Dr. Thomas E. Merchant is Chair of Radiation Oncology at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, Baddia J. Rashid Endowed Chair in Radiation Oncology, and former chairman of the Radiation Oncology Discipline, Children's Oncology Group (COG).
Dr. Merchant is board certified in Radiation Oncology and received his medical degree from the Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine, Chicago, Illinois and Ph.D. in experimental pathology from the University of Utrecht, The Netherlands.
As Chair of Radiation Oncology, Dr. Merchant oversees a department that includes nearly 70 faculty and staff dedicated to pediatric radiation oncology. The focus of his practice and research includes the following diseases: medulloblastoma, ependymoma, craniopharyngioma, and low-grade glioma. His special interests include brain tumors in young children, side effects of radiation therapy, re-irradiation, and proton therapy. He led the development of the St. Jude Red FrogEvents Proton Therapy Center. The world's first proton therapy center dedicated solely to the treatment of pediatric cancer patients.
Dr. Rolf-Dieter Kortmann is a Professor in Medicine and Head of Department of Radiation Therapy, University of Leipzig, Germany.
Dr. Kortmann was trained in radiology and radiooncology at the Department of Radiology and the Department of Radiooncology in Stuttgart, Essen and Tuebingen, Germany. The scientific expertise comprises quality control in radiation oncology with special emphasis on geometric precision of different radiotherapy technologies including craniospinal irradiation.
After qualification for radiation oncology in 1992, scientific research focused mainly on childhood brain tumours finally leading to the establishment of the German Study and Reference Centre for Paediatric Radiation Oncology in Childhood Brain Tumours. With the introduction of prospective brain tumour trials in Germany in the early 90s
prospective quality control programmes for radiotherapy were introduced on a nationwide level.
The activities also included prospective trials of SIOP (International Society for Paediatric Oncology) for medulloblastoma and intracranial germ cell tumours.
Since 2004 educational programmes have been created for the now independent countries of the former Soviet Union in collaboration with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the European Society of Therapeutic Radiation Oncology (ESTRO). Currently, ESTRO-PROS Teaching Courses are organized addressing radiation oncologists worldwide.
Special Interest: Paediatric Radiooncology, CNS Tumours, Quality Assurance
