Matthew J. Ferris, MD

Radiation Oncology Residency

            Emory University, 2019

Internship

            Emory University, 2015

Medical School

            University of Maryland School of Medicine, 2014

Undergraduate

            Loyola University Maryland, 2010

Dr. Matthew J. Ferris is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Radiation Oncology at the University of Maryland. He specializes in the treatment of head and neck cancers, thoracic cancers, and skin cancers. He serves as the Medical Director of Maryland Proton Treatment Center.

Dr. Ferris grew up in Towson, Maryland. He completed his undergraduate studies in 2010 at Loyola University Maryland where he majored in biology, with minors in business and English, and graduated summa cum laude. He was elected a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Society. He graduated cum laude from the University of Maryland Medical School in 2014, and there was elected a member of the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society.

In 2015 he completed a medical internship at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, and then he continued on at Emory to complete residency training in radiation oncology in 2019. He served as Chief Resident during his final year of training. During residency, in addition to the busy clinical training, he conducted clinical research in several areas including: cardiac-sparing radiation planning techniques such as cardiac-optimized volumetric modulated arc therapy, and intensity modulated proton therapy, implications of radiation dose to the heart, and effects of radiation dose to the central nervous system on patient symptoms in head and neck cancer.

Dr. Ferris’s ongoing research at the University of Maryland is focused on optimizing advanced radiation techniques, including proton therapy, to maximize control of malignancies while sparing side effects and improving long-term patient reported outcomes. His research has resulted in numerous peer-reviewed publications and has yielded oral presentations at national and international conferences. Dr. Ferris also has keen interest in clinical trial development and enrollment. He serves as the principal investigator for a strength training study in prostate cancer patients.

Dr. Ferris is the department representative to the UMSOM Council. Experienced across the full range of radiation treatment technologies and techniques, Dr. Ferris most recently led collaborative efforts in integrating autosegmentation software options across all six of the department’s clinical sites. He is a physician contributor to the department’s Emerging Technology Steering Committee and a member of teams developing practice guidelines for treatment of lung and lower gastrointestinal malignancies.

Overall, Dr. Ferris strives to work closely with the entire treatment team, including surgeon and medical oncology colleagues, to offer cutting-edge and tailored treatment for each patient. He prizes meticulousness and attention to detail throughout each patient’s course of radiation therapy.

In his spare time, he enjoys the outdoors - surfing, golfing, hunting, and spending time with his wife and daughters.

General Radiation Oncology, External Beam Radiation, Volumetric Modulated Arc Therapy, 3D Conformal Radiation Therapy, Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy (SBRT), Stereotactic Radiosurgery (SRS), Proton Therapy, High Dose Rate Brachytherapy (skin), Oligometastatic Disease

MJ Ferris, KS Martin, JM Switchenko, OA Kayode, J Wolf, Q Dang, RH Press, WJ Curran, and KA Higgins. Sparing cardiac substructures with optimized volumetric modulated arc therapy and intensity-modulated proton therapy in thoracic radiation for locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer. Practical Radiation Oncology 2019. E-pub ahead of print, April 2019. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.prro.2019.04.013

MJ Ferris, Y Liu, J Ao, J Zhong, M Abugideiri, TW Gillespie, BC Carthon, MA Bilen, O Kucuk, and AB Jani. The addition of chemotherapy in the definitive management of high-risk prostate cancer. Urologic Oncology 2018; 36(11). doi: 10.1016/j.urolonc.2018.07.020

MJ Ferris, R Jiang, M Behera, S Ramalingam, WJ Curran, and KA Higgins. Radiation therapy is associated with an increase in incidence of cardiac events for patients with small-cell lung cancer. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys (Red Journal) 2018; 102: 383 – 390. doi: 10.1016/j.ijrobp.2018.05.066

MJ Ferris, J Zhong, JM Switchenko, KA Higgins, RJ Cassidy, MW McDonald, BR Eaton, KR Patel, CE Steuer, HM Baddour Jr, AH Miller, DW Bruner, C Xiao, and JJ Beitler. Brainstem dose is associated with patient-reported acute fatigue in head and neck cancer radiotherapy. Radiotherapy and Oncology (Green Journal) 2018; 126: 100-106. doi: 10.1016/j.radonc.2017.08.008