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St. Jude appoints chair of radiation
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St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital has named Thomas E. Merchant, DO, PhD, as chair of the department of radiation oncology.
He will oversee the institution’s programs that use radiation therapy to treat childhood cancer.
Merchant will hold the Baddia J. Rashid Endowed Chair in Radiation Oncology.
Thomas E. Merchant
“Dr. Merchant is a proven leader in pediatric radiotherapy and will be instrumental in helping St. Jude define the next generation of treatments that hold the best hope for improved outcomes and better long-term quality of life for children with brain and solid tumors,” James R. Downing, MD, St. Jude president and CEO, said in a press release.
Merchant joined St. Jude in 1996. Since then, he has helped pioneer new radiotherapy treatments that serve as standards in the field. His work with conformal radiation therapy for central nervous system tumors is the basis for guidelines used in most of the national cooperative group pediatric brain tumor trials, and he has led the development of treatment guidelines for intensity-modulated radiation therapy and proton therapy in all types of pediatric brain and solid tumors.
Merchant also helped create the St. Jude Red Frog Events Proton Therapy Center, the first proton therapy center in the world designed and dedicated solely to the treatment of children.