Monica Ghita, Ph.D., DABR

Assistant Professor

Monica Ghita, Ph.D., DABR

Department: Radiology

Phone: (804) 827-4159

Fax: (804) 828-6577

Email: monica.ghita@vcuhealth.org

Address/Location:
Ambulatory Care Center, Room B021D

EDUCATION

  • Ph.D., Medical Physics, NRE Department, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL
  • M.S., Physics, Physics Department, Central Michigan University, Mount Pleasant, MI

PRESENTATIONS AND SEMINARS

  • M. Ghita, “CT Doses and Optimization of CT Scan Parameters”, seminar, Department of Therapeutic Radiology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, January 23, 2012.
  • M. Ghita, “From Physics to Medical Physics – A Personal Journey”, seminar, Department of Physics, Central Michigan University, Mt. Pleasant, MI, October 29, 2009.
  • M. Arreola; L. Lavoie; M. Ghita, “Radiation Doses from Clinical Use of a 320-slice CT Scanner in Head and Neck Studies”, 43rd Annual meeting of the American Society of Head & Neck Radiology (ASHNR). New Orleans, LO, October 7-11, 2009.
  • M. Arreola; L. Lavoie; M. Ghita, “320-slice MDCT: Informatics, Workflow and Radiation Dose Challenges”, 2009 Annual Meeting of the Society for Imaging Informatics in Medicine (SIIM). Charlotte, NC, June 4-7, 2009.
  • M. Arreola; L. Lavoie; M. Ghita, “Use of 320-slice MDCT in Vascular, Cardiac and Brain Studies: Initial Clinical Experience and Radiation Dose Assessments”, 26th Annual Meeting of the American College of Medical Physics (ACMP). Virginia Beach, VA, May 2-5, 2009.

PUBLICATIONS

  • C. L. Moore, B. Daniels, D. Singh, S. Luty, G. Gunabushanam, M. Ghita, A. Molinaro, C.P. Gross, "Implementation of a Reduced Dose CT Protocol in ED Patients with Moderate to High Likelihood of Ureteral Stone," Radiology, 280, Issue 3, 743-51 (September 2016).
  • C. L. Moore, B. Daniels, M. Ghita, et al., "Accuracy of Reduced-Dose Computed Tomography for Ureteral Stones in Emergency Department Patients," Annals of Emergency Medicine, 65(2), 189-198, February (2015).
  • K. Weisenthal, R.A. Taylor, M. Ghita, C. Moore, “Risk-Benefit Analysis of Reduced Dose CT for Uncomplicated Renal Colic,” Academic Emergency Medicine, 22(S1), S75 (2015).
  • A. Lukasiewicz, J. Weinreb, L. P. Coombs, M. Chatfield, M. Ghita, G. Gunabushanam, C.L. Moore "Radiation Dose Index of Renal Colic Protocol CT Scans in the United States: A Report from the American College of Radiology National Radiology Data Registry", Radiology, 271, 445-51 (2014).
  • C.L. Moore, G. Gunabushanam, B. Daniels, D. Singh, S. Luty, A. Molinaro, M. Ghita, C.P. Gross, “Implementation of an Ultra-Low Dose CT Protocol for ED Patients with Suspected Kidney Stone,” Academic Emergency Medicine, 21(5), S302 (2014).
  • A. Lukasiewicz, J. Weinreb, L. P. Coombs, M. Bhargavan, M. Ghita, C.L. Moore "Radiation Dose Index of CTs for kidney stone performed in the United States”, Academic Emergency Medicine, 20(5), S54 (2013).
  • A.H. Davarpanah, J.K. Pahade, D. Cornfeld, M. Ghita, S. Kulkarni, G.M. Israel, “CT Angiography in Potential Living Kidney Donors: 80 kVp versus 120 kVp”, American Journal of Roentgenology, 201(5), W753-60, 2013.
  • M.W. Maxfield, K.M. Schuster, E.A. McGilicuddy, C.J. Young, M. Ghita, J. Bokhari, I. Oliva, J.A. Brink, K.A. Davis, "Impact of Adaptive Statistical Iterative Reconstruction (ASIR) on Radiation Dose in Evaluation of Trauma Patients", Journal of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery, 73, 1406-11, 2012.
  • A. Mahajan, L.F. Starker, M. Ghita, R. Udelsman, J.A. Brink, T. Carling, “Parathyroid four-dimensional computed tomography: evaluation of radiation dose exposure during preoperative localization of parathyroid tumors in primary hyperparathyroidism”, World Journal of Surgery, 36(6), 1335-9, June (2012).
  • L. Lavoie, M. Ghita, L. Brateman, M. Arreola, “Characterization of commercially-available, optically-stimulated luminescent dosimetry system for use in computed tomography”, Health Physics, 101, no.3, 299-310, September (2011).
  • A. Al-Basheer; G. Sjoden; M. Ghita, “Critical Discretization Issues in 3-D SN Simulations Relevant to Dosimetry and Medical Physics”, Nuclear Technology, 169, 252-262, March (2010).
  • M. Ghita, Computer simulations to estimate organ doses from clinically validated cardiac, neuro, and pediatric protocols for multiple detector computed tomography scanners, ProQuest Dissertations And Theses, PhD Thesis (University of Florida, 2009), Publication Number: AAI3385929; ISBN: 9781109520903.
  • A. Al-Basheer, G. Sjoden, M. Ghita, “Electron Dose Kernels to Account for Secondary Particle Transport in Deterministic Simulations”, Nuclear Technology Journal, 168(3), 906-18, December (2009).
  • A. Al-Basheer, G. Sjoden, M. Ghita, “Electron Dose Kernels to Account for Secondary Particle Doses in Deterministic Simulations,” Med. Phys. 36, 2667 (2009).
  • M. Ghita, G. Sjoden M. Arreola, “DXS a Diagnostic X-Ray Spectra Generator,” Med. Phys. 35, 2878 (2008).
  • Al-Basheer, M. Ghita, G. Sjoden, W. Bolch, C. Lee, “Whole Body Dosimetry Simulations with the UF-B Series Phantom Using PENTRAN-MP Code System,” Med. Phys. 34, 2349 (2007).
  • D. J. Singh, M. Ghita, M. Fornari, S. V. Halilov, “Role of A-site and B-site ions in perovskite ferroelectricity”, Ferroelectrics 338(1), 73-79 (2006).
  • M. Ghita, M. Fornari, S.V. Halilov, D.J. Singh, “Interplay between A-site and B-site driven instabilities in perovskites,” Phys. Rev. B 72, 054114 (2005).
  • D.J. Singh, M. Ghita, S.V. Halilov, M. Fornari, “The role of Pb in piezoelectrics and possible substitution for it”, Journal de Physique IV. 128, 47-53 (2005).
  • M. Horoi, M. Ghita, V. Zelevinsky, “Comparison of approaches for spin- and parity-dependent shell model nuclear level density”, Nuclear Physics A 758, 142-145 (2005).
  • M. Horoi, M. Ghita, V. Zelevinsky, “Fixed spin and parity nuclear level density for restricted shell model configurations,” Phys. Rev. C 69, 041307(R) (2004).

CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS

  • P. Lin; F. Corwin; and M. Ghita, “Preliminary Report on the Experience of Patient Radiation Dose Monitoring and Tracking Systems; PEMNET, Radimetrics and DoseWatch,” Med. Phys. 43(6), 3669 (2016).
  • M. Chen; D. Cheng; and M. Ghita, “Determining the minimal required ultra-low dose CT for reliable attenuation correction of F-18 FDG PET-CT: a phantom study”, RSNA 2015 Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL, November 29 - December 4, 2015.
  • S. Singh; M. Ghita; A. Padole; R. Khawaja; S. Pourjabbar; M. Kalra; and J. Brink, “Relevance of Abdominal CT Radiation Dose Reduction beyond Childhood: What Does New Data Show?”, RSNA 2013 Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL, December 1-6, 2013.
  • L. Lavoie; M. Ghita; and M. Arreola, “Organ Dose Estimates from Broad Beam Volumetric CT Scan: A Comparative study Using OSL Dosimeters and Tomographic Phantoms”, RSNA 2009 Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL, November 28 – December 4, 2009.
  • M. Arreola; L. Lavoie; and M. Ghita, “Organ Dose Determination on a 320-Slice MDCT Scanner Using Optically-Stimulated Dosimeters and Monte Carlo Simulations,” Proceedings of the 12th International Conference and 22nd National Symposium on Solid State Dosimetry. Universidad de Sonora, Hermosillo, Sonora, México, September 29 – October 2, 2009.
  • M. Ghita; G.E. Sjoden; A. Al-Basheer; M.A. Arreola; W. Bolch; and C. Lee, “Deterministic Radiation Transport Simulations for Diagnostic imaging Applications”, International Conference on Mathematics, Computational Methods & Reactor Physics (M&C 2009), Saratoga Springs, NY, May 3-7, 2009.
  • M. Ghita; A. Al-Basheer; G. Sjoden; M. M. Arreola; W. Bolch; and C. Lee, "Deterministic 3D Radiation Transport Simulation for Dose Distribution and Organ Dose Evaluation in Diagnostic Imaging Modalities”, 11th International Conference on Radiation Shielding (ICRS)& 15th Topical Meeting of the RPSD of ANS, Callaway Gardens, Pine Mountain, GA, April 13-18, 2008.
  • M. Ghita; A. Al-Basheer; G. Sjoden; M. M. Arreola; W. Bolch; and C. Lee, "3D Radiation Transport Simulation for Dose Distribution and Organ Dose Evaluation in Diagnostic CT,“ CMPWG, Gainesville, Fl, 2007.
  • Al-Basheer, M. Ghita, G. Sjoden, W. Bolch, and C. Lee, “Whole Body and Distal Organ -Specific Dosimetry Using Parallel SN Methods”, AAPM Annual Meeting, Minneapolis, MN, July 22-26, 2007.
  • Al-Basheer; M. Ghita; G. Sjoden; W. Bolch; and C. Lee, “Whole Body Dosimetry Simulations with the UF-B Series Phantom Using PENTRAN-MP Code System”, Proceedings of the 2007 American Nuclear Society Annual Meeting, Boston, MA, June 24-28, 2007.
  • M. Ghita; G. Sjoden; and G. Ghita,"Parallel PENTRAN Solutions of the “TIEL” Steady State Neutron Transport Benchmark Problems", Joint International Topical Meeting on Mathematics & Computation and Supercomputing in Nuclear Applications (M&C + SNA 2007), Monterey, CA, April 15-19 2007.
  • Al-Basheer; M. Ghita; and G. Sjoden, "Investigation of deterministic simulation parameters for a 3-D radiotherapy Co-60 device model," in ANS Winter Meeting and Nuclear Technology Expo, edited by Albuquerque, NM, 2006, pp. 511-513.
  • M. Ghita; A. Al-Basheer; G. Sjoden; J. Baciak; M. M. Arreola; and C. Williams, “Validation of DXS: A Diagnostic X-Ray Source Generator for X-Ray Transport Simulations”, Proceedings of Radiation Shielding and Protection Division 14th Biennial Topical Meeting, Carlsbad , NM , April 2-6, 2006.
  • Al-Basheer; M. Ghita; G. Sjoden; and B. Dionne, "Critical Discretization Issues in a 3-D Discrete Ordinates Medical Physics Simulation Benchmarked with Monte Carlo", Proceedings of Radiation Shielding and Protection Division 14th Biennial Topical Meeting, Carlsbad , NM , April 2-6, 2006.
  • Al-Basheer; M. Ghita; G. Sjoden; and B. Dionne, “Comparison of 3-D Deterministic and Monte Carlo Cross Sections for Medical Physics Problems”, Proceedings of the 2005 American Nuclear Society Winter Meeting, Washington DC, November, 2005.
  • D.J. Singh; M. Ghita; M. Fornari; and S.V. Halilov, “Atomic Level Control of Perovskite Lattice Instabilities by Cation Substitution”, 12th US-Japan Seminar on Dielectric and Piezoelectric Ceramics, November 6–9, 2005, Annapolis, Maryland, USA.
  • M. Fornari; M. Ghita; S.H. Halilov; and D.J. Singh, “Interplay between A-site and B-site Driven Instabilities in Perovskite Alloys”, MRS Fall Meeting, Boston, MA, December 2004.
  • M. Ghita; M. Fornari; and D.J. Singh, “Energy barriers in PZT at the MPB”, APS March. Meeting, Montreal, Canada, March, 2004.
  • M. Ghita; M. Fornari; and D.J. Singh, “Energy Surfaces of Perovskite Oxides”, APS March Meeting, Austin, TX, March, 2003.

AWARDS

  • 2008: Student Travel Grant, Radiation Protection and Shielding Division of the American Nuclear Society at the 15th Topical Meeting at Callaway Gardens, GA
  • 2007: Anthony Stell Memorial Scholarship in Medical Physics, The Department of Nuclear and Radiological Engineering at University of Florida, Gainesville, FL
  • 2004: Best Poster Award, Central Michigan University, Mount Pleasant, MI

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