William F. Regine, MD, FACR, FACRO, The Isadore and Fannie Schneider Foxman Chair and Professor of Radiation Oncology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM), along with UMSOM Dean E. Albert Reece, MD, PhD, MBA, announced today that Robert C. Miller, MD, MBA,FASTRO a nationally-recognized radiation oncologist who currently serves as Vice Chair in the Department of Radiation Oncology at the Mayo Clinic, has been named Professor in the UMSOM Department of Radiation Oncology and Medical Director of the Maryland Proton Treatment Center (MPTC). He will begin his new position in April 2019.

Dr. Miller, who served the Mayo Clinic for 25 years, has conducted extensive clinical research on the use of compounds to mitigate the risk of normal tissue injury in patients undergoing radiation therapy. He has served as the national principal investigator/study chairman for five NIH funded national Phase III cooperative group clinical trials using these agents. In addition, he served as Vice Chair of the National Mayo Clinic Cancer Center Practice Committee, overseeing cancer care delivery at all of Mayo’s national sites, and Medical Director for Particle Therapy at Mayo Clinic Florida. He previously served as Vice Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Albert and Lea Austin Mayo Clinic Health System.

“We are very fortunate to have Dr. Miller bring more than 25 years of radiation oncology experience to MPTC.” said Dr. Regine. “His expertise in cancer care, mitigation of radiation normal tissue injury and clinical trials will make substantial contributions to our vision for proton therapy in significantly improving the lives of cancer patients.”

MPTC is the first center in the Baltimore-Washington region to offer proton therapy, a highly advanced and precise form of radiation, to treat cancer. MPTC’s facility, which began treating patients since February 2016, offers the next generation in proton therapy, called pencil-beam scanning or intensity-modulated proton therapy (IMPT), in all five treatment rooms. This offers patients the most precise treatment available. Proton therapy delivers an increased dose that stops specifically at the tumor site. As a result, it protects much of the surrounding, normal tissue. It is painless, non-invasive and well tolerated which often times leads to fewer side effects now and in the future.

Dr. Miller is the author of more than 170 peer-reviewed papers. He is the founding Editor in Chief of the American Society for Radiation Oncology’s (ASTRO’s) third academic journal,Advances in Radiation Oncology. He also serves as a non-executive director of Tekcapital plc and has a background in commercialization of university generated intellectual property. Dr. Miller began his scientific career as a medical physicist at the University of Kentucky, before going on to graduate from medical school at the University of Kentucky. Dr. Miller also received an MBA Degree from Oxford University in the United Kingdom.

“We are excited to have Dr. Miller lead this important, path-breaking and life-saving center. The Maryland Proton Treatment Center is at the forefront of cancer treatment and will continue to lead in this area under Dr. Miller’s expertise,” said UMSOM Dean E. Albert Reece, MD, PhD, MBA, University Executive Vice President for Medical Affairs and the John Z. and Akiko K. Bowers Distinguished Professor.

About the University of Maryland School of Medicine

Now in its third century, the University of Maryland School of Medicine was chartered in 1807 as the first public medical school in the United States. It continues today as one of the fastest growing, top-tier biomedical research enterprises in the world -- with 43 academic departments, centers, institutes, and programs; and a faculty of more than 3,000 physicians, scientists, and allied health professionals, including members of the National Academy of Medicine and the National Academy of Sciences, and a distinguished recipient of the Albert E. Lasker Award in Medical Research. With an operating budget of more than $1 billion, the School of Medicine works closely in partnership with the University of Maryland Medical Center and Medical System to provide research-intensive, academic and clinically-based care for more than 1.2 million patients each year. The School has over 2,500 students, residents, and fellows, and more than $530 million in extramural funding, with most of its academic departments highly ranked among all medical schools in the nation in research funding. As one of the seven professional schools that make up the University of Maryland, Baltimore campus, the School of Medicine has a total workforce of nearly 7,000 individuals. The combined School and Medical System (“University of Maryland Medicine”) has an annual budget of nearly $6 billion and an economic impact more than $15 billion on the state and local community. The School of Medicine faculty, which ranks as the 8^th highest among public medical schools in research productivity, is an innovator in translational medicine, with 600 active patents and 24 start-up companies. The School works locally, nationally, and globally, with research and treatment facilities in 36 countries around the world. Visit medschool.umaryland.edu/