Drs. Bogardus, Mansfield and Mitchell selected to receive 2015 ASTRO Gold Medal
Fairfax, Va., July 9, 2015 – The American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) has chosen three renowned radiation oncology physicians and researchers to receive the 2015 ASTRO Gold Medal: Carl R. Bogardus, Jr., MD, FASTRO, Carl M. Mansfield, MD, ScD (Hon.), FASTRO, and James B. Mitchell, PhD, FASTRO. Drs. Bogardus, Mansfield and Mitchell will be recognized with the ASTRO Gold Medal during the Awards Ceremony on Tuesday, October 20, 2015, at ASTRO’s 57th Annual Meeting, October 18-21, 2015 at the Henry B. González Convention Center in San Antonio.
The ASTRO Gold Medal is the highest honor bestowed upon revered members of ASTRO who have achieved outstanding lifetime contributions in the field of radiation oncology, including in research, clinical care and teaching, as well as through their dedicated service to ASTRO. First awarded in 1977, the ASTRO Gold Medal has been conferred on only 78 of ASTRO’s more than 10,000 members, including the three 2015 awardees.
Candidates for the Gold Medal are formally nominated via a letter of support by one Active ASTRO member along with letters of recommendation from two additional Active members of ASTRO. The letters provide a detailed history of the nominees’ achievements and their impact on the advancement of radiation oncology. Nominees may be from any of the scientific disciplines represented in ASTRO’s membership, including radiation oncology, biology and physics.
“It is with great appreciation, admiration and respect that I congratulate my esteemed colleagues, Drs. Bogardus, Mansfield and Mitchell,” said ASTRO Chair Bruce G. Haffty, MD, FASTRO. “The impact of their work, collectively and individually, provided the firm foundation for radiation oncology’s integral role in the triad of cancer care. The clinical, biologic and technologic advances we have achieved as a specialty are due in large part to their impressive and important work.”
Carl R. Bogardus, Jr., MD, FASTRO, has been an ASTRO member since he attended his first meeting of the American Club of Therapeutic Radiologists (ACTR) during the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) annual meeting as a resident in training in 1960, and is Professor, Clinical Director and Vice Chairman of the Department of Radiation Oncology at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center in Oklahoma City. He is the only person to have served as both President of ASTRO (1989-1990) and the American College of Radiology (1991-1992). Since beginning his service to ACTR, ASTR and now called ASTRO, Bogardus has been an instrumental member of numerous ASTRO committees including the Medical Economics Committee and the Committee on Practice Regulation, as a representative on the CPT Advisory Panel, and he served as Treasurer of the Board of Directors prior to his term as President. He led countless meetings with policy leaders and colleagues to develop the process of care for radiation oncology services and the subsequent treatment planning, simulation, treatment devices, dosimetry calculations and physics procedure codes that are billed today as separate and distinct clinical services. His concepts of care and reimbursement, as detailed in his “User’s Guide for Radiation Oncology,” provided the stepping stones that have created the documentation for many of the technical and scientific advances in the field. Bogardus was recognized as a Fellow of ASTRO in 2006.
“In 1959, between my second and third year of medical school, I stumbled upon the research lab of Dr. Patrick Cavanaugh, the first trained radiation oncologist at the University of Louisville, and he had a binary counter ticking away. I was intrigued and had to learn what he was doing. He introduced me to the field of radiation therapy and, subsequently, to Juan del Regato, one of radiation oncology’s founding fathers, who arranged for me to come to Colorado Springs and become a resident in the Penrose Cancer Hospital therapeutic radiology residency program. The rest is history; my enthusiasm and admiration for the science of radiation oncology has never wavered,” said Bogardus. “I have loved every day of my career—the science and the patients continue to teach me something new. I am extremely proud to receive ASTRO’s Gold Medal, to be recognized by my peers for my years of work, however, I still have more work to do!”
Bogardus’ commitment to radiation oncology’s process of care includes his efforts as the inventor and senior developer of the ONCOCHART electronic medical record (EMR), a first-of-its-kind, full-featured EMR that documents the cognitive and procedural work for appropriate billing of radiation oncology services and also provides decision support and interoperability with other electronic systems. He joined the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center as assistant professor of radiology and associate radiation therapist in 1964. During his more than 50 year-tenure at the University, Bogardus served in numerous roles. Most notably, he was the founding director of the University’s originally three-year Resident Training Program in the Department of Radiological Sciences from 1964 to 1995, and again as the director from 2007 to 2008 when the program grew to become a four-year residency program within the newly created Department of Radiation Oncology.
Bogardus earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from Hanover College, Hanover, Indiana, and his medical degree at the University of Louisville School of Medicine, Louisville, Kentucky. He served his residency in therapeutic radiology at Penrose Cancer Hospital in Colorado Springs, Colorado. His fellowship in radiation therapy and radiation physics was at the Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology at Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis.
Carl M. Mansfield, MD, ScD (Hon.), FASTRO, has been a member of ASTRO since 1970. When he retired from a nearly 50-year medical career in 2002, he was Associate Director of the Greenebaum Cancer Center and Chairman of the Department of Radiation Oncology at the University of Maryland. His career included the positions of Professor and Chairman of the Department of Radiation Oncology at the University of Kansas Medical Center in Kansas City; Professor and Chairman of the Department of Radiation Oncology and Nuclear Medicine at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia; and Associate Director of the Division of Cancer Treatment, Diagnosis and Treatment Centers Radiation Research Program at the National Cancer Institute (NCI).
Mansfield is considered a pioneer in intraoperative radiation therapy (IORT) for early stage breast cancer. He produced a seminal 1983 report comparing perioperative and intraoperative (Iridium -192) breast implants that laid the groundwork for much of the continuing research in this field today. His work also led to advances in the conservative management of breast cancer through breast irradiation and local brachytherapy; this method of treatment excised the tumor without removing the entire breast. Mansfield served as primary or co-author on more than 200 original original publications and more than 30 original abstracts. He has also written a book on breast cancer and was editor of two radiation therapy textbooks.
Thinking about the genesis of his work, Mansfield credits the inspiration of his mentor, Dr. Simon Kramer. “My mentor, Dr. Kramer, revealed the amazing world of radiation oncology science to me through his leadership, guidance and support. He arranged a year’s study for me at the Middlesex Hospital in London, where I continued and fortified my education. My experiences there revealed the endless possibilities for radiation in the treatment of cancer,” said Mansfield.
Mansfield earned an undergraduate degree in chemistry from Lincoln University, a medical degree from Howard University, and an Honorary Doctor of Science degree from Lincoln University. In addition to his post-doctoral fellowship at Middlesex Hospital, he was the Chernicoff Fellow in Pediatric Radiation Therapy at Jefferson Medical College Hospital from 1964-66 and served another year at the Meyerestein Institute of Radiotherapy at Middlesex Hospital Medical School in 1972-73.
“I am grateful to be recognized by members, peers and colleagues with the ASTRO Gold Medal. I encourage today’s medical students, researchers and residents to continue the wonderful progress being made in the elimination of cancer.”
James B. Mitchell, PhD, FASTRO, has been an ASTRO Member since 1985 and is currently Branch Chief of the Radiation Biology Branch of the National Cancer Institute at NIH. Mitchell was recognized as a Fellow of ASTRO in 2009 and served as the vice-chair of the Radiation Biology Committee and on ASTRO’s Scientific Committee, among numerous other roles. His more than 40-year career as a preeminent radiobiologist includes work in the Department of Radiation Oncology at Vanderbilt University Hospital, the Department of Radiology and Radiation Biology at Colorado State University, and the National Cancer Institute at NIH. Mitchell advanced in his roles at the NCI, beginning in the Radiobiology Section of the Radiation Oncology Branch (ROB). He became Branch Chief of the Radiation Biology Branch in 1993, and he has served as Administrative Acting Branch Chief of ROB on three occasions, a total of six years, during his distinguished NCI tenure.
Mitchell’s achievements include his role as a teacher and leader in the field of tumor biology and the development of novel radiation protectors and sensitizers. He also assisted in the development of Photodynamic Therapy for clinical cancer treatment in the ROB at the NCI. Together with his colleague Dr. Murali Krishna, he has worked toward the development and testing of novel in vivo imaging platforms for the non-invasive determination of tissue hypoxia and metabolism.
“I am grateful to have had the many opportunities to be immersed in both research and teaching at the NCI. It is truly an inspiration and a joy to work with bright, young minds energized by the many questions still to be explored,” said Mitchell. “I owe much of my success to my revered mentors, Drs. Joel Bedford and Eli Glatstein; their exceptional influence is reflected in my work each day. I am deeply honoured and humbled to be awarded the ASTRO Gold Medal.”
Mitchell earned his Bachelor of Science degree from Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, Tenn., a Master of Arts in Biology from the George Peabody College in Nashville, and his PhD in Cellular Radiation Biology from Colorado State University.
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Michelle Kirkwood
703-286-1600
michellek@astro.org
ABOUT ASTRO
ASTRO is the premier radiation oncology society in the world, with nearly 11,000 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 two medical journals, International Journal of Radiation Oncology • Biology • Physics (www.redjournal.org) and Practical Radiation Oncology (www.practicalradonc.org); developed and maintains an extensive patient website, www.rtanswers.org; and created the Radiation Oncology Institute (www.roinstitute.org), a non-profit 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.
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