Maryland Proton Treatment Center

Maryland Leadership

Dr. Mehta, Medical Director

Mehta_Minesh.jpgRenowned Physician-Scientist Minesh P. Mehta, M.B.Ch.B., F.A.S.T.R.O., to Run First Proton Treatment Center in Baltimore-Washington Region

Minesh P. Mehta, M.B.Ch.B., F.A.S.T.R.O., will serve as the Medical Director of the Maryland Proton Treatment Center (MPTC). Dr. Mehta will also serve as associate director of clinical research in the Department of Radiation Oncology.

Dr. Mehta will joins the University of Maryland School of Medicine from his previous position as professor and co-director of the Radiation Oncology Residency Training Program at Northwestern University in Chicago.

“Dr. Mehta is recognized worldwide as an expert in clinical trial strategies, design and execution of national and international trials of all sizes, and innovative research, integrating technology, biology and imaging in radiation oncology,” says Dr. Regine, who is professor and Isadore & Fannie Schneider Foxman Endowed Chair in Radiation Oncology at the School of Medicine. “Dr. Mehta will work closely with departmental leadership as well as the project development group, Advanced Particle Therapy, to successfully establish the Maryland Proton Treatment Center as a center of excellence for research, education and patient care.”

As Medical Director of the center, Dr. Mehta will define and implement the processes to ensure that the center is fully integrated within our radiation oncology program, the University of Maryland Greenebaum Cancer Center, the University of Maryland Medical Center and System and the University of Maryland School of Medicine. He will work in the development of clinical trials and research protocols for patients as well as develop and integrate criteria for proton therapy patient selection within the Department of Radiation Oncology’s clinical practice guidelines.

“Preparing for the opening of the first proton treatment center in the Baltimore-Washington region is a challenging next step for my career, a challenge that I am looking forward to,” says Dr. Mehta. “Their world-class expertise makes the cancer faculty at the University of Maryland School of Medicine uniquely suited to establish this center and to change the lives of patients throughout the mid-Atlantic region and the world. I am excited to be a part of that.”

Dr. Mehta currently Chairs the Brain Tumor Committee of the National Institutes of Health funded Radiation Therapy Oncology Group focusing on innovative clinical trials for patients with various tumors of the central nervous system.  He also has an excellent track-record of peer-reviewed funding and leading multi-investigator research grants in the fields of thoracic oncology, neur-oncology, integrating imaging advances with radiation therapy, and innovative applications of new radiation therapy technologies to test biological concepts. He maintains an active interest in radiation-drug interactions, amelioration of radiation toxicities, incorporation of advanced radiation and imaging technologies, and is keenly interested in expanding the frontiers of personalized care in radiotherapy.

In 1981, Dr. Mehta received his medical degree with highest honors from the University of Zambia School of Medicine in Lusaka, Zambia. He completed his radiation oncology training at the University of Wisconsin in Madison in 1988, immediately joining the faculty at the university. He became professor and was chair of the Department of Human Oncology at the University of Wisconsin for a decade from 1997-2007. Subsequently, he has been devoting time to national leadership efforts at the American Board of Radiology, the FDA Radiological Devices Panel, the American Society for Radiation Oncology, the American Society of Clinical Oncology, the International Stereotactic Radiosurgery Society, and the Society of Neuro-Oncology. In 2010, he joined Northwestern University as professor of radiation oncology.

Dr. Mehta is a distinguished and highly regarded physician and scientist and has received many awards and honors. During his academic career, he has delivered more than 600 lectures worldwide and has authored more than 800 manuscripts, abstracts and book chapters. In 2010, as editor-in-chief, he published what is regarded as the definitive textbook in neuro-oncology. He has also provided leadership for more than 100 clinical trials through the National Cancer Institute sponsored cooperative groups such as ABTC, CCG, COG, ECOG, NABTC, and RTOG, and has also led industry-sponsored, paradigm-changing international, randomized multicenter clinical trials.