2019-08-01 05:23:23
ASTRO HAS AWARDED ITS HIGHEST HONOR, THE ASTRO GOLD MEDAL, to three leaders in the field of radiation oncology. Congratulations to Walter J. Curran Jr., MD, Silvia C. Formenti, MD, FASTRO, and Thomas R. Mackie, PhD. The ASTRO Gold Medal is the highest honor bestowed on esteemed members of the Society who have made outstanding contributions to the field of radiation oncology.
“The 2019 Gold Medal recipients are truly exceptional visionaries whose contributions have significantly impacted the discipline of radiation oncology,” said ASTRO Board of Directors Chair Paul Harari, MD, FASTRO. “The career work of these three individuals in advancing radiation oncology research, innovation and cancer care has forever changed the landscape of our field.”
This is the award’s 43rd consecutive year of recognizing outstanding members, and the 2019 awardees join an elite class of 87 Gold Medalists selected over the decades from the Society’s more than 10,000 members. The Gold Medals will be awarded on Tuesday, September 17, during ASTRO's 61st Annual Meeting.
Walter J. Curran Jr., MD, is an internationally known expert in lung cancer and brain tumors and currently serves as executive director at Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University and as a group chairman and principal investigator of NRG Oncology, the largest of the five National Cancer Institute (NCI)-funded clinical trials network groups. He has dedicated his career to the education of future radiation oncologists and to advancing the field of radiation oncology. He is currently the only radiation oncologist to serve as director of an NCI designated cancer center. “This role is impactful to the field as it educates the broader world,” said Dr. Curran. “Seeing radiation oncologists succeed in these leadership roles has a positive impact on the specialty.”
Dr. Curran is a graduate of the Medical College of Georgia and early in his career held faculty roles at the University of Pennsylvania, while also practicing at Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia. It was there that he was first introduced to the NCI through the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG). He then served as chairman of the Radiation Oncology Department for 13 years at Thomas Jefferson University. At the same time, Dr. Curran became a leader within RTOG and oversaw the tremendous growth and successful renewal of NCI grants. He was instrumental in the merging of RTOG and the Gynecologic Oncology Group and the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project, now known as NRG Oncology, creating one of the largest and most diverse NCI research network groups.
Perhaps one of his greatest impacts to the field is leading and engaging some of the best and brightest minds in radiation oncology in RTOG and NRG. “Working in groups like these requires a lot of compromise and volunteer effort above and beyond everyone’s day job. But by working together as a group, we’re able to research and change practice in a way none of us can do at our own one institution,” said Dr. Curran.
Looking to the future, Dr. Curran plans to continue his transdisciplinary research, stating “When we bring disparate teams of investigators together, what great things can come.”
Dr. Curran attributes many of his successes to the opportunity to work with many great people who share a common passion. “ASTRO has been my core organization throughout my whole career,” said Dr. Curran. “Winning the Gold Medal means an extraordinary amount.”
Silvia C. Formenti, MD, FASTRO, is an internationally renowned physician scientist and trailblazer in radiation and immunotherapy. Dr. Formenti is chair of the Department of Radiation Oncology at Weill Cornell Medical College at Cornell University and radiation oncologist-in-chief at New York Presbyterian Hospital. She has devoted her career to translating novel, preclinical information to the clinic, leading her peers to refer to her as “one of the most creative and productive investigators of the past two decades in how to use radiation therapy for the treatment of women with breast cancer.”
Dr. Formenti graduated from the University of Milan in Italy and began her career as a medical oncologist. She later came to the U.S. for a fellowship and residency at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles. Through her care for patients with brain and lung cancers, Dr. Formenti saw the importance of the radiation component of their treatments, which led to her pursuing a second specialty in radiation oncology. “My patients that I have lost remain very present in my career,” said Dr. Formenti. That impact also fueled her interest in the immune response to cancer. “I have always been interested in what takes life, what are the mechanics and mortality of cancer,” said Dr. Formenti. These questions helped formulate her research — conducted well ahead of its time — in combining radiation therapy and immunotherapy treatments. The concepts and approaches are widely adopted in clinical use today and have led to more than 100 clinical trials.
In addition to her presence in the lab, her leadership has greatly impacted the specialty. Earlier in Dr. Formenti’s career, she served as the first female chair of the Department of Radiation Oncology at NYU School of Medicine — one of just a few female chairs across the country at the time. Her influence and drive continues to be felt throughout the field, from the PhD students she has mentored to the researchers she works beside.
When thinking of the Gold Medal recognition, Dr. Formenti said, “It means a lot because it is also recognition of my team and the work we’ve done together over the years, both my research and clinical teams. We introduced something that was a little disruptive, not conventional thinking, and it brings satisfaction that our Society is acknowledging this work. It is truly an honor.”
Thomas R. Mackie, PhD, can be categorized under many names: medical physicist, researcher, mentor, entrepreneur, professor, visionary. While he has been all these and more throughout his extensive and impressive career, the one that carried him through his successes, and sometimes admitted failures, is visionary. “I wanted to see my research and my vision actionized into patient care. Some might call that stubborn, we’ll call it visionary,” said Dr. Mackie.
Dr. Mackie began his career as a health physicist in uranium mining in Saskatchewan and always held an interest in radiation science. A family member’s cancer diagnosis and later radiation treatment further spurred his interest in the field. He later moved to the University of Wisconsin, where he spent the majority of his career, and is currently emeritus professor of medical physics and engineering. It is there where he excelled as a remarkable inventor, innovator and entrepreneur.
Driven by necessity and the resolve to turn discovery into clinical application, Dr. Mackie started his first company, Geometrics Corporation, to provide his research groups’ software program to patients. Later known as Pinnacle, this 3-D treatment planning software dominated radiation treatment planning over a span of 20 years. The start of this company coincided with parallel work in TomoTherapy, another company started by Dr. Mackie, which he later sold to Accuray Corporation. There are nearly 750 TomoTherapy treatment units in clinical operation today. His inventions and contributions to the field of radiation oncology have impacted hundreds of thousands of cancer patients worldwide. Over the course of his career, Dr. Mackie has written more than 184 journal articles, with some of the most highly cited papers in the field and holds nearly 50 U.S. patents.
Throughout his many successes and celebrated career, Dr. Mackie is most proud of his students and inventions. “I am proud of the graduate students I have trained — more than 40 PhDs were awarded under my supervision — and the technologies I have brought into the marketplace,” said Dr. Mackie. “Most importantly, I couldn’t have done what I’ve done without the support and work of so many good scientists and smart people around me. This Gold Medal is the highest honor of my career and the greatest honor bestowed on me.”
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