ASTRO members elect five new officers to Board of Directors

President-elect, Secretary/Treasurer-elect, and Vice-chairs of Education, Government Relations and Clinical Affairs and Quality Councils take office in September

Members of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) have elected five new officers to the Society’s Board of Directors, including President-elect, Secretary-Treasurer-elect, and Vice-chairs of three of ASTRO’s five councils (Clinical Affairs and Quality, Education and Government Relations). Terms for all positions begin at the Annual Business Meeting at ASTRO’s 58th Annual Meeting, to be held September 25-28, 2016 in Boston.

The new Board of Directors members are:

• President-elect: Paul M. Harari, MD, FASTRO, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin
• Secretary/Treasurer-elect: Geraldine M. Jacobson, MD, MBA, MPH, FASTRO, West Virginia University, Morgantown, West Virginia
• Clinical Affairs and Quality Council Vice-chair: Todd Pawlicki, PhD, FASTRO, University of California San Diego, San Diego
• Education Council Vice-chair: Lynn D. Wilson, MD, MPH, FASTRO, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut
• Government Relations Council Vice-chair: Ronald D. Ennis, MD, Mount Sinai West Hospital, New York

“These new officers all share the virtues of expertise in clinical care and research coupled with long-standing dedication to our Society and profession. As the radiation oncology community faces new realities such as growing numbers of cancer patients and survivors, changing physician payment structures, and a rising need for cross-discipline collaboration, these individuals will help ASTRO continue to provide leadership and support for its more than 10,000 members,” said Bruce D. Minsky, MD, FASTRO, Chair of ASTRO’s Board of Directors.

Dr. Paul Harari (President-elect) is the Jack Fowler Professor and Chair of the department of human oncology at the University of Wisconsin, where he has served as a professor focused on research and treatment advances for head and neck cancer since 1990. Harari has also served as an associate director of the university’s Carbone Cancer Center and he directs the first National Institutes of Health Specialized Programs of Research Excellence (SPORE) grant earned in the state of Wisconsin.

Harari’s plans as President-elect include enhancing public awareness of the specialty. “It is important for us to illuminate the tremendous power and precision of radiation to heal, cure, image, and improve human health and quality of life,” he said. “I am committed to fostering ASTRO’s ability to provide a rich platform for research, education, quality care and practice safety that enables individual members and teams to assemble, communicate and innovate for the future.”

As a member of ASTRO’s Board of Directors since 2012, Harari has served as Chair and Vice-chair of the Society’s Education Council. Before joining the Board, he was Chair of the ASTRO Education Committee and a member of the CME/MOC Committee, as well as a member of the task forces that selected editors-in-chief for ASTRO’s flagship journals, the International Journal of Radiation Oncology • Biology • Physics (Red Journal) and Practical Radiation Oncology (PRO). He was Conference Chair of the inaugural Multidisciplinary Head and Neck Cancer Symposium, and his involvement with ASTRO’s Annual Meeting has been extensive, including as a member of the Annual Meeting Steering Committee and Scientific Program Committee; as a participant in multiple Meet the Professor Luncheons and Poster Walks with a Professor; as a speaker for several Presidential Symposia; and as a lecturer in various educational and refresher course sessions.

Harari received his medical degree from the University of Virginia and his Bachelor of Science in biology from Tufts University. He completed his residency in radiation oncology as well as a fellowship in cancer biology research at the University of Arizona, and he completed an internship in internal medicine at the University of California Davis.

Dr. Geraldine Jacobson (Secretary/Treasurer-elect) is Founding Chair of the department of radiation oncology at the West Virginia University (WVU) School of Medicine and physician-in-chief for radiation oncology at the WVU Cancer Institute. Before joining WVU, she was associate chair and medical director of radiation oncology at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics (UIHC), where she also directed the radiation oncology residency program.

With her new office, Jacobson begins her fifth year on ASTRO’s Board of Directors, elected previously as Chair and Vice-chair of the Government Relations Council. She has served ASTRO as Chair of the Government Relations Committee and the Congressional Relations Subcommittee and as a member of ASTRO’s Finance, International Education, and Clinical Affairs and Quality Committees.

Jacobson received her medical degree from the University of Utah, a Master’s in Business Administration from the University of Chicago, a Master’s in Public Health from the University of South Florida and a Bachelor of Science degree from Michigan State University. She completed her residency in radiation oncology at LDS Hospital in Salt Lake City and an internship at the University of Utah.

Dr. Todd Pawlicki (Clinical Affairs and Quality Council Vice-chair) is a professor of radiation oncology at the University of California San Diego in La Jolla, California. Before joining the UCSD faculty, he was an assistant professor of radiation oncology at Stanford University.

During his tenure as an ASTRO member, Pawlicki has become involved with the Society in a number of ways. He is Chair of the Clinical Affairs and Quality Committee and a member of the Radiation Oncology Institute Research Committee and ASTRO’s Education Committee. Previously, he was Chair and Vice-chair of the Multidisciplinary Quality Assurance Subcommittee. He also has been an instructor for multiple clinical workshops focused on IMRT and proton therapy and co-directed the physics program at ASTRO’s Spring Refresher Course.

Pawlicki earned his PhD at the Medical College of Ohio, a Master of Science from DePaul University and a Bachelor of Science in physics from St. Norbert College. He completed a postdoctoral fellowship in radiation oncology at Stanford University.

Dr. Lynn Wilson (Education Council Vice-chair) is professor, Vice-chair and clinical director of the department of therapeutic radiology at the Yale School of Medicine. He also is the medical director of radiation oncology at Yale-New Haven Hospital and former director of the hospital’s radiation oncology residency program.

Wilson has served ASTRO in a number of positions, including as Chair of the Annual Meeting Scientific Committee; Associate Vice-chair of the Annual Meeting and Program Committee; Chair of the Practical Radiation Oncology Editor-in-Chief Selection Task Force; Vice-chair of the Publications Committee; and member of the Abstract Selection Program Assembly, among other roles.

Wilson received his medical degree from the George Washington University School of Medicine, a Master’s in Public Health from the Yale School of Public Health and a Bachelor of Arts in Spanish from Denison University. He completed his residency in radiation oncology and therapeutic radiology and an internship in internal medicine at Yale-New Haven Hospital and the Yale School of Medicine.

Dr. Ronald D. Ennis, MD (Government Relations Council Vice-chair) is the director and an associate professor of radiation oncology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai West Hospital in New York. Before joining Mount Sinai, Ennis was a member of the clinical faculty of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine at Yeshiva University and the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Columbia University.

A member of ASTRO’s Government Relations Committee since 2006, Ennis is the current committee Chair. He helped program multiple ASTRO Annual Meetings as a former member and Chair of the genitourinary track. He also was appointed to the Advisory Committee on the Medical Use of Isotopes for the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Committee.

Ennis received his medical degree from the Yale University School of Medicine and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Columbia University. He also completed his residency, including a year as chief resident, at Yale, and an internship at Long Island Jewish Medical Center.

For more information about ASTRO’s 58th Annual Meeting, visit www.astro.org/AnnualMeeting. For press registration and news briefing information for ASTRO’s 58th Annual Meeting, visit www.astro.org/AMPress.

Liz Gardner
703-286-1600
liz.gardner@astro.org 

Erin L. Boyle
703-839-7336
erin.boyle@astro.org

About ASTRO

ASTRO is the premier radiation oncology society in the world, with more than 10,000 members who are physicians, nurses, biologists, physicists, radiation therapists, dosimetrists and other health care professionals that specialize in treating patients with radiation therapies. As the leading organization in radiation oncology, 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 (www.redjournal.org), Practical Radiation Oncology (www.practicalradonc.org) and Advances in Radiation Oncology (www.advancesradonc.org); developed and maintains an extensive patient website, RT Answers (www.rtanswers.org); and created the Radiation Oncology Institute (www.roinstitute.org), a nonprofit foundation to support research and education efforts around the world that enhance and confirm the critical role of radiation therapy in improving cancer treatment. To learn more about ASTRO, visit www.astro.org.