ARLINGTON, Va., July 24, 2019 — The members of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) have elected four new officers to ASTRO's Board of Directors. Laura Dawson, MD, FASTRO, will begin her term as President-elect in September during ASTRO's 61st Annual Meeting in Chicago, alongside Neha Vapiwala, MD, the new Secretary/Treasurer-elect; Constantine Mantz, MD, the new Health Policy Council Vice-chair; and Brian Marples, PhD, the new Science Council Vice-chair.
"I am honored to be elected as ASTRO's President-elect. Radiation oncology is a highly effective intervention that most cancer patients benefit from at some point during the course of their disease. Unfortunately, not all patients have access to radiation therapy, and there is a need for improved public awareness about its benefits," said Dr. Dawson.
In her tenure as President-elect and eventual Chair of ASTRO, Dr. Dawson also plans to address key challenges facing both radiation oncology and the larger house of medicine, including physician burnout, restrictive prior authorization practices and workforce diversity.
Dr. Dawson leads a multi-disciplinary team of cancer specialists in upper gastrointestinal (GI) cancers at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre in Toronto and is a professor of radiation oncology at the University of Toronto. She also directs the palliative radiation oncology program and has led numerous phase I, II and III trials, including trials that focused on the use of personalized stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) for patients with liver cancer, who historically were not candidates for radiation therapy.
Dr. Dawson has an extensive record of service to ASTRO and the field. She previously served on the ASTRO Board as Chair of the Education Council. A leading expert in GI cancers, she recently chaired the steering committee of the Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium co-sponsored by ASTRO. Dr. Dawson also has participated in the NRG's GI steering and translational research committees and the National Cancer Institute (NCI)/National Institute of Health (NIH) hepatobiliary task force for more than a decade.
ABOUT ASTRO
The American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) is the world's largest radiation oncology society , with more than 10,000 members who are physicians, nurses, biologists, physicists, radiation therapists, dosimetrists and other health care professionals who specialize in treating patients with radiation therapies. The Society is dedicated to improving patient care through professional education and training, support for clinical practice and health policy standards, advancement of science and research, and advocacy. ASTRO publishes three medical journals, International Journal of Radiation Oncology • Biology • Physics, Practical Radiation Oncology and Advances in Radiation Oncology; developed and maintains an extensive patient website, RT Answers; and created the nonprofit foundation Radiation Oncology Institute. To learn more about ASTRO, visit our website, sign up to receive our news and follow us on our blog, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
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