Minority Summer Fellowship Awardees

The ASTRO Minority Summer Fellowship Award introduces medical students from backgrounds that are under-represented in medicine to the discipline of radiation oncology early in their medical education. Below is the list of past and present awardees.

Current Awardees

Alikem Miriam Agamah, 2020 Clinical Awardee  Medical School: Southern Illinois University School of Medicine Project Title: Analyzing the Predictors of Cognitive Outcome in Pediatric Brain Tumor Patients Undergoing Proton Beam Radiation Mentor: Jeff Michalski, MD, MBA, FASTRO, Washington University in Saint Louis

Ian Keith Cruickshank, 2020 Clinical Awardee Medical School: The Howard University Inc. Project Title: Comparative in Silico Analysis of Scanning Beam Proton Therapy (PT) and Intensity Modulated Photon Radiation Therapy (IMRT) for Post-Prostatectomy Mentor: Curtiland Deville, MD, Johns Hopkins University

Elizabeth Obi, 2020 Clinical Awardee  Medical School: Case Western Reserve University - School of Medicine Project Title: A Proposed Community- Based Interventional Program That Educates, Identifies, And Overcomes Barriers to Screening Mammography Among Homeless Women Mentor: John Suh, MD, FASTRO, Cleveland Clinic Foundation

John Placide, 2020 Clinical Awardee Medical School: The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston Project Title: Conditional Survival Analysis in laryngeal cancer: Patient-physician shared decision support in radiotherapy using precision risk clinical nomograms Mentor: Clifton Fuller, MD, PhD, MD Anderson Cancer Center

Past Awardees

2019

Jonathan Smith, 2019 Clinical Awardee  Medical School: Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine Project Title: Clinical outcomes and management of patients with a RT-induced lung cancer following breast radiotherapy Mentor:  Rachel B. Jimenez, MD, Massachusetts General Hospital

Rehema Thomas, 2019 Clinical Awardee Medical School: George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences Project Title: Comparative Analysis of Scanning Beam Proton Therapy, Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy, and 3D Conformal Radiation Therapy in Soft Tissue Sarcoma Mentor: Curtiland Deville, MD, Johns Hopkins University

 

2018

Amandeep Mahal, 2018 Clinical Awardee Medical School: Yale University School of Medicine  Project Title: The Effect of Race and Decision Aids on Physician Recommendation for Prostate Cancer Treatment Planning  Mentor: James B. Yu MD MHS, Yale School of Medicine

Zachary White, 2018 Basic Science Awardee Medical School: University of South Alabama  Project Title: Impact of ANXA7 I1 Expression on PDGFRA and MET Endosomal Trafficking in GBM  Mentor: Markus Bredel, MD, PhD, The University of Alabama at Birmingham

2017

Michael LeCompte, 2017 Clinical Awardee Medical School: Wake Forest School of Medicine Project Title: The Role of Hyperglycemia in Clinical Outcomes Predicted by Brain Metastasis Kinetics in Brain Metastasis Treated with Stereotactic Radiosurgery Mentor: Michael Chan, MD, Department of Radiation Oncology, Wake Forest School of Medicine

Kekoa Taparra, 2017 Clinical Awardee Medical School: Mayo Clinic School of Medicine - Rochester Campus Project Title: CT Angiography for Cardiac-Sparing Intensity-Modulated Radiotherapy Mentor: Nadia N. Laack, MD, Mayo Clinic Department of Radiation Oncology

2016

Brittaney-Belle Gordon, 2016 Clinical Awardee  Medical School: University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill, School of Medicine  Project Title: Racial disparities in treatment and treatment delays for pancreatic cancer  Mentor: Ronald C. Chen, MD, MPH, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine

Stephanie Thermozier, 2016 Basic Science Awardee  Medical School: University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine  Project Title: Characterization of TGF-β Signaling in Fancd2-/-, SMAD3-/- and DKO Cell Lines  Mentor: Joel S. Greenberger, MD, FACRO, FACR, UPMC Cancer Institute

2015

Rasidat Adeduntan, 2015 Clinical Awardee Medical School: University of Virginia School of Medicine  Project Title: Comparison of Coronary Artery Calcium Scores after Mediastinal Radiotherapy with Protons Versus Conventional Photon Therapy  Mentor: Karen M. Winkfield, MD, PhD, Harvard Medical School

Maxwell Ofori, 2015 Basic Science Awardee Medical School: University of Tennessee Health Science Center  Project Title: Is the chaperone nucleophosmin-1 a rational target for radiation sensitization of cancer?  Mentor: Michael L. Freeman, PhD, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine

Oscar Padilla, 2015 Basic Science Awardee Medical School: Tufts University School of Medicine  Project Title: Feasibility of IMRT-planned simultaneous integrated boost as a strategy for dose-escalation of spine radiosurgery  Mentor: Kevin S. Oh, MD, The Center for Spinal Metastases at the Massachusetts General Hospital

2014

Angel Moran, 2014 Basic Science Awardee Medical School: University of California Davis School of Medicine  Project Title: Protracted irradiation generates selective DNA damage linked to radiation resistance  Mentors: Jian Jian Li and Andrew Vaughan, UC Davis Dept. of Radiation Oncology

Aaron Parzuchowski, 2014 Clinical Awardee  Medical School: Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine  Project Title: Incidence of Protocol Deviations in Pediatric versus Adolescent and Young Adult Populations with Hodgkin's Lymphoma and its Impact on Clinical Outcomes  Mentor: Stephanie Terezakis, Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins

2013

Paul Adenuga, 2013 Basic Science Awardee  Medical School: Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine  Project Title: The role of deferoxamine in the prevention of osteoradionecrosis in the rat mandible due to radiation therapy and synergistic bisphosphonate osteonecrosis  Mentor: Davood Varghai, MD, Case Western Reserve University

Tyler Vestal, 2013 Clinical Awardee  Medical School: Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons  Project Title: Impact of radiation and metformin or propranolol on head and neck cancers  Mentor: Tony J. Wang, MD, Columbia University Medical Center

2012

Raymond Mailhot, 2012 Clinical Awardee  Medical School: Washington University in Saint Louis  Project Title: Proton therapy cost-effectiveness in the treatment of four malignancies  Mentor: Shannon MacDonald, Massachusetts General Hospital

Abimbola Orisamolu, 2012 Clinical Awardee  Medical School: University of Pennsylvania  Project Title: Evaluation of Current Standard of Planning Treatment Volume in Head and Neck Cancers  Mentor: Alexander Lin, University of Pennsylvania

2011

Melissa Vyfhuis (née Liriano), 2011 Clinical Awardee  Medical School: University of Maryland School of Medicine  Project Title: A Retrospective Study on Stage III NSCLC Patients: Factors Predicting Pathologic Complete Response Following High Dose Chemoradiation  Mentor: Steven Feigenberg, University of Maryland School of Medicine

Iman Washington, 2011 Basic Science Awardee  Medical School: Duke University School of Medicine  Project Title: Defining the Role of p21 in Radiation-induced Myocardial Injury  Mentor: David Kirsch, Duke University Medical Center

2010

Jean-Claude Rwigema, 2010 Clinical Awardee  Medical School: University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine  Project Title: Stereotactic Radiosurgery for Resected Brain Metastases  Mentor: Dwight E. Heron, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine

Kimberly Thomas, 2010 Basic Science Awardee  Medical School: University of Texas Southwestern Medical School  Project Title: External Thermal Enhancement with Magnetic Nanoparticles for the Sensitization of Breast  Mentor: Sunil Krishnan, MD Anderson Cancer Center