News Release

Three cancer researchers win awards from ASTRO

Winners to be honored at ASTRO's 48th Annual Meeting in Philadelphia

Grant and Award Announcement

American Society for Radiation Oncology

The American Society for Therapeutic Radiation and Oncology is pleased to announce the recipients of the ASTRO Poster Recognition Award. The 2006 awardees are Asif R. Harsolia, M.D., Sandeep S. Hunjan, Ph.D., and Ping Zhang, M.D., Ph.D. The winners will be honored at ASTRO's 48th Annual Meeting in Philadelphia, Nov. 5-9.

"The work displayed by the awardees in their winning submissions shows the exemplary efforts of these researchers in the field of radiation oncology," said K. Kian Ang, M.D., Ph.D., ASTRO President and a radiation oncologist at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. "These results reflect the level of top-notch science presented at ASTRO's Annual Meeting."

The ASTRO Poster Recognition Award helps promote excellence in research in the field of radiation oncology. It recognizes the top 1 percent of posters accepted for viewing at ASTRO's Annual Meeting. The poster presentations will be highlighted during the Presidential Poster Session and Reception as well as recognized in the meeting materials. Individuals are awarded a certificate of award and a ribbon.

Dr. Harsolia is a resident in the Department of Radiation Oncology at William Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, Mich. His poster demonstrating a decrease in clinical toxicities with the use of intensity modulated radiation therapy compared to conventional wedge-based radiation therapy for breast cancer won in the clinical category. Dr. Harsolia received his medical degree from the University of Michigan Medical School in 2001.

Dr. Hunjan is an assistant professor in the Department of Radiation Physics at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. Dr. Hunjan's poster on the accuracy of external markers for predicting tumor positions during breath-hold CT won in the category of physics. He received his Ph.D. in Advanced Radiological Sciences University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas in 1999.

Dr. Zhang is a post-doctoral researcher in the Laboratory of Radiosensitivity at Institute Gustave Roussy in France. His poster on caspase-independence of radioinduced cell death in human colorectal tumor cell lines won in the biology category. Dr. Zhang earned his medical degree at Najing Medical College in China in 1985 and his Ph.D. of molecular and cellular biology at the Seventh University of Paris in France in 1999.

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For pictures of these individuals or information on ASTRO's 48th Annual Meeting, please contact Beth Bukata at 1-800-982-7876 or bethb@astro.org. For more information on radiation therapy, visit www.rtanswers.org.

ASTRO is the largest radiation oncology society in the world, with more than 8,500 members who specialize in treating patients with radiation therapies. As the leading organization in radiation oncology, biology and physics, the Society is dedicated to the advancement of the practice of radiation oncology by promoting excellence in patient care, providing opportunities for educational and professional development, promoting research and disseminating research results and representing radiation oncology in a rapidly evolving socioeconomic healthcare environment.


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