{{Short description|Canadian medical physicist}} {{Infobox scientist | name = Stephen Pistorius | honorific_suffix = {{Post-nominals|country=CAN|unlinked = PhD PPhys FCOMP}} | image = | image_size = | caption = | birth_date = | birth_place = Durban, Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa | field = Medical Physics | work_institutions = {{Plainlist| * University of Manitoba * CancerCare Manitoba }} | education = {{Plainlist| * University of Natal <small>(BSc)</small> * Stellenbosch University <small>(BSc, MSc, PhD)</small>}} | known_for = {{Plainlist| * Breast cancer research * Microwave imaging }} | thesis_title = The analysis and modelling of broad beams of photons and electrons | thesis_year = 1991 | prizes = | Education = }} '''Stephen Pistorius''' {{post-nominals|country=CAN|unlinked = PhD PPhys FCOMP}} is a South African-Canadian academic and medical physicist.
Pistorius is currently a full professor at the University of Manitoba, where he is the founder and Director of its Medical Physics program.<ref name=":9">{{Cite web |date=2025-05-05 |title=The 2025 CAP-COMP Peter Kirkby Memorial Medal for Outstanding Service to Canadian Physics is awarded to Stephen Pistorius |url=https://comp-ocpm.ca/latest-news/the-2025-cap-comp-peter-kirkby-memorial-medal-for-outstanding-service-to-canadian-physics-is-awarded-to-stephen-pistorius-2025-05-05 |access-date=2025-07-04 |website=Canadian Organization of Medical Physicists |language=}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Faculty of Science: Research - Medical Physics |url=http://umanitoba.ca/science/research/physics-and-astronomy/medical-physics |access-date=2025-07-04 |website=University of Manitoba |language=}}</ref> His research focuses on microwave imaging for the detection and treatment of breast cancer, including novel image reconstruction techniques and imaging applications in orthopaedics and radiation therapy.
Pistorius previously served as Provincial Director of Medical Physics at CancerCare Manitoba, the province's cancer screening and treatment institute. He also served as President of the [https://comp-ocpm.ca/english/about-comp/about-comp.html Canadian Organization of Medical Physicists] (2006-2008)<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |date=2022 |title=Past COMP Board Members |url=https://comp-ocpm.ca/_uploads/60e6de954ac0e.pdf |access-date=2025-07-04 |website=Canadian Organization of Medical Physicists}}</ref> and of the Canadian Association of Physicists (2017-2018).<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |date=2018 |title=Biography: Dr. Stephen Pistorius, P.Phys |url=https://www.cap.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Bio_Stephen-Pistorius_2018-08.pdf |access-date=2025-04-07 |website=Canadian Association of Physicists}}</ref><ref name=":4">{{Cite web |title=CAP Presidents (Current and Former) |url=https://cap.ca/about-us/history/past-presidents/ |access-date=2025-07-04 |website=Canadian Association of Physicists |language=}}</ref> In 2025, he was awarded the Peter Kirkby Memorial Medal for Outstanding Service to Canadian Physics.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Shadkami |first=Kimia |date=2025-06-27 |title=Strengthening Canadian physics and medical physics through service and innovative leadership |url=https://news.umanitoba.ca/strengthening-canadian-physics-and-medical-physics-through-service-and-innovative-leadership/ |access-date=2025-04-07 |work=UM Today Network |publisher=University of Manitoba}}</ref>
He is the author of more than 300 publications and presentations and is the recipient of numerous national and international awards, including over $4.5 million in national research grants.<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":10">{{Cite web |date=2022 |title=Research at CancerCare Manitoba: Care through Discovery |url=https://www.cancercare.mb.ca/export/sites/default/About-Us/.galleries/files/corporate-publications/research-report-web_compressed.pdf |access-date=2025-04-07 |publisher=CancerCare Manitoba}}</ref><ref name=":5">{{Cite web |title=Stephen Pistorius |url=https://research.cancercare.mb.ca/research-profile/stephen-pistorius/ |access-date=2025-07-04 |website=CCMB Research |language=}}</ref>
==Early life== Pistorius was born in Durban, South Africa. After earning a B.Sc. in Physics & Geography from the University of Natal in 1977,<ref name=":11">{{Cite web |date=2019 |title=Turning Noise into Numbers: Innovative approaches to cancer diagnosis and optimized radiation therapy using microwaves, x-rays and gamma rays |url=https://services.cap.ca/lecture_tour/detail.php?id=112 |access-date=2025-07-04 |website=Canadian Association of Physicists}}</ref><ref name=":6">{{Cite journal |last=G. Thomas, D. Flores-Tapia & S. Pistorius |date=May 2011 |title=Histogram Specification: A Fast and Flexible Method to Process Digital Images |journal=IEEE Transactions on Instrumentation and Measurement |volume=60 |issue=5 |pages=1578 |doi=10.1109/TIM.2010.2089110|bibcode=2011ITIM...60.1565T }}</ref> he was conscripted into the Engineering Corps of the South African army.<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":1" /><ref name=":8" /> He served a two-year tour of duty, fulfilling the national service requirement in place at the time.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Early Development of the South African Military |url=http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+za0130) |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151019141806/http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd%2Fcstdy%3A%40field%28DOCID+za0130%29 |archive-date=2015-10-19 |access-date=2014-11-29 |website=Library of Congress |publisher=Library of Congress Country Studies |publication-date=1996}}</ref>
Following his national service, Pistorius worked in industry in Cape Town, installing South Africa's first industrial linear accelerator in 1980.<ref name=":8" /> He then continued his education at Stellenbosch University, completing a B.Sc. (Hons.) in radiation physics in 1983 and an M.Sc. in medical sciences in 1984.<ref name=":6" /> Following a two-year residency in medical physics, he was certified as a medical physicist by the Health Professions Council of South Africa in 1986.<ref name=":8" /><ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=A. Sabouni, A. Ahtari, S. Noghanian, G. Thomas & S. Pistorius |date=November 2013 |title=Hybrid Binary-Real GA Optimization Approach for Breast Microwave Tomography |url=https://journals.riverpublishers.com/index.php/ACES/article/view/11303 |journal=Applied Computational Electromagnetics Society Journal |volume=28 |issue=11 |pages=1016 |doi=}}</ref>
Pistorius subsequently returned to Stellenbosch, where he obtained a Ph.D. in physics in 1991.<ref name=":8" /><ref name=":0" />
==Career== In 1992, Pistorius moved to Winnipeg, Canada, to join CancerCare Manitoba (then called the Manitoba Cancer Treatment and Research Foundation), the province's cancer screening and treatment institute.<ref name=":8" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=Who We Are |url=https://www.cancercare.mb.ca/About-Us/who-we-are |access-date=2025-07-04 |website=CancerCare Manitoba}}</ref> He initially focused on clinical therapy, and was tasked with improving Manitoba's underdeveloped medical physics capabilities.<ref name=":1">{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qiy9LR84TE |title=Strengthening Canadian physics and medical physics through service and innovative leadership |date=2025-06-27 |last=Faculty of Science, University of Manitoba |type=Video |access-date=2025-07-04 |via=YouTube}}</ref>
Within a short time, Pistorius was invited to join the Department of Physics & Astronomy at the University of Manitoba, an appointment which he credits as having "started [his] research career".<ref name=":1" /> He continued to lead the medical physics team at CancerCare Manitoba, establishing a joint medical physics training program between the institute, the University of Manitoba, and the University of Winnipeg.<ref name=":1" /> He became CancerCare Manitoba's first Director of Medical Physics in 1995, and then its first Provincial Director of Medical Physics – a C-level position responsible for cancer screening and research across the province<ref>{{Cite web |title=2009-2010 Progress Report |url=https://www.cancercare.mb.ca/export/sites/default/About-Us/.galleries/files/corporate-publications/CCMB_Progress_Report_2009-2010.pdf |access-date=2025-07-04 |website=CancerCare Manitoba}}</ref> – in 2000.
In 2002, Pistorius was licensed as a professional physicist (P.Phys.) by the Canadian Association of Physicists (CAP),<ref name=":6" /> an organization he would later lead. In 2005, he acquired a postgraduate diploma in business management from Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh.<ref name=":3" /> Pistorius was promoted to full professorship within the Department of Physics & Astronomy,<ref name=":7">{{Cite journal |last=C. Gilmore, P. Mojabi, A. Zakaria, M. Ostadrahimi, C. Kaye, S. Noghanian, L. Shafai, S. Pistorius & J. LoVetri |date=April 2010 |title=A Wideband Microwave Tomography System with a Novel Frequency Selection Procedure |url=https://home.cc.umanitoba.ca/~lovetrij/Research/PDFs/Journals/JP38.pdf |journal=IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering |volume=57 |issue=4 |pages=904 |doi=10.1109/TBME.2009.2036372 |pmid=19932993 |bibcode=2010ITBE...57..894G }}</ref> and received a second academic appointment as an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Medicine's Department of Radiology.<ref name=":0" /> In 2010, he moved to the University on a full-time basis; his role at CancerCare Manitoba thus changed to that of a senior researcher, though he remained affiliated with the organization until the late 2010s.<ref name=":8" /><ref>{{Cite journal |last=R. Conceição, H. Medeiros, D.M. Godinho, M. O'Halloran, D. Rodriguez-Herrera, D. Flores-Tapia & S. Pistorius |date=April 2020 |title=Classification of breast tumor models with a prototype microwave imaging system |url=https://aapm.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/mp.14064 |journal=Medical Physics |volume=47 |issue=4 |pages=1860–1870 |doi=10.1002/mp.14064|pmid=32010981 |bibcode=2020MedPh..47.1860C |url-access=subscription }}</ref>
Pistorius has maintained his certification as a medical physicist and his licence as a professional physicist.<ref name=":3" /> Pistorius is also a Fellow of the Canadian Organization of Medical Physicists,<ref name=":12" /> an organization he served as President in 2006-2008 (and as Past President until 2010).<ref name=":2" /> Pistorius is a senior member of the IEEE, a lifetime member of the American Association of Medical Physicists, and a former President (2017-2018) of the Canadian Association of Physicists.<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":4" /> He is also active internationally; he sits on the editorial board of the African Journal of Medical Physics,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Editorial Board Members |url=https://globalmedicalphysics.org/editorial-board/ |access-date=2025-07-04 |website=African Journal of Medical Physics |language=}}</ref> and has contributed to developing medical physics programs in the US, UK, Ireland, South Africa, India, Nigeria, and Portugal.<ref name=":5" />
== Research == Pistorius's research focuses on cancer imaging, seeking to improve early detection and treatment of breast cancer,<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":7" /> with a particular emphasis on rural and developing nations.<ref name=":5" /><ref name=":11" />
Over the years, this has included novel non-ionizing breast imaging techniques (such as tomographic and radar-based microwave imaging),<ref name=":8">{{Cite web |title=Cancer Researchers within the Terry Fox Research Institute Prairie Node |url=https://www.tfri.ca/docs/default-source/nodes/prairies/prairie-cancer-researchers.pdf?sfvrsn |access-date=2025-07-04 |website=The Terry Fox Research Institute |publisher=}}</ref> scatter-enhanced x-ray and gamma ray emissions,<ref name=":10" /> and the use of megavoltage portal imaging and 3D dosimetry reconstructions to enable real-time, ''in vivo'' tracking of patients undergoing radiation treatment.<ref name=":5" /><ref name=":8" />
Since 2015,<ref>{{Cite web |last= |date=2015-12-18 |title=Detecting Breast Cancer with Cell Phones and Fundamental Physics |url=https://www.grandchallenges.ca/2015/detecting-breast-cancer-with-cell-phones-and-fundamental-physics-2/ |access-date=2025-07-05 |website=Grand Challenges Canada |language=}}</ref> Pistorius and his team have been developing breast cancer screening devices for use in developing countries or remote locations, where the technology to conduct mammograms, ultrasounds, or MRI scans is either unavailable or prohibitively expensive<ref name=":11" /> – or in areas, such as Canada,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Toller |first=Carol |date=2024-05-09 |title=With contactless screening tech, this Toronto startup hopes to catch breast cancer early — and save lives |url=https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/article/with-contactless-screening-tech-this-toronto-startup-hopes-to-catch-breast-cancer-early-and-save-lives/ |access-date=2025-07-04 |website=CTVNews |language=}}</ref> where routine mammography rates are declining and where an additional "pre-screen" device would improve times for diagnosis and treatment (and therefore rates of survival).<ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |title=Saving lives with early detection and diagnosis |url=https://cancer.ca/en/research/our-impact/saving-lives/early-detection-and-diagnosis |access-date=2025-07-04 |website=Canadian Cancer Society |language=}}</ref> In 2016, the team's "Comfort Wave Mobile Imaging" device was submitted for Health Canada approval before beginning clinical trials.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2016 |title=2015/2016 Annual Progress Report |url=https://www.cancercare.mb.ca/export/sites/default/About-Us/.galleries/files/corporate-publications/CCMB_Progress_Report_2015-2016.pdf |access-date=2025-07-04 |website=CancerCare Manitoba |publisher=}}</ref> Pistorius subsequently secured Class 3 licensing for the device, which is now being tested using 3D-printed, anatomically accurate breast phantoms.<ref name=":5" />
In recent years, Pistorius's work has expanded into artificial intelligence and machine learning, particularly in analyzing images and in detecting (and classifying) tumours. This research has enabled microwave-based screening tools to reach detection rates equivalent to traditional x-ray mammography, opening the door to fast, accurate, readerless detection of early-stage breast cancer.<ref name=":5" />
== Selected honours and awards == *2008, Senior Member of the IEEE.<ref name=":7" /> *2012, Fellow of the Canadian Organization of Medical Physicists.<ref name=":12">{{Cite web |date=2025 |title=Fellow of COMP Recipients |url=https://comp-ocpm.ca/english/about-comp/awards/fellow-of-comp.html/fellow-of-comp-award-recipients |access-date=2025-04-07 |website=Canadian Organization of Medical Physicists}}</ref> *2025, Peter Kirkby Memorial Medal for Outstanding Service to Canadian Physics.<ref name=":9" />
==References== {{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pistorius, Stephen}} Category:Living people Category:Medical physicists Category:Canadian physicists Category:20th-century Canadian physicists Category:21st-century Canadian physicists Category:Scientists from Winnipeg Category:White South African people Category:20th-century South African physicists Category:21st-century South African physicists Category:Scientists from Durban Category:Stellenbosch University alumni Category:University of Natal alumni Category:Alumni of Jeppe High School for Boys Category:Academic staff of the University of Manitoba Category:Year of birth missing (living people)