Dr. Amit Sawant Named Chief of Division of Medical Physics in Radiation Oncology

Dr. Sawant to Build Strong Industry Collaborations and Expand the Department’s Presence Globally

William F. Regine, MD, FACRO, the Isadore and Fannie Schneider Foxman Chair and Professor of Radiation Oncology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM), and Dean, E. Albert Reece, MD, PhD, MBA, announced today that Amit Sawant, PhD, MS, Associate Professor of Radiation Oncology, has been named Chief of Medical Physics in the Department of Radiation Oncology.

“Dr. Sawant will no doubt build on the legacies and past success of Dr. D’Souza and Dr. Cedric Yu for the benefit of patients worldwide,” said Dr. Regine. “In this role he will foster and further develop an even stronger collaboration with our clinical division and our Division of Translational Radiation Sciences.”

Dr. Sawant replaces Warren D. D’Souza, PhD, MBA, Professor, Department of Radiation Oncology, who has assumed his full-time role as Vice President, Enterprise Data and Analytics for the University of Maryland Medical System (UMMS).

Under Dr. Sawant’s leadership, it is anticipated that the Medical Physics Division’s national and international presence will be expanded. Dr. Sawant is charged with further developing the Department’s collaboration with the University of Maryland Greenebaum Comprehensive Cancer Center (UMGCCC). In addition, he will join departmental leadership for research and educational activities to ensure that these missions ultimately enhance the outcomes for our patients.

“I am honored and excited to have been offered this opportunity. I feel truly blessed to inherit from Drs. D’Souza and Yu a stellar Physics team with a proven track record of patient-focused clinical innovation,” said Dr. Sawant. “My mission is to build upon this legacy and grow our Division into a world-class program that attracts new and established scientists as collaborators and perhaps future faculty. I am deeply grateful for the support provided by our Department Chair, Dean Reece, and Dr. Cullen, and am excited to initiate novel inter-disciplinary collaborations with my UMGCCC colleagues.”

Officials in the Division of Radiation Oncology began the search for Chief of the Division of Medical Physics a year ago.

“We are delighted to have Dr. Sawant assume this important role to help expand the Department of Radiation Oncology’s worldwide presence and further develop the important collaborations with industry partners to tackle the most complex cancers,” said Dean Reece, who is also Executive Vice President for Medical Affairs, UM Baltimore, and the John Z. and Akiko K. Bowers Distinguished Professor.

Dr. Sawant is a medical physicist and imaging scientist with a research focus on development and translating novel preclinical and technological physics research into the clinical practice of cancer radiation therapy.

He received his PhD in biomedical engineering fro the University of Michigan and his Masters of Science in biomedical engineering from the University of Tennessee. Dr. Sawant joined UMSOM in January 2016. Prior to that, he was an Assistant Professor at UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas.

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.  The School of Medicine has 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