Michael Pacold, M.D., Ph.D., of Harvard Radiation Oncology Program in Boston.
October 13, 2009 – The American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) announced the recipients of several Annual Meeting awards. Recipients will receive their honors during ASTRO’s 51st Annual Meeting in Chicago, being held November 1-5, 2009.
The Resident Clinical/Basic Science Research Award is designed to promote clinical research by young scientists. It is granted to the top three resident-authors of significant abstracts in physics, biology and clinical practice.
This year’s winners are Steven Finkelstein, M.D., of the University of South Florida in Tampa, Fla., for clinical practice, Chirag Shah, M.D., of William Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, Mich., for radiation physics, and David Yu, M.D., Ph.D., of Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tenn., for radiation and cancer biology.
The Resident Poster Discussion Award recognizes the top resident poster presentations in each of the poster categories – clinical, biology and physics. This year’s winners are Payel Bhanja, Ph.D., of Albert Einstein College of Medicine in Bronx, N.Y. for radiation and cancer biology, Clifton Fuller, M.D., of the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio for clinical and Ruijiang Li, Ph.D., of the University of California San Diego in La Jolla, Calif., for radiation physics.
The Poster Viewing Awards are given to the top three abstracts in each clinical, radiation and cancer biology and radiation physics. This year’s winners for clinical are Taro Murai, M.D., of Nagoya City University Hospital in Mizuhoku, Nagoya City, Japan, (first place), Kristy Smith, M.D., of the University of Florida Shands Cancer Center in Gainesville, Fla.(second place), and Robert Den, M.D., of Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia (third place).
In the radiation and cancer biology category, winners are Michael Pacold, M.D., Ph.D., of Harvard Radiation Oncology Program in Boston (first place), Melissa Mitchell, M.D., Ph.D., of the University of Kansas Medical Center in Kansas City, Kan. (second place), and Sunil Advani, M.D., of the University of Chicago Hospitals and Clinic in Chicago (third place).
In the radiation physics category, the winners are Lamberto Widesott, M.S. of the Provincial Agency for Proton Therapy in Trento, Italy, (first place), Catherine Park, M.D., M.P.H., of the University of South Florida in Tampa, Fla. (second place), and Julien Partouche, M.D., of the University of Chicago in Chicago (third place).
“Congratulations to all these talented individuals who are being honored this year,” Tim R. Williams, M.D., ASTRO president and a radiation oncologist at Boca Raton Community Hospital in Boca Raton, Fla., said. “The high-quality of the research submitted for this year’s Annual Meeting really raises the bar for future Annual Meetings. I am honored to be able to recognize these researchers for their impressive work.”
For more information: www.astro.org/Meetings/AnnualMeetings
January 30, 2026 
