February 19, 2019
Dr. Miller Brings More than 25 Years of Radiation Oncology Experience to MPTC
William F. Regine, MD, FACR, FACRO, The Isadore and Fannie Schneider Foxman Chair and Professor of Radiation Oncology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM), along with UMSOM Dean E. Albert Reece, MD, PhD, MBA, announced today that Robert C. Miller, MD, MBA, FASTRO a nationally-recognized radiation oncologist who currently serves as Vice Chair in the Department of Radiation Oncology at the Mayo Clinic, has been named Professor in the UMSOM Department of Radiation Oncology and Medical Director of the Maryland Proton Treatment Center (MPTC). He will begin his new position in April 2019.
Dr. Miller, who served at the Mayo Clinic for 25 years, has conducted extensive clinical research on the use of compounds to mitigate the risk of normal tissue injury in patients undergoing radiation therapy. He has served as the national principal investigator/study chairman for five NIH funded national Phase III cooperative group clinical trials using these agents. In addition, he served as Vice Chair of the National Mayo Clinic Cancer Center Practice Committee, overseeing cancer care delivery at all of Mayo’s national sites, and Medical Director for Particle Therapy at Mayo Clinic Florida. He previously served as Vice Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Albert and Lea Austin Mayo Clinic Health System.
“We are very fortunate to have Dr. Miller bring more than 25 years of radiation oncology experience to MPTC.” said Dr. Regine. “His expertise in cancer care, mitigation of radiation normal tissue injury and clinical trials will make substantial contributions to our vision for proton therapy in significantly improving the lives of cancer patients.”
MPTC is the first center in the Baltimore-Washington region to offer proton therapy, a highly advanced and precise form of radiation, to treat cancer. MPTC’s facility, which began treating patients since February 2016, offers the next generation in proton therapy, called pencil-beam scanning or intensity-modulated proton therapy (IMPT), in all five treatment rooms. This offers patients the most precise treatment available. Proton therapy delivers an increased dose that stops specifically at the tumor site. As a result, it protects much of the surrounding, normal tissue. It is painless, non-invasive and well tolerated which often times leads to fewer side effects now and in the future.
Dr. Miller is the author of more than 170 peer-reviewed papers. He is the founding Editor in Chief of the American Society for Radiation Oncology’s (ASTRO’s) third academic journal, Advances in Radiation Oncology. He also serves as a non-executive director of Tekcapital plc and has a background in commercialization of university generated intellectual property. Dr. Miller began his scientific career as a medical physicist at the University of Kentucky, before going on to graduate from medical school at the University of Kentucky. Dr. Miller also received an MBA Degree from Oxford University in the United Kingdom.
“We are excited to have Dr. Miller lead this important, path-breaking and life-saving center. The Maryland Proton Treatment Center is at the forefront of cancer treatment and will continue to lead in this area under Dr. Miller’s expertise,” said UMSOM Dean E. Albert Reece, MD, PhD, MBA, University Executive Vice President for Medical Affairs and the John Z. and Akiko K. Bowers Distinguished Professor.
About the University of Maryland School of Medicine
Now in its third century, the University of Maryland School of Medicine was chartered in 1807 as the first public medical school in the United States. It continues today as one of the fastest growing, top-tier biomedical research enterprises in the world -- with 43 academic departments, centers, institutes, and programs; and a faculty of more than 3,000 physicians, scientists, and allied health professionals, including members of the National Academy of Medicine and the National Academy of Sciences, and a distinguished recipient of the Albert E. Lasker Award in Medical Research. With an operating budget of more than $1 billion, the School of Medicine works closely in partnership with the University of Maryland Medical Center and Medical System to provide research-intensive, academic and clinically-based care for more than 1.2 million patients each year. The School has over 2,500 students, residents, and fellows, and more than $530 million in extramural funding, with most of its academic departments highly ranked among all medical schools in the nation in research funding. As one of the seven professional schools that make up the University of Maryland, Baltimore campus, the School of Medicine has a total workforce of nearly 7,000 individuals. The combined School and Medical System (“University of Maryland Medicine”) has an annual budget of nearly $6 billion and an economic impact more than $15 billion on the state and local community. The School of Medicine faculty, which ranks as the 8th highest among public medical schools in research productivity, is an innovator in translational medicine, with 600 active patents and 24 start-up companies. The School works locally, nationally, and globally, with research and treatment facilities in 36 countries around the world. Visit medschool.umaryland.edu/
Contact
Office of Public Affairs
655 West Baltimore Street
Bressler Research Building 14-002
Baltimore, Maryland 21201-1559
Contact Media Relations
(410) 706-5260
Related stories
Monday, February 26, 2024
UM School of Medicine Awarded $3.5 Million in Federal Funding to Expand Medical Countermeasures Program
University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) Dean Mark T. Gladwin, MD, announced today that UMSOM faculty scientists have been selected as key contractors by the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), for the federal agency’s Radiation Nuclear Animal Model Development program. The $3.5 million award that Erika Davies, PhD, Assistant Professor of Radiation Oncology, received to develop Acute Radiation Syndrome Animal Models, has a $16 million potential total. The Division of Translational Radiation Sciences (DTRS), within the Department of Radiation Oncology, will support this project.
Friday, October 11, 2019
New Treatment Combination Could Work Against Broader Array of Cancer Cells, Study Finds
In continuing efforts to find novel ways to kill cancer cells, researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) have identified a new pathway that leads to the destruction of cancer cells. The new finding, published this week in the journal PNAS, could pave the way for the broader use of a class of anticancer drugs already on the market. These drugs, known as PARP inhibitors, are currently approved by the FDA to treat only a limited group of breast and ovarian cancers associated with BRCA gene mutations.
Wednesday, July 31, 2019
Inconsistent Reporting of Methodologies Makes Most Radiation Biology Studies Impossible to Replicate
Nearly 80 percent of radiation oncology studies funded by the National Institutes of Health involve investigating the effects that radiation has on tumor cells and healthy tissue in pre-clinical settings, such as experiments done in cell cultures or mice. A majority of these radiation biology studies, however, have serious flaws in how their irradiation methodology is described, which makes them very difficult to replicate, according to a new finding from the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM).
Monday, October 29, 2018
UMSOM Honors Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Our Research Continues Toward Combating this Disease
October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) continue in their work to help combat this disease that impacts more than 315,000 women in the U.S. each year.
Monday, October 08, 2018
High-Precision Proton Therapy More Effective in Treating Certain Cancers When Combined with Thermal Therapy
The Maryland Proton Treatment Center (MPTC) is now offering deep-tissue external thermal therapy in combination with high-precision proton-beam radiotherapy as a potential way to boost survival chances for certain cancer patients. MPTC is the only center in the world to offer these two treatments at the same facility, an advantage to patients because these therapies are typically given within an hour of each other.
Monday, September 24, 2018
University of Maryland School of Medicine Researchers to Present Original Research at Key Radiation Conference
The University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) announced that the Division of Translational Radiation Science (DTRS) will participate in the annual meeting of the Radiation Research Society (RRS) on September 23-26, 2018, in Chicago.
Tuesday, September 04, 2018
Maryland Proton Treatment Center Eyes Future, Strengthens Capital Structure with $277.4 Million Bond Deal
The Maryland Proton Treatment Center (MPTC) announced today that it has taken a major step in strengthening its balance sheet and capital structure to better position it to treat a growing number of cancer patients with its state-of-the-art therapy.
Monday, May 14, 2018
Gov. Larry Hogan Recognizes Achievements of Sally B. Cheston, MD, of Central Maryland Radiation Oncology Center
Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan today recognized Sally B. Cheston, MD, an assistant professor of radiation oncology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM), for her efforts to bring the “latest state-of-the-art medicine” to Howard County as a leader of the Central Maryland Radiation Oncology Center (CMRO).
Thursday, October 27, 2016
Dr. William F. Regine is Awarded 2016 Entrepreneur of the Year From the University of Maryland, Baltimore
William F. Regine, MD, FACR, FACRO, the Isadore & Fannie Schneider Foxman Endowed Chair and Professor in Radiation Oncology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UM SOM) and Executive Director of the Maryland Proton Treatment Center (MPTC) has been awarded the 2016 Entrepreneur of the Year from the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB).
Wednesday, June 01, 2016
Maryland Proton Treatment Center Celebrates Grand Opening
The Maryland Proton Treatment Center celebrated the grand opening of its new $200 million, 110,000-square-foot facility in West Baltimore on June 1. More than 600 people – faculty members and staff, elected officials, community doctors and cancer survivors – attended the event. June 1 is National Cancer Survivors Day, and the event, which had a 'Survivor' theme, based on the reality TV show, also honored cancer survivors. The new facility is the first proton treatment center in the Baltimore-Washington area.
Tuesday, February 23, 2016
At University of Maryland, First Cancer Patients Receive Proton Therapy at New Maryland Proton Treatment Center
The University of Maryland School of Medicine (UM SOM) announced today that the Maryland Proton Treatment Center (MPTC) has treated its first cancer patients with proton therapy at a new $200 million facility in the University of Maryland BioPark in West Baltimore.
Wednesday, February 03, 2016
UM SOM Announces 'Maryland Proton Alliance' to Advance Patient-Centered Cancer Care and Precision Medicine
William F. Regine, MD, FACR, FACRO, Chairman of the Department of Radiation Oncology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UM SOM), along with UM SOM Dean E. Albert Reece, MD, PhD, MBA, today announced the establishment of the Maryland Proton Alliance (MPA), a new organizational framework for proton therapy at UM SOM that may serve as a national model for patient-centered cancer care. The Alliance will be led by Zeljko Vujaskovic, MD, PhD, Professor in the Department of Radiation Oncology and head of the department’s Division of Translational Radiation Sciences. Dr. Vujaskovic succeeds Minesh Mehta, MBChB, who served as Medical Director of the Maryland Proton Treatment Center (MPTC) during its development from 2012 to 2015.
Friday, January 15, 2016
UM SOM to Participate in Expanded Medical Countermeasures Research Project
University of Maryland School of Medicine (UM SOM) Department of Radiation Oncology Chair and Professor William F. Regine, MD, FACR, FACRO, and UM SOM Dean E. Albert Reece, MD, PhD, MBA, announced today that researchers at the UM SOM have been selected as key contractors by the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), for its Radiation Nuclear Animal Model Development program. BARDA is part of the Office of the Secretary for Preparedness and Response in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS).