While our flagship journal, the International Journal of Radiation Oncology • Biology • Physics (IJROBP), nicknamed “The Red Journal,” is best known for practice-changing science, cover art offers a welcome contrast — an opportunity to celebrate and embrace our humanity.
Cover art began under the tenure of Anthony Zietman, MD, FASTRO, in 2012 when he first solicited non-science related images to display on the cover of the journal. Today, we continue that tradition, publishing selected images of art on the cover of each of our 15 yearly issues.
We have represented a large diversity of mediums over the past decade, including painting, drawing, sculpture, fabric and leather work, musical compositions, collage and photography. Not only do we encourage art in all forms, but we also very strongly encourage submissions from the entire radiation oncology community —including physicians, therapists, physicists, nurses, dosimetrists and researchers, both in the U.S. and worldwide. This is an excellent way to bring us together as a community focused on our common humanity.
To submit an art image to IJROBP, please visit the submission system website, designating the article type as “Image.” Interested artists are encouraged to submit multiple images for consideration. There is no fee for submission, and artists may email questions.
Following are some examples of the diversity of work that has been recently featured on our covers.
Vol 114, No 1.
"The Garden and the Quail"
by Shari Bodofsky, MD
Medium: Acrylic painting
Dr. Bodofsky was a medical student at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, about to start residency at Yale New Haven Hospital, when she submitted this painting. Her painting draws on botanical imagery and textile themes. She also sews and makes plushies. This painting was intended to express harmony during a tumultuous pandemic. |
Vol 114, No 4.
"Needlepoint Precision"
by Ane L. Appelt, PhD
Medium: Embroidery
Dr. Appelt is a medical physicist and associate professor at University of Leeds in the United Kingdom. She has contributed to multiple national and international trials and also researches outcome modeling, AI for toxicity prediction, and re-irradiation. This cross stitch represents a lung stereotactic ablative radiotherapy (SABR) dose distribution made up of approximately 6,000 individual stitches, 1.5mm each, in 30 different colors. |
Vol 116, No 2.
"Tres Veces"
by Gary V. Walker, MD, MPH
Medium: Pottery
Dr. Walker is a radiation oncologist at Banner MD Anderson Cancer Center and an adjunct associate professor at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. He treats patients with head and neck as well as gastrointestinal malignancies. His first exposure to ceramics was in a high school art class and he has since created thousands of pieces, mostly functional ware including plates, bowls and mugs. |
Vol 116, No. 5.
"Faces in the Darkness"
by Tony Orlina, CMD.
Medium: Acrylic painting
Tony Orlina is a dosimetrist at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. He has been an avid painter for over 20 years, finding it an enjoyable outlet to the stress of daily life. He presented this acrylic painting representing faces in the darkness. |
Vol 117, No 1.
"Past Paste"
by Anna (Annie) LaVigne, MD
Medium: Charcoal on paper, sculpture
Dr. Anna (Annie) LaVigne was chief resident at Johns Hopkins University when she submitted this artwork portraying the interaction between toothpaste and small, paper-related objects referencing travel, things collected, and the passage of time. As a previous Johns Hopkins Health Humanities Distinction Track scholar, she is passionate about forging intersections between the health humanities and radiation oncology. |
Vol 117, No 2.
"Lion Cub"
by Jennifer Bellon, MD
Medium: Digital photograph
And last, as an avid wildlife photographer with a focus on Alaska and Southern/East Africa, I photographed this lion in the Maasai Mara, Kenya, with my camera held against the ground to emphasize the eye level connection with the lion cub. |
Dr. Bellon serves as the Art Editor of the Red Journal and is a former Associate Editor and Section Editor of the Breast Cancers section and a radiation oncologist at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Brigham and Women's Hospital, specializing in the treatment of breast cancer.
