Radiation Oncology Speakers

Dr Deepak “Dee” Khuntia, M.D., FASTRO

Sr. Vice President, Chief Medical Officer

Deepak “Dee” Khuntia, M.D., joined Varian in 2013 and leads the office of Medical Affairs, which is responsible for providing medical-clinical expertise to all Varian operations, including clinical research, medical evidence generation, medical science education, product development, product support, regulatory affairs, government affairs, mergers and acquisitions.  Dr. Khuntia has played a leading role in innovating and bringing new cancer treatment and cardiac radiosurgery technologies to hospitals worldwide. 

In addition to his responsibilities at Varian, Dr. Khuntia continues to hold a part-time clinical practice in Radiation Oncology in the San Francisco Bay Area, where he has a special interest in advanced radiation treatment technologies, central nervous system tumors, head and neck cancer, and lung cancer. 

Dr. Khuntia is a board-certified radiation oncologist and Fellow of the American Society for Radiation Oncology.

Dr. Khuntia holds both undergraduate and medical school degrees from the University of Illinois, and completed his residency in Radiation Oncology at the Cleveland Clinic.  Prior to moving to the Bay Area, he was an Associate Professor at the University of Wisconsin, where he served multiple leadership roles including Residency Director, Director of Radiation Oncology Outreach, and Course Director of Oncology for the Medical School. Dr. Khuntia is considered an expert in brain tumors, head and neck cancer, and lung cancer and has published more than 100 articles, book chapters, and abstracts.

Dr Lesia Mytsak MD

Dr.Mytsak is a senior radiation oncologist at the Precarpathian Clinical Oncology Center, Ukraine and Academic-Assistant in Radiology at Ivano-Frankivsk National Medical University from where she graduated (2009) and completed internship in Obs&Gynae (2011). Dr.Mytsak received specialization in radiation oncology (2012) from Shupyk National University, Kyiv. Her focus is gynaecology, breast and gastro-intestinal malignant tumors treated on a Cobalt60 and AGAT-vy afterloading for brachytherapy. In 2024 Dr Mytsak completed the Leadership in Radiation Oncology ESTRO Course. She has been the education lead for “A Customized training program UA-AU” , speaking at national and international conferences about the collaboration between Ukraine and Australia to strengthen oncology care in Ukraine.

Dr Mytsak is a current ESTRO member and her visit to Australia is possible with support from ESTRO, Future Ukraine Ltd and USFA.

Prof Soehartati Gondhowiardjo

Consultant Radiation Oncologist, Head of Comprehensive Cancer Clinic, Dr. Cipto Mangunkusumo National General Hospital, Jakarta, Indonesia

Prof. Soehartati Gondhowiardjo, MD, PhD, is a senior consultant radiation oncologist, and currently heads the Comprehensive Cancer Clinic at the Indonesian national referral hospital, Dr Cipto Mangunkusumo National General Hospital.

She is the founder, past president and current advisor for the Indonesian Radiation Oncology Society (IROS), and is the founder of the South East Asian Radiation Oncology Group (SEAROG) and the co-founder of Federation of Asian Radiation Oncology (FARO), serving as an advisory board member of each respective organization. She has multiple experiences as national project coordinator on various IAEA regional projects, as an expert in joint IAEA-WHO ImPACT mission and is a member of the IAEA Standing Advisory Group on Nuclear Applications (SAGNA).

She has achieved numerous accolades over the years, including as a honorary member in the field of radiation oncology, bestowed by ESTRO. For her groundbreaking work in developing the Indonesian radiation oncology field and past expertise in leading the Indonesian Cancer Control Committee, she is the recipient of honorary awards from the Indonesian Ministry of Health.

Her area of expertise include breast, thorax, paediatric and haematological malignancies, and her expertise on scaling up radiotherapy accessibility led her to contribute as an expert in the Lancet Oncology Commission on Radiotherapy and Theranostics. Her recent work also includes genomic studies on cancer, including a recent publication on the first whole epigenome sequencing on nasopharyngeal cancer in Indonesia.

Dr Bibek Acharya

Bibek Acharya is a radiation oncologist from Nepal and works as a Chief Consultant Radiation Oncologist at the National Academy of Medical Sciences (NAMS), Bir Hospital, Kathmandu, Nepal, where he serves as Head of the Department of Clinical Oncology and he is former Program Director for the MD Radiation Oncology residency program. Dr. Acharya earned his MD in Radiation Oncology from NAMS, Nepal (2007). He has undergone specialized training at world-renowned institutions, including Tata Memorial Hospital (India), MD Anderson Cancer Center (USA), Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre (Australia), and Gunma University (Japan). He has published multiple research papers. He played leading role in developing Nepal’s National Cancer Treatment Protocol (2017) and National Cancer Control Strategy (2024) under the Ministry of Health and WHO. As National Project Coordinator for IAEA’s RAS 6072 & 6086, he facilitated the introduction of IMRT in Nepal and trained oncology professionals. He is member of many medical societies including Nepal Medical Association, Leo Shrestha Foundation, SFO-N, NESRO etc.

Dr Gabriel Adrian

Dr Gabriel Adrian is a specialist in oncology at Skåne University Comprehensive Cancer Center, Sweden. He has a PhD in radiotherapy, and is associate professor at Lund University, Sweden.

Dr Adrian is running a radiobiology lab in Lund, with a focus on fractionation studies and FLASH radiotherapy, a novel type of ultra-high dose rate irradiation with promising results for sparing normal tissue. He is engaged in clinical head and neck cancer studies and is co-PI for two ongoing trials. He is member of the Swedish head & neck cancer trial group ARTSCAN. Currently, he is pursuing a Research Fellowship at the Princess Alexandra Hospital, Brisbane.

Prof Upendra Parvathaneni

Prof Upendra Parvathaneni is the Chairman and Residency Program Director of the department of Radiation Oncology at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, Texas, USA.

Prior to taking on this role about one year ago, he built a career as an Academic Radiation Oncologist at the University of Washington for over 20 years and rose to the rank of a Professor.

His basic training in Radiation Oncology was from Australia and New Zealand before he went to MD Anderson Cancer Center to pursue an advanced fellowship in Head and Neck cancer.

He is double board certified in the USA and Australia.

While he specializes in treating Head and Neck and complex skin cancers involving skull base perineural spread and Merkel cell cancer, Prof Parvathaneni is a unique Radiation Oncologist with experience in treating patients with all available radiation modalities including heavy ion neutron radiotherapy, proton beam treatment, conventional and conformal X ray beam treatments (IMRT/VMAT/IGRT), SBRT, brachytherapy and intra operative radiotherapy. Under his leadership, his team at the University of Washington modernized the historic neutron program to provide extremely conformal intensity modulated neutron therapy.

Dr Simon Böke

MD

Simon Böke studied medicine at the TU Dresden, Germany. In 2011 he served as an intern at the Department of Radiation Oncology at the University Hospital Groningen, The Netherlands. He graduated in 2012 and started his residency at the Department of Radiation Oncology at the University Hospital Tübingen, Germany. During his training he worked in the research group of Prof. Daniela Thorwarth on translational project on multiparametric PET/MR in head and neck cancer establishing a potential imaging biomarker. Since 2018 he is a board-certified specialist in radiation oncology and works as a senior physician since 2021. He is one of the main executing physicians at the MR-Linac since the go life in 09/2018 and for the adaptive program at the Department of Radiation Oncology.

His research interest is head and neck cancer with a focus on imaging biomarkers and adaptive radiotherapy for precision radiation oncology as well as MR-guided-adaptive radiotherapy. He is actively involved in various clinical and collaborative trials e.g. within the German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), partner side Tübingen, as well as the MR-Linac consortium.

Prof Reshma Jagsi

M.D., D.Phil.

Lawrence W. Davis Professor and Chair of the Department of Radiation Oncology and Senior Faculty Fellow in the Center for Ethics at Emory University

Prof Reshma Jagsi, M.D., D.Phil., is the Lawrence W. Davis Professor and Chair of the Department of Radiation Oncology and Senior Faculty Fellow in the Center for Ethics at Emory University.  She has been elected to the US National Academy of Medicine, Association of American Physicians, and American Society of Clinical Investigation and as a fellow of the AAAS, ASCO, ASTRO, AAWR, and the Hastings Center.  A physician and social scientist, her research spans clinical trials, health services studies, and bioethics, with a focus on the individualization of breast cancer care and the career development of physicians.. This work comprises over 500 publications in journals including the New England Journal of Medicine and JAMA, generating over 35,000 citations and an H-index of 95. The PI of multiple independent grants, she is Chair of the NIH Clinical Center Board of Scientific Counselors and was a Commissioner for the Lancet’s Breast Cancer Commission.

Prof Arjun Sahgal

Chief of the Department of Radiation Oncology at the University of Toronto affiliated Sunnybrook Odette Cancer Centre

Prof Arjun Sahgal is an international leader in the field of radiation specific to brain and spine tumours. He currently serves as Chief of the Department of Radiation Oncology at the University of Toronto affiliated Sunnybrook Odette Cancer Centre. Since his radiation oncology training, he has published over 700 peer reviewed papers and 40 international guidelines, and given over 200 international lectures. He has been instrumental in raising a total of ~$50M in grant and philanthropic funding, and is the current president of the International Stereotactic Radiosurgery Society (ISRS). Prof Sahgal has performed randomized controlled trials (RCT) including for spine SBRT (SC-24) in conjunction with TROG, leads the ongoing Canadian non-spine bone metastases RCT, and his current focus is on adaptive radiation for GBM. The global impact of his research has been recognized with several national and international awards including the King Charles III coronation medal.

Prof. Dr. med. Eleni Gkik

MBA

Chair of the Radiation Oncology Department at the University Clinic Bonn in Germany

Prof. Dr. med. Eleni Gkika, MBA is Chair of the Radiation Oncology Department at the University Clinic Bonn in Germany. Prof. Gkika has a strong clinical and scientific focus on stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) and immunotherapy, particularly their integration in the treatment of solid tumors. Prof. Gkika has led several research projects aimed at improving outcomes through personalized treatment strategies and biomarker-driven approaches. Her work focuses on the evolving understanding of how radiotherapy can modulate the immune response and synergize with immune checkpoint inhibitors. She is also an active mentor and educator, committed to training future radiation oncologists.“

Prof Amar U. Kishan

MD

Executive Vice Chair of Radiation Oncology, University of California
United States

Prof Amar U. Kishan is the Executive Vice Chair for the Department of Radiation Oncology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and the UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Centre. Specialising in the treatment of genitourinary malignancies, particularly prostate and bladder cancers, Prof Kishan has received numerous accolades, including the 2024 UCLA Exceptional Physician Award. His research background is extensive, with over 280 manuscripts published in esteemed journals such as JAMA, Lancet Oncology, Journal of Clinical Oncology, JAMA Oncology, and European Urology. Prof Kishan has secured significant grants from institutions including the National Institutes of Health, the Department of Defense, and the Prostate Cancer Foundation. He runs an active clinical and translational research program and has led multiple innovative clinical trials in radiation oncology.

Prof Simon S. Lo

MB, ChB, FACR, FASTRO

University of Washington Medical Center/ Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center
United States

Dr Simon Lo is Professor of Radiation Oncology and Neurological Surgery at the University of Washington (UW). He is also Director of SBRT at UW. He completed his FRCR (UK) training in Clinical Oncology before he did his radiation oncology training in the US. He has been treating patients with stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) for various body sites since 2004 when he was at Indiana University.

Dr Lo has edited 5 comprehensive textbooks in SRS/ SBRT in addition to 4 other comprehensive textbooks and has published >300 full peer-reviewed papers with a majority of which on SRS/ SBRT for all body sites, including publications in Lancet Oncology, JAMA Oncology, Science Translational Medicine, Journal of Clinical Oncology, and Neuro Oncology.

He has built or led the SBRT programs in 3 NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers. He is a member of the Board of Directors and the Medical Director of the Distinction in Practice of Stereotactic Radiotherapy Accreditation Program for Radiosurgery Society. He is also Steering Committee Member for International Stereotactic Radiosurgery Society Guidelines for Extracranial Sites. Dr. Lo has led or participated in numerous guidelines in CNS tumors, spinal metastasis, bone metastasis, renal cell carcinoma, SRS, and SBRT. He is a Fellow of ACR and ASTRO. In 2019, he was granted the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Society for Palliative Radiation Oncology. He is the Past President of the Radiation Oncology Chapter of American College of Radiology. He is also a cofounder of the International Radiosurgery Consortium of the Kidney (IROCK).

He is the Scientific Program Chair of American Radium Society. Dr. Lo has won national teaching awards (ARRO) and is a member of the American Board of Radiology Oral Examination Committee in Central Nervous System and Pediatric Tumors.

ASTRO Representative

Prof Jeff Michalski

MD, MBA, FASTRO

Carlos Perez Distinguished Professor and Vice-Chairman, Department of Radiation Oncology, Washington University Medical School, United States

Jeff Michalski, MD, MBA, FASTRO, is the Carlos Perez Distinguished Professor and vice-chairman of the Department of Radiation Oncology at Washington University Medical School. He earned a BS in biochemistry from the University of Wisconsin in 1982 and an MD from the Medical College of Wisconsin in 1986. After starting residency in radiation oncology at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center in New York, he completed his residency training and fellowship at the Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology and the Washington University School of Medicine in 1991. He earned an MBA from the Washington University Olin School of Business in 2001.

Dr Michalski served as Vice-chair of the RTOG, leading its Advanced Technology Integration Committee. He is Co-chair of the Radiation Oncology Committee of the NRG. He was Chair of the Radiation Oncology Quality Assurance Committee of the Pediatric and Children’s Oncology Groups. He is Co-chair of the NCI Genitourinary Steering Committee and member of the bladder cancer panel of the NCCN. He is a member of the Siteman Cancer Center and is Medical Director of the center’s Clinical Trials Core and Siteman Cancer Network.

Dr Michalski’s research interests include radiation dose escalation in prostate cancer; conformal therapy to reduce toxicity and neuro-cognitive effects in children; assessment of quality of life in survivors of adult and childhood malignancies. He is the principal investigator of the Advanced Technology QA Center (ATC). He was co-principal investigator for the Veterans Administration Radiation Oncology Practice Assessment program, reviewing quality of care at forty VA radiation oncology centers.

A/Prof Nina Sanford

University of Texas Southwestern, United States

Dr Nina N. Sanford is an Associate Professor and Chief of Gastrointestinal Radiation at the University of Texas Southwestern (UTSW). She grew up in the Boston area, received her bachelor’s degree from Princeton University, medical degree from Harvard Medical School, and completed a residency in radiation oncology at the combined Massachusetts General Hospital/Brigham and Women’s Hospital program in 2018. Now in Dallas, her academic interests are in clinical trials, both at the institutional and cooperative group levels. She is a member of the NCI Pancreas Task Force, chairs the NRG Pancreas Working Group and is PI of a Phase III cooperative group trial assessing the role of dose-escalated radiotherapy in locally advanced pancreas cancer. Through conducting and researching clinical trials, her goal is to elucidate when and in whom radiotherapy should be used, and how to design trials that can best demonstrate the value of radiotherapy. Dr Sanford enjoys writing and teaching, and serves on the editorial board of JCO. She has received numerous accolades such as the UTSW 2021 Leaders in Clinical Excellence Rising Star Award.