PCG COMMITTEES

DISEASE SITE COMMITTEE  |  PUBLICATIONS COMMITTEE  |  DATA SAFETY MONITORING BOARD

PCG DISEASE SITE COMMITTEE

Our PCG Disease Site Committee is highly experienced in the development, research, assessment, and implementation of proton therapy clinical trials for those affected by various forms of cancers.

Michael Chuong, MD
Disease Site Committee Chair
Miami Cancer Institute

J. Isabelle Choi, MD
Disease Site Committee Sub-Chair
Breast
New York Proton Center

Mark Mishra, MD
ManagerDisease Site Committee Sub-Chair Central Nervous System
Maryland Proton Center

Rupesh Kotecha, MD
Disease Site Committee Sub-Chair
Central Nervous System
Miami Cancer Institute

R. Charles Nichols, MD
Disease Site Committee Sub-Chair Gastrointestinal
University of Florida Proton Therapy Institute

Carlos Vargas, MD
Disease Site Committee Sub-Chair
Genitourinary
Mayo Clinic-Arizona

Michael Rutenberg, PhD, MD
Disease Site Committee Sub-Chair
Reirradiation
University of Florida Proton Therapy Institute

John Chang, MD
Disease Site Committee Sub-Chair
Head & Neck
Oklahoma Proton Center

Charles Simone, MD
Disease Site Committee Sub-Chair
Lung
New York Proton Center

Yolanda Tseng, MD
Disease Site Committee Sub-Chair
Lymphoma
Seattle Cancer Care Alliance Proton Therapy Center

Ronny Rotondo, MD
Disease Site Committee Sub-Chair
Pediatrics
University of Florida Proton Therapy Institute

Jonathan Ashman, MD
Disease Site Committee Sub-Chair
Mayo Clinic, Arizona

PCG PUBLICATIONS COMMITTEE

Our PCG Publications Committee is responsible for the evaluation of editorial research and material as well as the publication of various innovative studies.

J. Isabelle Choi, MD
Publications Committee Chair
New York Proton Center

John Chang, MD
Vice President/Treasurer
The California Protons Therapy Cancer Treatment Center

Lia M. Halasz, MD
Publications Committee
University of Washington, SCCA Proton Center

Brad Hoppe, MD, MPH
Publications Committee
Mayo Clinic Jacksonville

Carl Rossi, Jr, MD
Publications Committee
California Protons Cancer Therapy Center

Leslie T. Yonemoto, MD
Publications Committee

PCG Data Safety Monitoring Board

Our PCG Data Safety Monitoring Board manages the regulation and administration of clinical trial protocols and policies, to ensure patient safety.

Torunn Yock, MD
Data Safety Monitoring Board Chair
Massachusetts General Hospital

Richard Amos, PhD, Medical Physicist, MD
Anderson

Danielle Coschigano
Mayo Clinic, AZ

Mark Pankuch, PhD, Director of Medical Physics
Northwestern Medicine Chicago Proton Center

R Charles Nichols, MD
University of Florida Proton Therapy Institute

Randy Henderson, MD
University of Florida Proton Therapy Institute

Carlos Vargas, MD
Mayo Clinic, AZ

Charles Simone, MD
New York Proton Center

Sameer Keole, MD
Mayo Clinic, AZ

Chris Morris, MS
University of Florida Proton Therapy Institute

William Hartsell, MD Northwestern Medicine Proton Center

Hsi Wen Chien, PhD, Medical Physicist
Procure Oklahoma City

Stella Flampouri, PhD, Medical Physicist
University of Florida Proton Therapy Institute

Brandi Nyberg
Northwestern Medicine Chicago Proton Center

Andrew Chang, MD
California Protons Cancer Center

Mark Mishra, MD
University of Maryland School of Medicine

Abigail Berman, MD
Penn Center for Precision Medicine

Megan Dunn, PhD
Astellas Pharma US

Megan Prior
University of Florida Proton Therapy Institute

Rachel Strauss
Massachusetts General Hospital 

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Torunn Yock, MD

Torunn I. Yock is the Director of Pediatric Radiation Oncology and Chair of the Quality Improvement Committee in Radiation Oncology at Massachusetts General Hospital, and Professor at Harvard Medical School.  She received her MD from Harvard Medical School and acquired a Masters in Community Health as a Fulbright Scholar from the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia.  Her residency was at Massachusetts General Hospital.  Her clinical practice is now comprised mostly of pediatric patients and survivors of childhood cancer.  Dr. Yock’s research career has focused on measuring health outcomes to further improve upon cure rates and the quality of the survivorship in pediatric cancer patients and applying big data principals to research repositories.  Her research has focused on the role of proton radiotherapy in pediatric cancer and both its power to mitigate late effects in our childhood cancer survivors, but also its potential pitfalls.  Dr. Yock is the Primary Investigator of multiple pediatric protocols and she holds grant funding from a variety of sources including the NCI.  She also participates in collaborative research with the Children’s Oncology Group, sitting on the Brain Tumor and Soft Tissue Sarcoma Committees, and is leading an NCI/MGH-sponsored multi-institutional registry enrolling pediatric patients treated with modern proton and photon radiotherapy and have accrued over 2600 patients. She has also authored over 120 articles and chapters and is an active member of ASTRO, ASCO, PROS, SIOP and serves on the American Board of Radiology to develop both the written and oral board examinations.

John Chang, MD

Dr. Chang is the Medical Director, Clinical Research and Education for Oklahoma Proton Center and also serves as the Head & Neck Disease Site committee chair for PCG. After completing his medical school at the University of Michigan and residency at the University of Pennsylvania, he joined Radiation Oncology Consultants (ROC), where he has been in private practice since 2000. He ecently served as the Director of Clinical Research and Education at Northwestern Medicine’s Proton Center in Chicago, Illinois and subsequently at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee. Dr. Chang is the principal investigator for the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG) and the Children’s Oncology Group (COG) research program. He is a peer review editor for the International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Physics and Biology and the International Journal of Particle Therapy. Dr. Cang has expertise in the use of conformal 3-D radiation therapy, intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT), stereotactic radiosurgery, high dose rate brachytherapy, and permanent brachytherapy (seed implants) and Proton therapy. His areas of interest include head and neck, genitourinary, brain, lung, and pediatric malignancies. He has presented numerous papers, and given lectures on various cancer treatments. He spends his leisure time playing hockey.

When asked why he chose Radiation Oncology, he states, “Although I thoroughly enjoyed research and the technological aspect of medicine early in my career, I longed for patient contact. Radiation Oncology gives me the perfect setting to use my expertise in technology to help my patients fight their disease with the most advanced therapies possible.”

Jillian Plochocki-Smallwood, MS

Jillian received her BS in Biology and her MS in Health Services Administration from the University of Saint Francis. Jillian brings 13 years of experience working in the non-profit sector, with a focus in oncology.  She has worked for both the American Cancer Society and most recently with Northwestern Medicine’s psychosocial oncology program as the program director.

J. Isabelle Choi, MD

Dr. Isabelle Choi is the Director of Research at the New York Proton Center and the Chief of the Breast Cancer and Gastrointestinal Cancer Services at NYPC.  Her research focus is in improving outcomes, reducing toxicities, and improving the radiotherapy treatment delivery for breast, gastrointestinal, and thoracic malignancies.  Before coming to New York Proton Center, Dr. Choi was appointed the Clinical Director at the California Protons Cancer Therapy Center in San Diego, California, where she also served as the Associate Director of Clinical Research and the Chief of the Breast Cancer, Thoracic Oncology, and Gynecologic Services for the center.  She was then appointed Assistant Professor at the University of Maryland School of Medicine and was a clinical lead of the Maryland Proton Treatment Center.  Dr. Choi completed her undergraduate degree at Harvard University and her medical school degree at the University of Texas Health Science Center School of Medicine. She completed her internship in internal medicine and her residency training in radiation oncology at Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Medical Center, where she served as chief resident.  Among her select national leadership appointments, Dr. Choi is on the Board of Directors of the National Association of Proton Therapy and is the President of the Korean American Society of Radiation Oncology.

Mark Mishra, MD

Dr. Mishra is a board-certified radiation oncologist who specializes in the management of patients with central nervous system and genitourinary tumors. He is a graduate of the University of Cincinnati School of Medicine and completed his transitional year internship at the Evanston Northwestern Hospital of the McGaw Medical Center. Dr. Mishra then completed his residency training in Radiation Oncology at Thomas Jefferson University, where he also served as Chief Resident from 2012-2013.

Dr. Mishra’s post-graduate training has included a year-long research fellowship at the National Institutes of Health where he participated in the Clinical Research Training Program. He also completed the Program in Clinical Effectiveness at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in 2013.

Rupesh Kotecha, MD

Dr. Kotecha’s research background and clinical interests have focused on optimizing radiosurgical treatment of brain metastases. He comes to Miami Cancer Institute from Cleveland Clinic’s Taussig Cancer Institute in Cleveland, where he completed a five-year residency in radiation oncology. He received his medical degree from Michigan State University College of Human Medicine in East Lansing, where he was inducted into the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society.

Dr. Kotecha has received numerous awards and honors for his clinical excellence and accomplishments in research and teaching. He has been an invited presenter at many symposiums and has published book chapters and dozens of articles in peer-reviewed journals, including the Journal of Radiation Oncology, International Journal of Radiation Oncology Biology and Practical Radiation Oncology. He also serves as an editorial contributor on the topic of brain cancer for PracticeUpdate, an online resource for healthcare providers.

R. Charles Nichols, MD

Dr. Nichols is an Associate Professor in the Department of Radiation Oncology at the UF Health Proton Therapy Institute. He received his undergraduate degree in Economics and Mathematics from Georgetown University in 1983 and his medical degree from Georgetown in 1988. Prior to joining UF Health Proton Therapy Institute, he served as medical director of the Bay Medical Regional Cancer Center in Panama City, Florida. A University of Florida Department of Radiation Oncology faculty member since 2008, he serves as the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG) Principal Investigator for both the Jacksonville and Gainesville campuses and serves as the Gastrointestinal Disease Site Committee Chair for PCG.

Michael Rutenberg, PhD, MD

Dr. Rutenberg is an Assistant Professor at the UF Health Proton Therapy Institute and chairs the PCG Reirradiation Subcommittee. He has conducted research on reirradiation for prostate and lung cancers.  He leads the reirradiation program at the UF Health Proton Therapy Institute, utilizing proton therapy for patients previously treated with radiotherapy. He is a member of the ASTRO Radiation and Cancer Biology Committee of the Science Council.

An alumnus of the University of Florida’s MD/PhD program, Dr. Rutenberg completed medical school at UF and conducted his PhD research at Harvard Medical School. He completed his training at the University of Maryland Medical Center before joining the faculty at the University of Florida.

Yolanda Tseng, MD

Dr. Tseng is a board-eligible radiation oncologist with training and experience in proton radiotherapy, focusing on lymphoma, prostate, palliative and pediatric cancers. She serves as an Assistant Professor of Radiation Oncology at the University of Washington. Her diverse research includes how physicians estimate patient prognosis and its effects on treatment decisions, and how tumor biological subtypes affect patient outcomes and the response to local therapy. She’s interested in systematically evaluating how proton radiotherapy can be used to optimize patient care.

Dr. Tseng earned her medical degree and completed her residency in radiation oncology at Harvard Medical School. She also earned her Masters of Philosophy in Pharmacology at the University of Cambridge, UK.

Leslie T. Yonemoto, MD

Dr. Les Yonemoto is a radiation oncologist who has treated over 2,500 patients with proton therapy since 1992.   He has assisted multiple proton centers with clinical, operational and business development since 1996.

He earned the following degrees:

Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences at University of California – Berkeley,  Master of Business Administration at Arizona State University,  Doctor of Medicine at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine,  Radiation Oncology Residency at Loma Linda University Medical Center and MD Anderson Cancer Center

Dr. Yonemoto has authored and coauthored many peer-reviewed articles and has lectured on cancer research, cancer treatment, and proton therapy in many domestic and international forums and has been featured in several national and regional news programs.

Ronny Rotondo, MD

Dr. Rotondo is a radiation oncologist and University of Florida Clinical Assistant Professor with specialized training in pediatric proton therapy. Dr. Rotondo specializes in pediatric malignancies as well as base of skull and adult central nervous system tumors. He is board certified in radiation oncology clinical practice in Canada and is board eligible in the United States. Prior to joining the UF Health Proton Therapy Institute, he completed his residency training at McGill University in Montreal, Canada. He also completed a one year fellowship in proton radiation therapy at the Massachusetts General Hospital – Harvard University and two years of dedicated fellowship training in pediatric proton radiation therapy at the UF Health Proton Therapy Institute. His work has been published in medical journals and has been presented at national and international conferences. He is a member of the American Medical Association (AMA), American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO), American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), and the Canadian Association of Radiation Oncology (CARO) among others.

Jonathan Ashman, MD

Dr. Jonathan B Ashman is a Radiation Oncology Specialist in Scottsdale, Arizona. He graduated with honors from University Of Chicago, Pritzker School Of Medicine in 2001. Having more than 18 years of diverse experiences, especially in RADIATION ONCOLOGY, Dr. Jonathan B Ashman affiliates with Mayo Clinic Hospital.

Andrew Chang, MD

Dr. Chang is the Director of Clinical Research for Northwestern Medicine Proton Center and also serves as the Head & Neck Disease Site committee chair for PCG. He is Board Certified in Radiation Oncology and primarily practices at the Northwestern Medicine Proton Center. After completing his medical school at the University of Michigan and residency at the University of Pennsylvania, he joined Radiation Oncology Consultants (ROC), where he has been in private practice since 2000. Dr. Chang is the principal investigator for the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG) and the Children’s Oncology Group (COG) research program, and is an assistant professor at the Chicago Medical School/Rosalind Franklin School of Medicine and Science. He is a peer review editor for the International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Physics and Biology and the International Journal of Particle Therapy.

Lia M. Halasz, MD

Dr. Halasz is a radiation oncologist with expertise in brain and spinal tumors, proton beam radiation therapy, and genitourinary tumors, particularly prostate cancer. She treats patients at UW Medical Center, Harborview Medical Center, and SCCA Proton Therapy.

Brad Hoppe, MD, MPH

Dr. Hoppe is an Associate Professor in the Department of Radiation Oncology at the University of Florida, specializing in the management of patients with Hodgkin lymphoma, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, lung cancer and prostate cancer. He currently holds the James E. Lockwood, Jr., Endowed Chair of Proton Therapy. An established cancer researcher, Dr. Hoppe is the principal investigator on five clinical trials and the author of over 70 published manuscripts and book chapters in various peer-reviewed medical journals, including Journal of Clinical Oncology, Cancer, Journal of Thoracic Oncology, Bone Marrow Transplant, Radiotherapy and Oncology and the International Journal of Radiation Oncology Biology Physics. His research focus has been on reducing side effects of radiation and better understanding patient reported quality of life outcomes among patients with lung cancer, prostate cancer and lymphoma.

Carl Rossi, Jr, MD

Dr. Rossi is a board certified radiation oncologist, specializing in proton beam therapy, specifically for prostate cancers and lymphomas and serves as the medical director of California Protons Cancer Therapy Center. Dr. Rossi previously served as chief of genitourinary and lymphoma radiation oncology services at Loma Linda University Medical Center. He also served as an associate professor of radiation oncology. During his tenure at Loma Linda, Dr. Rossi treated more than 9,000 prostate cancer patients with proton therapy. Dr. Rossi has published more than 20 peer-reviewed articles, as well as contributed chapters to definitive textbooks on radiation oncology. Dr. Rossi earned his medical degree from Loyola University Stritch School of Medicine in 1988 and did his internship and residency at Loma Linda University Medical Center in radiation oncology. Dr. Rossi currently serves as the PCG Principal Investigator for California Protons Cancer Therapy Center and is a member of both the PCG GenitoUrinary and Lymphoma Disease Site Committees.

Charles Simone, MD

Charles B. Simone, II, MD, FACRO is the Chief Medical Officer of the New York Proton Center and a Full Member in the Department of Radiation Oncology at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.  He is an internationally recognized expert in the use of proton therapy to treat thoracic malignancies and for reirradiation, and in the development of clinical trial strategies and innovative research in thoracic radiation oncology and stereotactic body radiation therapy.  He is a National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, and Department of Defense funded investigator who performs clinical and translational research investigating the benefits of proton therapy as part of multi-modality therapy for thoracic malignancies.

Prior to coming to NYPC, Dr. Simone was Chief of the Thoracic Oncology Service at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Director of the Penn Mesothelioma and Pleural Program, and Director of Clinical Research and Operations in the Department of Radiation Oncology at Penn.  He was then appointment Medical Director of the Maryland Proton Treatment Center, and at the University of Maryland, he also served as Chair of the Clinical Research Committee for their Comprehensive Cancer Center, proton therapy Fellowship Director, and Director of the Stereotactic Radiation Therapy Program.  He completed his undergraduate and medical school training at the University of Pennsylvania, internship in internal medicine, and residency training in radiation oncology at the National Cancer Institute, NIH, where he served as chief resident.

Dr. Simone is a National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, and Department of Defense funded investigator who has published >390 scientific articles and chapters, given >240 scientific lectures to national/international audiences, and is the national Principal Investigator or Co-Chair of 7 NIH-funded cooperative group trials (4 NRG Oncology, 1 SWOG, 1 ECOG-ACRIN, 1 PCG).  He is a three-time Association of Residents in Radiation Oncology Educator of the Year Award winner.  Dr. Simone Chairs the ASTRO Lung Resource Panel Committee, NCI/Radiosurgery Society GRID-Lattice-Microbeam-Flash Radiotherapy Clinical Working Group, and several Particle Therapy Co-Operative Group (PTCOG) subcommittees.  He is Editor-in-Chief of Annals of Palliative Medicine.