Life-Changing Care, Education & Research
We stand united on the front lines of the fight against cancer, with personalized clinical care, industry-leading education and translational research into delivery and treatment.
From the very beginning, our mission has focused on education, clinical care and research. This threefold focus is how we’re able to provide world-class cancer care, where the industry’s current and future leaders pioneer cutting-edge translational medicine.
Our goal is to constantly improve and deliver the best possible patient care. By integrating patient care, research, and education, even the most basic biological or physics research is translational, and all patient care becomes truly personalized medicine.
Clinical Care
Each day our patient care teams of physicians, nurses, physicists and dosimetrists, radiation therapists, social workers and support staff work with patients to assess needs, develop treatment plans and administer radiation therapy. To accomplish this we have clinical facilities in Ann Arbor, Brighton, Grand Rapids, Wyoming, Alpena, Novi and Southfield.
Our department emphasizes individualized care and treatment with lean practices, designed to make the treatment process simpler and reduce wait times.
Research
We both initiate and participate in clinical trials to develop the next generations of treatment and care, often in cooperation with other departments at the University of Michigan and institutions nationwide.
Underpinning these trials is the cutting-edge research carried out by our department’s physicians, biologists and physicists. This work has led to important advances in the understanding of cancer biology and treatments. Their major contributions to more accurately delivered treatments are guided by real-time imaging and continually seek new therapies with more effective deliveries.
Education
Our training programs for physicians, therapists and physicists have developed industry leaders and in academia and private practices across the U.S. and abroad.
Resources and information for current learners and faculty.
Radiation Oncology at the University of Michigan began as part of the Radiology Department under the leadership of Dr. Isadore Lampe. In 1984, it became a separate department and leader in the field, chaired by Allen Lichter, MD.
Dr. Lichter encouraged physics research leading to the development of computerized treatment planning, clinical trials validating IMRT and other new therapies as well as cancer biology investigations both at the basic science level and as translational work leading to clinical trials. He also helped establish the first of the department's community practices outside of Ann Arbor.
In 1997, Dr. Lichter became Dean of the University of Michigan Medical School, and Theodore Lawrence, MD, PhD became first Interim Chair and then Chair. Dr. Lawrence continued to advance both clinical care and research, emphasizing collaboration among the department’s Clinical, Physics, and Cancer Biology divisions. In 2022, Dr. Lawrence stepped down from being chair, and Daniel Chang, MD, became the third chair of the department.
Isadore Lampe, MD (1932-1975)
Chair, Department of Radiation Oncology
Professor of Radiation Oncology
Associate Chief Medical Information Officer
Medical Director, Radiation Oncology
Assistant Professor of Radiation Oncology
Patricia Krause Research Professor of Radiation Oncology
Associate Chair, Department of Radiation and Cancer Biology
Department of Radiation Oncology
Professor of Radiation Oncology
Program Associate, Wellness and Equity
Associate Professor of Radiation Oncology
