Inside the Fabrication Laboratory at Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center, Louisiana State University (LSU) Ph.D. Candidate Shanice Manning is exploring a question that could shape the future of radiation therapy: can treatment devices be designed to better fit an individual patient’s anatomy?
Shanice is conducting her dissertation research at Mary Bird Perkins through the LSU–Mary Bird Perkins Medical Physics graduate program. Under the mentorship of Cancer Center Medical Physicist Dr. David Solis, her research, “Small Pieces, Big Impact: Improving Radiation Care with Custom Designs,” focuses on 3D-printed brachytherapy applicators and the tools used to measure and test how radiation interacts with those devices. A 3D-printed brachytherapy applicator is a custom-made device that helps position the radiation source in the intended treatment area. Because the radiation source is placed through the applicator, the device’s shape, fit and position can affect where the radiation is delivered.
In its early stages, Shanice’s research allows the unique opportunity to develop, build and test her ideas inside a cancer center alongside medical physicists who work directly with patients and clinical treatment teams. Doing this work in a cancer center is important because the devices can be designed and evaluated with the realities of how patients are positioned and imaged, how treatments are planned and how devices need to function within a busy clinical setting in mind.
“Having the ability to design, build and test within the same clinical environment means I can think about the entire process; not just how something looks or performs on paper,” says Shanice.
Brachytherapy delivers radiation from inside or near the area being treated, helping target cancer cells while limiting exposure to nearby healthy tissue. The applicator helps position the radiation source where it is intended to go, so a device that fits the patient’s anatomy can be important for positioning and treatment delivery.
Shanice’s research explores whether 3D printing and other advanced manufacturing techniques could eventually allow some brachytherapy devices to be customized to a patient’s unique anatomy.
Creating a personalized device involves more than printing a shape. Her work includes developing fabrication methods, measuring how radiation interacts with the devices, and establishing the testing and quality-control processes needed to determine whether they perform as intended.
“I’m not reading about how these treatments are being delivered – I’m watching it happen, in the same facility where I’m running my research,” Shanice said. “That proximity to patient care has changed how I think about what I’m building and why.”
Being immersed in a clinical environment also gives Shanice access to state-of-the-art technology and the medical physicists who use it every day.
“That combination of leading-edge resources and the people who know how to use them has made my research more informed, more relevant and honestly more meaningful,” she said.
That process – fabricate, measure and validate – is at the heart of Mary Bird Perkins’ Fabrication Laboratory.
The laboratory grew from an idea proposed by Medical Physicists Dr. Solis, Dr. Andrew McGuffey and Radiation Technologist Doug Naden. With support from the donor community, the laboratory came online in January 2026.
Today, it provides advanced 3D-printing and laser-cutting capabilities that allow researchers to design, fabricate and test prototypes on-site.
The laboratory is designed to support more than a single research project. As its capabilities grow, Mary Bird Perkins is exploring additional opportunities for advanced fabrication, clinical innovation and patient-specific technologies.
Shanice’s research is one of the first examples of what that investment can make possible.
Her work also benefits from collaboration with medical physicists and researchers across LSU and Mary Bird Perkins, including Dr. McGuffey, Ericka Chorniak, MS, Dan Neck, MS, Dr. Krystal Kirby, LSU Medical Physics PhD Candidate Morgan Aire and LSU MS Candidate Mason Holloway.
“Working alongside clinical physicists brings something to this work that does not come from a textbook: years of hands-on experience treating real patients under real-time pressure,” Shanice said. “They see the treatment plans that require extra care, they notice the gaps and they are constantly thinking about ways to improve the quality of care they deliver.”
That experience directly influences her research.
“They catch things I would never catch in a purely academic setting,” she said. “Things like how an applicator needs to sit during imaging, or how long a plan modification realistically takes in a busy clinic. Those observations have directly influenced my design decisions.”
In 2026, Shanice presented her research at the Southwest Chapter of the American Association of Physicists in Medicine’s regional MedPhys Slam, where medical physics researchers explain complex work to a general audience.
LSU Medical Physics swept the competition, with Shanice taking first place, followed by Murtuza Taqi in second and Emma Sargent in third.
At the national competition, Shanice went on to win both first place and the People’s Choice Award, marking the first national MedPhys Slam win by an LSU student.
The recognition brought national attention to research that is still in its early stages. The next steps include refining the fabrication process, completing radiation measurements and establishing the quality-control framework needed before patient-specific devices could be considered for clinical evaluation.
“We are very much in the initial stages of this work, and we have a long way to go,” Solis said. “The research is exciting and the applications will be impactful for our research program, our clinical capabilities and most of all our patients.”
Shanice’s research is one example of the broader LSU–Mary Bird Perkins partnership in medical physics, bringing together graduate education, clinical expertise, research and innovation.
It is also an early example of what the Fabrication Laboratory makes possible: giving researchers and clinicians the tools to move ideas from concept to prototype and toward rigorous testing.
For Shanice, being part of that environment keeps the purpose of the work close.
“When you walk past the treatment areas on your way to your desk, you don’t lose sight of who this research is ultimately for,” she said.
Her work is not yet a treatment, and the technology is not yet ready for patients. But the foundation is in place: an LSU researcher, experienced clinical physicists, a growing fabrication capability and a laboratory built with community support – all working together to explore what more personalized radiation therapy could look like.
Ultimately, the goal is to build something that could make a meaningful difference for patients in Louisiana and beyond.
For more information about the LSU–Mary Bird Perkins Medical Physics program, please visit marybird.org/services/physics/.
