Concise Encyclopedia of Tufts History
Sauer, Anne
Branco, Jessica
Bennett, John
Crowley, Zachary
2000
Department of Radiation Oncology, 1968
Dr. Robert Paul was largely responsible for the creation of a Department of Radiation Oncology at Tufts. As a newly appointed chairman of the radiology department, he called for the establishment of a separate division of radiation oncology-or "therapeutic radiology," as it was called at the time. Thus, in 1968 Dr. Fernando Bloedorn was charged with this responsibility and subsequently established the first department of its kind to exist in any American medical school. | |
The new department was divided into clinical, physics, and radiobiology divisions; Dr. Bloedorn later organized multidisciplinary clinics involving other specialties. He was able to develop a strong department, which eventually received referrals from many hospitals in the greater Boston area; he also introduced a residency program. After he died in 1975, the department was able to continue flourishing because he had trained a number of adept radiation oncologists. Drs. S. J. Munzenreider and Anthony Piro provided leadership in the interim period. | |
In 1980 Dr. Hywel Madoc-Jones, who holds a master's degree from Oxford University, a Ph. D. from the University of London, and an M.D. degree from the University of Chicago, was appointed chairman of the Department of Radiation Oncology. Dr. Madoc-Jones has served as president of both the Massachusetts Radiological Society and the New England Society of Radiation Oncology, as a counselor to the American College of Radiology, and as a member of the board of directors of the American Society of Therapeutic Radiation and Oncology. Under his aegis, the department has been strengthened in terms of its physical needs, staffing, and residency program. The department's electives have recently been attracting increasing numbers of students, and the quality of its teaching program has been widely recognized. The department's radiobiology division has been highly productive in basic science research under the leadership of Drs. Donald Wallach, Rupert Schmidt-Ullrich, and Carmia Borek. | |
Source: COE, 155-56. | |
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