Radiation Oncology News Archive Featured in the Media JeffNEWS Kimmel Cancer Center

The top radiation oncologist at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia was also rated first in the nation in a survey by Medical Imaging, a leading national magazine.

The Medical Imaging Industry Top 10 ranked Walter J. Curran Jr., M.D., professor and chair of radiation oncology at Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University and Thomas Jefferson University Hospital and clinical director of the Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson as the number one radiation oncologist/cancer researcher in the country. He was the only one in this category listed from the Philadelphia region.

The magazine cited Dr. Curran’s “guidance and leadership” as the Department of Radiation Oncology “continues to develop and use innovative radiation-therapy technology in treating cancer.” Dr. Curran stressed the department’s “commitment to patient-focused clinical research in radiation oncology” and “implementing and testing the latest approaches to intensity-modulated radiotherapy and stereotactic radiation.”

“The Kimmel Cancer Center and the patients we serve at Jefferson are fortunate to have Dr. Walter Curran’s national leadership,” says Richard Pestell, M.D., Ph.D., director of the Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson and professor and chair of cancer biology at Jefferson Medical College. “These innovative new approaches to radiation oncology are improving the quality of life for patients throughout the United States.”

Dr. Curran also noted in the article that Jefferson is among the nation’s leaders in enrolling patients in studies sponsored by the National Cancer Institute-supported Radiation Therapy Oncology Group, a Philadelphia-based consortium of more than 200 institutions in the United States and Canada aligned to conduct clinical trials. Dr. Curran currently serves as RTOG group chair.

Votes in the category were based on the physician’s current cancer research, cutting-edge techniques, patient care and outcomes and industry interaction. The rankings were taken from results of the magazine’s survey of its readership in October and November 2005.

James M. Galvin, D.Sc, professor of radiation oncology at Jefferson Medical College and director of the Medical Physics Division, was named among the top 10 in the category of Nuclear Physicist/Nuclear Medicine Researcher.

The survey also ranked Thomas Jefferson University Hospital among the top ten hospitals in the United States in the field of radiology, and rated six Thomas Jefferson University Hospital specialists – the only experts in Philadelphia to be among the honorees. Thomas Jefferson University Hospital was ranked third in the nation for radiological services. In addition, several of Jefferson’s experts were ranked number one in their categories.

The first annual Medical Imaging Industry Top 10 was featured as the magazine’s January 2006 cover story. The Top 10 is a ranking of the industry’s best in ten categories, including imaging facilities, physicians and technologists. Thomas Jefferson University Hospital was recognized among the best in the field for excellence in research, innovation, industry interaction and patient care. Outcomes, attitude, unique solutions and general knowledge were also factors in determining the rankings.