Author: michellel

In 1920, Arthur Holly Compton was appointed Wayman Crow Professor of Physics and head of the department of physics at Washington University in St. Louis. During that time, Compton did the experimental work that resulted in his being awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1927. His discovery, known as the “Compton effect” or “Compton […]

Wade Thorstad, MD, our Chief of Head & Neck Cancer Service, co-leads the Siteman comprehensive Head & Neck Tumor Center. It is a collaborative, multispecialty practice of Washington University physicians and researchers whose mission is to provide cutting-edge care for patients with head and neck cancers as well as benign tumors and masses of the head and neck. 

Stephanie M. Perkins, MD, accomplished expert in pediatric and proton radiation, has been named the S. Lee Kling Endowed Chair in Radiation Oncology at The Foundation for Barnes-Jewish Hospital.

In a medical career spanning 50 years, Dr. Perez made many contributions to radiation oncology research and is highly regarded for clinical management of patients with gynecologic tumors and cancers of the prostate, breast, and lung. He is an advocate of the human aspect of medicine, providing patients with a sense of compassion and understanding of their psychological and emotional needs.

Arash Darafsheh, PhD, has been awarded a grant for his work “High Spatiotemporal Resolution Radioluminescent Dosimetry of Proton FLASH Radiotherapy for Pre-Clinical Studies” from the Siteman Investment Program.

Professor Jacqueline Esthappan Zoberi, PhD, has been elected to the AAPM Board of Directors. Her term begins on January 1, 2024.

Assistant Professor of Radiation Oncology, Aadel Chaudhuri, MD, PhD & lead author, PSTP Fellow, Nick Semenkovich, MD, PhD, have just been selected to receive a 2023 ASTRO Annual Meeting Abstract Award, in the Clinical Category.

Their abstract is entitled “Circulating tumor DNA for early risk stratification of oligometastatic lung cancer”.

David Curiel, MD, PhD, Professor of radiation oncology, has been awarded Entrepreneur of the Year from the Washington University Office of Technology Management for his development of the Covid vaccine for nasal administration.

Noah Earland, MSTP student at Washington University School of Medicine and a member of the Chaudhuri Lab in the Cancer Biology Department, was awarded an NIH F30 with a perfect score: Impact score = 15, Percentile = 1.

Jin Zhang, PhD, has been awarded an NCI R01 Research Project Grant in the amount of $1,621,283 over a period of 5 years. The title of his work is “HPV genomic structure in cervical cancer radiation response and recurrence detection”.

The department of radiation oncology at Siteman Cancer Center has treated its 2,000th patient using the MRIdian, MRI-guided radiation therapy system by ViewRay. Patients treated at Siteman Cancer Center benefit from MRI on-table adaptive radiotherapy, real-time tissue tracking, and automated beam control which allows for delivering the prescribed dose to the target while sparing surrounding healthy tissue and critical structures, and results in minimizing toxicities. In January 2014, Siteman Cancer Center became the first in the world to treat patients using the MRI-guided radiation therapy system. Over the past nine years, the clinical team at Washington University has been a leader in publishing clinical evidence related to treating using the MRI-guided system. They were the first to publish prospective clinical trial data in MRI-guidance with pancreatic cancer and the first to publish prospective data on CT simulation-free MRI-guided treatment of palliative treatments. The department currently completes over 100 adaptive treatments per month.

In the most recent Castle Connolly Top Doctors edition, sixteen WashU Radiation Oncology physicians have been named to their list. Physicians can’t pay to be a Castle Connolly Top Doc. Honors are given by providing the best possible patient care, earning the respect of peers & being nominated.