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Dear Colleagues,
I hope you are enjoying a wonderful summer. As you explore this issue of The Beam, I hope you'll take pride in the many accomplishments that reflect the extraordinary work happening across our department. From groundbreaking research, including our contributions to the Seminars in Radiation Oncology special issue on integrative oncology, to national recognition for our faculty, advances in clinical trials, quality improvement, and operations, and the accomplishments of our residents, students, and staff. This newsletter highlights the strength and dedication of our entire community as well as key events in the near future.
As we celebrate these achievements, I am also excited to share that our 10-Year Department Reflection will be released soon. This report looks back on a decade of growth, innovation, and impact while looking ahead to the opportunities that will shape our future.
Thank you for your continued commitment to our patients, our learners, and one another. Wishing you a restful remainder of the summer.
Warmest regards,
Cathy
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Catherine Park, MD
Professor and Chair
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Ke Sheng, PhD, named ASTRO Fellow for contributions to cancer care | Ke Sheng, PhD, professor and Vice Chair, Division of Physics has been selected as a Fellow of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (FASTRO), the world’s largest professional organization in radiation oncology. Read more | | Giants of Cancer Care 14th Annual Class | |
Congratulations to Sue Yom, MD, Professor and Vice Chair, Strategic Advisory, inductee to Giants of Cancer Care 14th annual class. Read Press Release
Yom accepted this honor at the 2026 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting in early June.
| | UCSF's Kavita Mishra, MD, MPH (right) and Jun Mao, MD, from MSK Cancer Center served as Guest Editors. | | Special Issue - Integrative Oncology and Radiation Therapy: Evidence, Implementation, and Impact | |
This month, Kavita Mishra, MD, PMH, served as a guest editor for a special issue of Seminars in Radiation Oncology focused on integrative oncology and radiation therapy. View selected papers from UCSF authors below.
Mishra KK, Mao J. Integrative Oncology and Radiation Therapy: An Essential Evolution. Semin Radiat Oncol. 2026 Jul;38:151028.
Piawah S, Lin OM, Mendiola DM, Yom SS, Macaire G, Cheng SW, Atreya CE. Integrative Oncology Approaches for Gastrointestinal Symptoms and Risk Reduction in Patients With Digestive Tract Cancers. Semin Radiat Oncol. 2026 Jul;38:151033.
Hotca AE, Lin OM, Piawah S, Mendiola DM, Yom SS, Kuon C, Atreya CE. The Role of the Microbiome and Gut Health in Patients With Digestive Tract Cancers. Semin Radiat Oncol. 2026 Jul;38:151032.
Fogh SE, Greenlee H, Langley B, Gillespie EF, Wonders KY, Marshall N. Exercise in Oncology Patients: A Call for Strategies to Address the Critical Gap Between Evidence-Based Recommendations and Implementation. Semin Radiat Oncol. 2026 Jul;38:151025.
See Special Issue Here
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"Bridging tumor biology and radiomics through an ultra-large physics-driven vascular model" published in npj Biomedical Innovations by Jiayi Du, Yu Zhou, Lihua Jin, Ke Sheng.
David Raleigh et al published "IL6 Supports Development of an Immunosuppressive Microenvironment and Resistance to Therapy in Glioblastoma" in Cancer Research. Raleigh et al also published "Prospective Genomic Profiling of Consecutive Meningiomas" in JAMA Oncology
Huiming Dong et al publish "Toward Noninvasive Magnetic Resonance-Based Target Delineation for Ventricular Tachycardia Stereotactic Radiation Therapy: Development of a 3-Dimensional Wideband Late Gadolinium-Enhanced Magnetic Resonance Imaging Technique" in International Journal of Radiation Oncology.
Julian Hong et al publish in AI Precision Oncology "Retrieval-Augmented Generation in Oncology: Promises, Pitfalls, and Early Applications."
Lord Kober, Nam Woo Cho, Sue Yom, Adam Olsen, et al publish in Molecular Pain "Consensus co-expression analysis identifies a common set of co-expressed genes associated with diabetic peripheral neuropathy and chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy"
Harish Vasudevan, Iowis Zhu et al publish "IFN signaling is associated with radiotherapy response in malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumors" in Journal of Clinical Investigation
See Other Publication Highlights
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Our department is involved with some of the most important and innovative clinical trials in radiation oncology. We trials open to accrual, which include trials for patients with cancers of the head and neck, liver, prostate, kidney, breast, and brain.
Mary Feng, MD, Vice Chair for Clinical Research
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Therapeutic
CC#19721: Arm-GI, Type: GI. "Phase II study of hypofractionated radiation therapy to Augment immune Response in patients with Metastatic GastroIntestinal malignancies progressing on immune therapy (ARM-GI)" PI: Mary Feng
| CC#NRG-HN006, Type: Head and Neck. "Randomized Phase II/III Trial of Sentinel Node Biopsy vs. Elective Neck Dissection for Early-Stage Oral Cavity Cancer" PI: Jason Chan | | |
Non-Therapeutic
CC#2275: MRI-Breast, Type: Breast. "Magnetic resonance Imaging in RadiotheRapy fOr bReast cancer (MIRROR): A Pilot Study of MRI Simulation" PI: Lisa Singer
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Nicholas Eustace, MD, PhD
Dr. Nicholas Eustace will join our medical faculty August 3, 2026 as an Assistant Professor, Head and Neck. He will be primarily located at Mission Bay and at Mt. Zion once a week. Dr. Eustace received both his MD and PhD in Cancer Biology from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, followed by a General Surgery internship at the University of Washington and a Radiation Oncology residency at City of Hope National Medical Center.
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PCMB:
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Lindley Gebler- Clinical Nurse started 1/5/2026
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Nishat Tasneen- Medical Assistant, new at Parnassus, then transitioned to PCMB in 5/2026
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Emily Rios- Medical Assistant started 7/20/2026
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Gabrielle Santos- Medical Assistant started 7/20/2026
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Tia Peck- Clinical Nurse started 7/20/2026
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Miriam Gray, Educational Programs Manager
Dr. Steve Braunstein, MD, PhD, Residency Program Director
Dr. Katelyn Hasse, PhD, Director of Medical Physics Residency Program
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- The UCSF Department of Radiation Oncology proudly celebrated the accomplishments of our 2026 graduating residents at this year’s Residency Programs Graduation Dinner held on May 21, 2026. We honored the dedication, compassion, leadership, and academic excellence of our graduating medical and physics residents as they prepare for the next chapter of their careers. Read Article and See Photos here
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The department also welcomed new Medical and Physics Residents for the 2026-2027 academic year: New Medical Residents’ Lauren Bendesky, Taema Brinjikji, Logan Patterson, Kevin Yang.2026-2027 New Physics Residents’ Lu Jiang and Yunxiang See LinkedIn post
| | Physics Division faculty and residents dinner at AAPM Annual Meeting. | |
- 16 faculty and students from our department participated in this summer's American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM) and Canadian Organization of Medical Physicists (COMP) Annual Meeting in Vancouver, B.C., Canada. We were proud to have several posters and presentations. See highlights and photos here!
- Check out the Physics Division webpage for other updates
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Marina Afable, Dr. Lauren Boreta, Troy Buckmeier, Vernon Cheam, Dr. Emily Hirata, Jae Lee, Amy Miniello, Mary Mok, Nina Pitts, Keisha Nervis, Dr. Nicolas Prionas, Haley Randolph, Karishma Raghuwanshi, Lindsay Williams
Highlights by Location:
Mission Bay:
- MR sim for Brachytherapy procedure patients, started May 2026
- Align RT installed on Truebeam on August 3, 2026.
Mt. Zion:
- TB5 construction continues to go well and we are on track to see first patient in the Fall, new machine gets delivered July 18, 2026.
- Men’s gowned waiting room is fully renovated, and women’s gowned waiting will be completed at the end of July.
Parnasaus:
- Currently undergoing a refresh of the Planning Strip, Resident's Room, and Nurses' Station this summer that will create more workstations to fit the growing staff needed to support the increased volume of high acuity patients. (See right image below)
BOPC:
- Dr. James Rembert's last day with UCSF was June 18th. We wished him Bon Voyage on his journey to a new life in France with a charcuterie and wine happy hour event.
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Dr. Joe (I-Chow) Hsu with
Dr. James Rembert (right)
| | Dr. James Rembert's last day | | | | | Featured Events & Opportunities | |
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2026 Joint Medical Physics Research Retreat - Stanford, UCSF/UC Berkeley Nuclear Engineering
Saturday, August 15, 2026
We are excited to co-host a full day medical physics research retreat at Skyline College, San Bruno.
Contact Kim.Yupitun@ucsf.edu for Details.
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UCSF Brachytherapy Fellowship Seeks Applications!
Submissions accepted on a rolling basis until November 15, 2026. See Details here
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Particle Therapy Symposium - UCSF Radiology & UCSF Radiation Oncology (morning) / Faculty Retreat (afternoon)
This fall! Friday, October 30, 2026
Mission Bay Conference Center
More information will follow in the coming weeks.
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With
Michael Gribble
Medical Resident
Department of Radiation Oncology
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| Q: What drew you to the field of radiation oncology? | |
I discovered radiation oncology at the end of my undergraduate training. At the time, I was planning to pursue a master's degree in aerospace engineering, but those plans were happily derailed when I found this field that sits at the intersection of patient care, cancer biology, and physics. My grandmother, who faced breast cancer, indolent lymphoma, and ultimately DLBCL, was the matriarch of our family and remains my inspiration. Supporting her through her journey shaped how I think about caring for patients and their families during some of the most difficult moments of their lives. We're incredibly fortunate to work in a specialty that brings together experts in such diverse fields for a common goal. I don't think there's another field in medicine quite like it. | | Q: What is the most interesting part of your residency? | |
UCSF is an incredible place to train, and I'm constantly inspired by the interests, talents, and accomplishments of my co-residents and faculty. One of my favorite things about residency here is how strongly the program supports pursuing academic interests beyond clinical training. For example, I've enjoyed participating in the Medical Education Pathway, which has given me practical tools for improving medical education and even contributing to changes within our own residency program. Our faculty leadership consistently invest in helping residents grow, not just as clinicians, but as educators, leaders, and advocates; it’s been one of the most rewarding parts of my training thus far. | | Q: What's the best spot for lunch on campus? | |
Caffè Central at Mission Bay! It's a residency favorite, and whenever I have time to brave the line, it's my go-to. The turkey BLT on Acme sourdough is hard to beat. | | |
Contact Communications Director for news and other items to share
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