Who We Are
The Department of Radiation and Cellular Oncology is located in the University of Chicago Hospitals' Duchossois Center for Advanced Medicine, which was designed from the ground up to be one of the finest multidisciplinary, patient-focused clinical centers in the country. Our physicians have achieved national acclaim as experts in radiation therapy. Our cancer program is ranked among the top 10 in the United States, and our staff make it their mission to offer you the most courteous, compassionate, and highest quality care available.
The Department is one of the largest multi-site radiation oncology medical practices in the country, treating approximately 2,000 patients per year at its three clinical practice sites located in the south, near west and west suburban areas of metropolitan Chicago. Our clinical practice offers a full range of clinical services including conformal radiation therapy, intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT), radioisotope source implants, prostate seed implants, high-dose-rate brachytherapy, radiosurgery, intraoperative radiotherapy (IORT), and superficial x-ray therapy.
In addition, our Department is internationally recognized as one of the leading academic medical programs in its specialty field. Our academic mission is to provide leadership in the field of radiation oncology by offering the very best in technologically-advanced patient care, cutting-edge scientific and applied research, and graduate medical education. As described in our Annual Report, the department faculty are involved in a wide range of scientific research projects spanning the areas of molecular biology, radiation physics, clinical outcomes analysis, and clinical trials. Our projects range from pure, basic science investigations to applied clinical research. Our research initiatives fall into three major categories of clinical, physics, and biology research.
We offer a 4-year, ACGME-approved residency training program in the medical specialty of radiation oncology. Successful completion of the program qualifies candidates to sit for the American Board of Radiology certification exam. The Department currently offers several programs in Medical Physics: A graduate program in medical physics, co-sponsored with the Department of Radiology; A 2-year on-the-job training program in dosimetry is also offered by the Department, enabling qualified candidates to sit for the AAMD certification exam in medical dosimetry. The Department offers post-doctoral training opportunities. In the Fall of 2000 we also began offering an innovative 2-year, CAMPEP-accredited medical physics residency program. Successful completion of this program qualifies candidates to sit for both the ABR and ABMP certification exams. In July 2001, the Department will implement an innovative RTT educational partnership with the University of Wisconsin at LaCrosse , becoming a clinical training site for UW's JRC-accredited RTT training program for radiation therapists.
The Department also operates a broad research enterprise ranging from basic research to translational (applied) cancer research. Departmental resources include15,000 square feet of biology and physics labs. Major Departmental research initiatives include funding as an NIH-designated Biomedical Technology Research Center in support of the work of our Center for EPR Imaging of In-vivo Physiology. The Department is also investigating cancer-prevention mechanisms, with NCI sponsorship of research into experimental radiotherapy, carcinogenesis, and radioprotectors. The Department also receives U.S. Army funding to investigate DNA repair inhibitors in cancer cells, in order to improve the performance of chemotherapeutic agents.