July 2026 Early Career Newsletter

The majority of Early Career attendee programming will occur in the Early Career Lounge. Sunday, September 27, is highlighted first by the ASTRO Early Career Committee open meeting, led by current chair Anna Paulsson, MD, and vice chair Avinash Chaurasia, MD, followed by the Speed Mentoring sessions designed for medical students and physics. Additionally, there will be a session on Financial Planning for Radiation Oncologists, led by colleagues Trudy Wu, MD, Joseph Miccio, MD, Austin Sim, MD, JD, and Nicholas Zaorsky, MD, followed by ASTRO Journals (Red Journal, Practical Radiation Oncology and Advances in Radiation Oncology) respective editors-in-chief hosting an open roundtable. Given the importance of publications in the promotion process for academic early career faculty, this represents a rare opportunity for candid feedback.

The programming for Monday, September 28, is highlighted by additional speed mentoring for international attendees and those with international interests, and the Building a Successful Professional Network in Radiation Oncology, providing ample opportunity for early career attendees to lay down a solid foundation for career advancement. Don’t miss out on the ARRO/Early Career Networking Reception immediately following.

Tuesday, September 29, includes programming featuring the Women’s Affinity group with discussion of FMLA, expanding on the popular Navigating Parenthood in Early Career panel discussion from the 2025 ASTRO meeting. Tuesday afternoon will mark the Early Career Committee panel theme, titled “Representing Radiation Oncology in the Media” where the impact of misinformation regarding the benefits and risks of radiotherapy will be discussed. Presented by Amar Rewari, MD, MBA, FASTRO, this session provides an ideal forum for practitioners to learn tools for communicating the truth and value of radiotherapy to patients, policymakers and the general public to best optimize cancer care.

Throughout the meeting, don’t miss the opportunity for one-on-one mentoring through Mentor Connect, sessions and networking in the Communities Lounge and all the additional programming offered. Learn more at www.astro.org/annualmeeting, and for more about the Annual Meeting program schedule, refer to www.astro.org/amportal.

We look forward to seeing you in September in Boston!

These partnerships have been highlighted at the recently completed ASCO Advocacy Summit (April 20-21), ASTRO Advocacy Day (April 27-28) and ACR Hill Day (May 6) in Washington, DC. Examples of ASTRO ECC members cultivating deep relationships with ASCO, AMA, ACR and ACRO include Fumiko Chino MD, and Anna Brown, MD, MPhil, which have borne fruit in enabling a united voice advocating on the Capitol for Radiation Oncology reform to protect patient care. Such unity has allowed a greater megaphone for the advancement of Radiation Oncology rather than remaining siloed and divided by organization. Additional ASTRO members championing inter-organization partnerships include John Luh, MD, FASTRO, Laeton Pang, MD, FASTRO, Iris Gibbs, MD, FASTRO, and ASTRO Chair Sameer Keole, MD, FASTRO.

With key legislative changes endangering the fiscal viability of several Radiation Oncology practices nationwide, it has never been more important for our field to embrace partnership with sister organizations. Such partnerships have allowed measurable progress on support for the Radiation Oncology Case Rate (ROCR) act (H.R. 2120) in payment reform, as well as supporting sustainable payment structures for procedures requiring supplies of high cost through the Promoting Fairness for Medicare Providers Act (H.R. 7863).

The ASCO Advocacy Summit was well attended by oncology advocacy leaders from the AMA as well as radiation oncologist #radvocates including Sameer Keole, MD, FASTRO, AMA Board Trustee Marilyn Heine, MD, and vocal financial toxicity expert Fumiko Chino, MD.

In particular, the two-day ASTRO Advocacy event featured a one day refresher on the ROCR bill and midterm predictions and provided attendees with talking points and a Capitol Hill day in which participants went to their geographic elected official offices to speak with Members and staffers to advance goals including ROCR endorsement, support of the Timely Access to Seniors Act, and increasing funding for cancer care in the NIH budget. The latter two goals were also talking points of the ASCO Advocacy Summit.

The ACR annual meeting featured talks from prominent leaders in other organizations including the AMA and included a Capitol Hill day in which attendees all wore white coats and focused on radiology specific talking points with the ROCR bill included as a secondary talking point.

Please contact the ASTRO ECC if you’d like to join in this fight! Rest assured the ASTRO ECC is fighting for the future of Radiation Oncology not as cowboys, but as wise warriors recognizing we are stronger together. Or to quote a well-known movie: “In times of crisis the wise build bridges, while the foolish build barriers.”