UH Radiation Oncologist Offers High-Tech Care with Heart

UH Clinical Update | September 2026

Lauren Henke, MD, MSCI

For more than a decade, Lauren Henke, MD, MSCI, has worked toward a vision of a better, smarter version of radiation therapy -- one that relies less on pre-determined treatment plans that may be out of date due to organ or tumor movement, but instead precisely targets where the tumor is in real time, at the crucial moment the radiation dose is delivered. During her time at Washington University, she and colleagues conducted the first-in-the-world clinical trial testing an adaptive radiotherapy system.

Dr. Henke and colleagues have now implemented this groundbreaking treatment approach at UH Seidman Cancer Center, making us the first academic medical center to offer adaptive radiotherapy to patients in Ohio. In so doing, she brings her considerable expertise to several important roles, including Chief of Service, GI Radiation Oncology; Residency Program Director, Radiation Oncology; and Co-Director, GI Oncology Services.

And it’s none too soon. When it comes to cancer care, adaptive radiation has become the new normal, Dr. Henke says.

“I've helped to develop it on a number of platforms,” she says. “A single vendor was capable of it in 2014, but now basically every commercial vendor of radiation oncology devices today has an adaptive radiation solution. It’s a global standard for care, based on the work of our team.”

And while the technology behind adaptive radiation is complex, the main idea behind it is not.

“It’s really sensible and logical, if you think about it,” Dr. Henke says. “A surgeon would operate based on the anatomy that you see in front of you in the operating room, not where an organ used to be on a CT scan that was done two days ago or two weeks ago.”

Radiation therapy should be the same, she says – and now can be.

Plus, Dr. Henke says, the time savings with adaptive radiation can be considerable – obviously crucially important when treating cancer.

“In the past, we’ve been limited in how long it took to create treatment plans, and how complex it was to have good enough imaging on the actual machines themselves to see anatomic changes and be able to respond to them,” she says. “Now we're able to make a treatment plan that actually matches how the patient looks in this moment, right now. And for certain cancers, that's really, really important for delivering safe and effective treatment in fewer treatment days.

In fact, Dr. Henke is conducting a pair of clinical trials to determine whether adaptive radiation technology might further compress radiation therapy treatment time for some cancer patients.

“When you start being able to create new plans every day with the patient on the table, it begs the question of why you need an initial planning scan in every scenario to begin with, and whether we could actually just expedite the start of treatment for patients who have urgent clinical scenarios by creating it live while they're on the table,” she says. “And so we have a couple of trials examining that question.”

Dr. Henke earned her medical degree at Washington University School of Medicine and completed residency training in radiation oncology at Barnes-Jewish Hospital/Washington University School of Medicine. While at Washington University, she also earned a Master of Science degree in clinical investigation. After three years on the faculty there, she opted to join UH.

Jordan Winter, MD, Director of Surgical Services at UH Seidman Cancer Center, John and Peggy Garson Family Endowed Chair in Pancreatic Cancer Research, and Jerome A. and Joy Weinberger Family Master Clinician in Surgical Oncology, University Hospitals, is among the many who are glad she did. He recalls the story of how recently Dr. Henke mobilized her team to offer a same-day visit for a patient who lives more than an hour away, saving the patient an extra travel day.

“Dr. Henke is not only a world-class radiation oncologist and an innovative clinical trialist, but she exemplifies the highest level of professionalism,” Dr. Winter says. “My team is constantly amazed and points out the extraordinary access that Dr. Henke and her team provide to our patients. This is very typical of the top-shelf service that Dr. Henke and her team provide our patients. It is inspirational and remarkable.”

Recognizing Dr. Henke’s commitment to both science and compassion, UH CEO Cliff A. Megerian, MD, FACS, recently named her a “Dinner with the Doc” honoree.

“We are so lucky to have her on our team,” Dr. Winter says.

To nominate a physician for this honor, click here for the Dinner with the Doc nomination form.