinoma. Med Dosim. 2020; 45(3):278-283. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.meddos.2020.02.001   

Lang K, Loritz B, Schwartz A, Hunzeker A, Lenards N, Culp L, Finley R, Corbin K. Dosimetric comparison between volumetric-modulated arc therapy and field-in-field technique for postmastectomy chest wall and regional lymph node irradiation.  Med Dosim. 2019;45(2):121-127. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.meddos.2019.08.001

Gustafson N, Burrier T, Butler B, Hunzeker A, Lenards N, Culp L. Correlation of hot spot to breast separation in patients treated with postlumpectomy tangent 3D-CRT using field-in-field technique and mixed photon energies. Med Dosim. 2019; 45(2):134-139. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.meddos.2019.08.004

Stauch Z, Zoller W, Tedrick A, Walston S, Christ D, Hunzeker A, Lenards N, Culp L, Gamez M, Blakaj D. An evaluation of adaptive planning by assessing the dosimetric impact of weight loss throughout the course of radiotherapy in bilateral treatment of head and neck cancer patients. Med Dosim. 2019; 45(1):52-59. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.meddos.2019.05.003

Rice A, Zoller I, Kocos K, Weller D, DiCostanzo D, Hunzeker A, Lenards N. The implementation of RapidPlan in predicting deep inspiration breath-hold candidates with left-sided breast cancer. Med Dosim. 2019;44(3):210-218. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.meddos.2018.06.007

Kudos

published

Nishele Lenards, Health Professions, co-authored the article "A case study of DIBH to spare abdominal organs at risk for renal cell carcinoma MR-guided radiotherapy" in the Medical Dosimetry journal published on Feb. 23 by Elsevier. This was the result of a graduate student research project.

Submitted on: May 3, 2022

published

Nishele Lenards, Health Professions, co-authored the article "Robust optimization used to mitigate setup uncertainties in vulvar patients receiving VMAT" in the Medical Dosimetry journal published on Dec. 31, 2021 by Elsevier. This was the result of a graduate student research project.

Submitted on: May 3, 2022

published

Courtney Hadsell, MS Medical Dosimetry and Nishele Lenards, Medical Dosimetry, co-authored the article "The effect of measurement geometry on patient specific QA pass/fail rates for stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) Plans" in the Medical Dosimetry journal published on June 25 by Elsevier. This research was part of the graduate degree project in the medical dosimetry program.

Submitted on: July 1, 2021

published

Nishele Lenards, Health Professions, co-authored the article "Multiple case dosimetric evaluation of VMAT scalp irradiation using 3D milled bolus" in the Medical Dosimetry journal published on May 12 by Elsevier. The published article was part of a graduate student research project.

Submitted on: June 3, 2021

published

Nishele Lenards, Health Professions, co-authored the article "Incidence of work related musculoskeletal disorders in medical dosimetry" in the Medical Dosimetry journal published on May 23 by Elsevier. The published article was part of a graduate student research project.

Submitted on: June 3, 2021