Overview
Clinical interests in brain, spine, head and neck, lung, upper gastrointestinal (GI) and skin cancers, plus palliative care and benign conditions such as Dupuytren's contracture and Keloid scars.
Dr Lara Best is based in the Wide Bay area and attends GenesisCare clinics in Hervey Bay and Bundaberg.
Dr Best completed medical school at Queen’s University in Canada (2008) and completed Radiation Oncology training at Western University in Canada in 2013. She completed two fellowships; one at Calvary Mater Newcastle and the other at Queens University in Canada.
She went on to work at the Nova Scotia Cancer Center (Canada), where she was the provincial lead for brain & spine tumors, skin cancers and benign conditions. She was also the assistant Registrar training program director and very involved in teaching at the postgraduate level.
She completed a Masters of Education in 2019 focusing on the impact of technology on registrar learning in the Radiation Oncology workplace. This work has been published, and lead to a Governor General’s Gold Medal award. She was recognised at ICRE 2020 for her presentation on Transition to Practice: Thinking Beyond the Exam, and was an invited lecturer at the CARO annual registrar refresher course, speaking about skin cancers.
Dr. Best moved to the Wide Bay region in Queensland with her family in early 2021.
Research
- 3D-printed bolus for the treatment of skin cancers and medical education.
Professional memberships
- ASCO
- ASTRO
- CARO
- ESTRO
- TROG
Publications
- Best L, Sengupta A, Murphy RJ, de Metz C, Trotter T, Loewen SK, Ingledew PA, Sargeant J. Transition to practice in radiation oncology: mind the gap. Radiother Oncol 2019; 138: 126-31.2016;8(9);e767.
- Best L, de Metz C, Olivotto IA, Roy I, Whelan T, Arsenault J, Brundage M. Radiation therapy quality indicators for invasive breast cancer. Radiother Oncol 2017;123(2): 288-93.
- Casey S, Best L, Vujovic O, Jordan K, Fisher B, Carey D, Bourdeau D, Yu E. Use of protoporphyrin fluorescence to determine clinical target volume for non-melanotic skin cancers treated with primary radiotherapy. Cureus 2016;8(9);e767.
- Lock M, Best L, Wong E, Bauman G, D’Souza D, Venketesan V, Sexton T, Ahmad B, Rodrigues GB. A phase II trial of arc-based hypofractionated IMRT in localized Prostate Cancer. Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology and Physics August 2011; 80(5):1306-1315
- Rodrigues G, Velker V, Best L. Radiation Oncology Primer and Review: Essential Concepts and Protocols. New York: Demos Medical Publishing, 2013.