Tim Blackburn, Ph.D.

Timothy Blackburn, Ph.D., is a Professor of Radiology at UT Southwestern Medical Center, and a member of its Medical Physics Division.

Dr. Blackburn received a bachelor's degree in radiologic technology from Midwestern State University in Wichita Falls, Texas. He then obtained a master's degree in radiological physics from UT Southwestern's Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, from which he also received a doctoral degree in radiological sciences.

Before joining the UT Southwestern faculty in 1998, Dr. Blackburn worked as a radiologic technologist at various hospitals throughout North Texas.

Dr. Blackburn provides medical physics support for mammography services at both Parkland Health & Hospital System and at UT Southwestern University Hospitals and associated clinics. He also provides diagnostic medical physics support for UT Southwestern's Department of Radiation Oncology. His responsibilities include planning and design for new and remodeled sites, shielding design and verification, acceptance testing of new equipment, equipment performance evaluations, quality assurance, patient dose monitoring and evaluation. These evaluations cover state and federal regulations for radiographic, mammographic, dental, CT, fluoroscopic, interventional, ultrasound, and DEXA equipment. Additional testing, evaluation, and documentation is provided for the American College of Radiology (ACR) and the Joint Commission (TJC) accreditation requirements.

In addition to his clinical responsibilities, Dr. Blackburn is also involved with teaching radiological physics to radiology residents and fellows.

His research interests include dose reduction technologies, image quality, radiological history, and global health.

Dr. Blackburn also serves on multiple committees charged with improving the quality of patient care. Multi-institutional committees include the Radiation Safety Advisory Committee and the Sub-committee for Human Use of Radiation in Research. At Children's Health, he is a member of the Radiation Safety Compliance Group and CT Quality Assurance Team, and is involved with patient dose monitoring and implementation of Radimetrics. At UT Southwestern, he is a member of the Institutional Review Board (IRB) and performs dose calculations for radiation risk assessments on an ongoing basis for patients and the IRB.

He is also active in several professional societies and organizations, including the American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM), the Southwest Regional Chapter of the AAPM, Texas Radiological Society (TRS), and the North Texas Radiologic Technologist Society, which honored him in 2019 by inducting him into is Living Legends Hall of Fame.