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ASTRO Gold Medal Award Recipient
Proceedings of the 47th Annual ASTRO Meeting
A57
ASTRO Gold Medal Award Recipient Allen S. Lichter, M.D. Tribute by Steven A. Leibel, M.D. Allen Lichter, our 2005 ASTRO Gold Medal Recipient, is not only a prominent member of the radiation oncology profession, but also is one of the most highly respected and distinguished leaders in all of academic medicine. He was a true pioneer in the development of modern three-dimensional conformal radiation therapy. This remarkable achievement in translational research, involving medical physics, computer science, engineering and clinical medicine, provided the underpinning for the current generation of studies that seek to further enhance the precision of radiation therapy. Allen was born in Detroit, Michigan in 1946. His father, a family practitioner, and his mother inspired their two sons to become physicians. Allen’s brother, Paul, is the Chair of Ophthalmology at the University of Michigan and a past president of the American Academy of Ophthalmology. Allen attended high school at Cass Tech in Detroit where he was a member of the golf team, winning a varsity letter and a league championship. He was also editor of the sports page of the Cass Tech newspaper. Allen received his B.S. degree from the University of Michigan in 1968 and his M.D. degree from the University of Michigan School of Medicine in 1972. At first, Allen considered specializing in diagnostic radiology. Through his brother’s friendship with Larry Margolis, he began a 12 week medical school elective, consisting of 6 weeks in radiology followed by 6 weeks in radiation oncology, at the University of California, San Francisco. Allen was so impressed and motivated by Franz Buschke and Ted Phillips that shortly after beginning his radiation oncology rotation, he made the decision to become a radiation oncologist. Allen spent his internship at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Denver. He then returned to UCSF for his training in radiation oncology under Ted Phillips. Upon completing his residency in 1976, Allen joined Stan Order and the radiation oncology faculty at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. The environment at Johns Hopkins played an important part in his decision to pursue a career in academic medicine. Two years later, Allen was recruited by Eli Glatstein to head the Radiation Therapy Section of the Radiation Oncology Branch at the National Cancer Institute. In that position he led an exceptional group of radiation oncologists who made several noteworthy contributions in many areas of our field. Inspired by his close friend and colleague, Marc Lippman, he also took the time to become an accomplished runner and marathoner. Upon arriving at the NCI, Allen found that there was a CT scanner for treatment planning in the radiation oncology department, but it had never been used. Subsequently, he and a highly talented group of medical physicists began to develop tools to display three-dimensional CT images of outlined tumors and normal tissue structures and to develop sophisticated methods to use these images in treatment planning. Allen applied these methods to make several noteworthy technical improvements in how breast cancer is treated with radiotherapy. He was also the principal investigator of a randomized trial comparing conservation surgery and radiation to mastectomy in patients with Stage I and II breast cancer. Thanks to this and other seminal studies, breast conservation now represents a standard treatment approach, affording women the opportunity to preserve their breasts. In 1984 Allen returned to the University of Michigan to become Chair of the Department of Radiation Oncology. There, he assembled an outstanding team of clinicians and physicists that set out to make threedimensional treatment planning a clinical reality. The result was a major paradigm shift in radiation oncology. Incorporating the tools of the dose-volume histogram, beam’s eye view, and digital reconstructed radiographs, a new treatment approach called three-dimensional conformal radiation therapy was born. Allen proposed what has become known as the “3-D hypothesis.” To wit, by reducing the volume of irradiated normal tissues with conformal techniques, the tumor dose can be safely escalated, and the higher doses will improve local control. Indeed, this hypothesis has been proven in prostate cancer, and there is evidence to support this notion in other tumor types as well.
A58
I. J. Radiation Oncology
● Biology ● Physics
Volume 63, Number 2, Supplement, 2005
Allen was named Dean of the University of Michigan Medical School in 1999, a position that he still holds today. His excellence as a Dean is highly acclaimed throughout the country, and under his steadfast guidance, Michigan is recognized to be among the very best of medical schools. Allen Lichter has served in important leadership positions in many organizations related to oncology and graduate medical education. He was a valued member of the ASTRO Board of Directors and was an important contributor to the strategic planning effort that resulted in our Society achieving the stature that it now enjoys. He was Chairman of the ASTRO Membership Committee and Co-Chair of the Scope of Practice Task Force. He also served on the Scientific Program Committee and Awards Committee. Recognizing the need to promote the role of radiation oncologists in the multi-disciplinary care of cancer patients, Allen made a concerted effort to advance our profession within the American Society of Clinical Oncology. He served on the Scientific Program Committee and was Chairman of the Young Investigator Awards Committee, the Clinical Practice Committee and the Public Issues Committee. He held the prestigious position of President of that Society from 1998 to 1999, being only the second radiation oncologist to attain that distinction. He later was President of the ASCO Foundation. Allen has been the recipient of many honors and awards. These include the NIH Award of Merit, induction into the Johns Hopkins University Society of Scholars, honorary membership in the Belgium Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology, the Isadore Lampe Professorship of Radiation Oncology and the Newman Family Professorship of Radiation Oncology. He is also a Fellow of the American College of Radiology. Most recently, he was selected to become a member of the Institute of Medicine. Allen has given numerous named lectureships including the esteemed Moskowitz, Fletcher, Vera Peters and Buschke lectures. I have great admiration for Allen. I have personally known him since the day we began our residency training at UCSF in July 1973. During that time I found him to be a bright, inquisitive and compassionate physician, a gourmet chef, a wine connoisseur, a theater aficionado and an avid sailor. I have since recognized that he is a dynamic teacher, an accomplished investigator, a charismatic leader, and an articulate spokesman for our profession and for all of medicine. As Chair of Radiation Oncology, Allen made certain that an introduction radiation oncology was part of the medical school curriculum, and each year 3 to 6 students from the University of Michigan entered radiation oncology residency programs. He continues to inspire undergraduate students to go into medicine which he considers “the greatest profession.” Allen and his wife, Evie, have been married for 17 years, and all who know them extol their warmth and graciousness. They are ardent University of Michigan sports fans, and on any given fall Saturday you can hear them shouting “go blue”! Allen continues be a golf enthusiast, though his handicap has increased since becoming Dean. Given the breadth of his achievements, Allen Lichter is richly deserving of our society’s highest honor, the ASTRO Gold Medal. This award is a most befitting way to highlight Allen’s brilliant career and his many contributions to the field of radiation oncology.
A57
ASTRO Gold Medal Award Recipient Allen S. Lichter, M.D. Tribute by Steven A. Leibel, M.D. Allen Lichter, our 2005 ASTRO Gold Medal Recipient, is not only a prominent member of the radiation oncology profession, but also is one of the most highly respected and distinguished leaders in all of academic medicine. He was a true pioneer in the development of modern three-dimensional conformal radiation therapy. This remarkable achievement in translational research, involving medical physics, computer science, engineering and clinical medicine, provided the underpinning for the current generation of studies that seek to further enhance the precision of radiation therapy. Allen was born in Detroit, Michigan in 1946. His father, a family practitioner, and his mother inspired their two sons to become physicians. Allen’s brother, Paul, is the Chair of Ophthalmology at the University of Michigan and a past president of the American Academy of Ophthalmology. Allen attended high school at Cass Tech in Detroit where he was a member of the golf team, winning a varsity letter and a league championship. He was also editor of the sports page of the Cass Tech newspaper. Allen received his B.S. degree from the University of Michigan in 1968 and his M.D. degree from the University of Michigan School of Medicine in 1972. At first, Allen considered specializing in diagnostic radiology. Through his brother’s friendship with Larry Margolis, he began a 12 week medical school elective, consisting of 6 weeks in radiology followed by 6 weeks in radiation oncology, at the University of California, San Francisco. Allen was so impressed and motivated by Franz Buschke and Ted Phillips that shortly after beginning his radiation oncology rotation, he made the decision to become a radiation oncologist. Allen spent his internship at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Denver. He then returned to UCSF for his training in radiation oncology under Ted Phillips. Upon completing his residency in 1976, Allen joined Stan Order and the radiation oncology faculty at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. The environment at Johns Hopkins played an important part in his decision to pursue a career in academic medicine. Two years later, Allen was recruited by Eli Glatstein to head the Radiation Therapy Section of the Radiation Oncology Branch at the National Cancer Institute. In that position he led an exceptional group of radiation oncologists who made several noteworthy contributions in many areas of our field. Inspired by his close friend and colleague, Marc Lippman, he also took the time to become an accomplished runner and marathoner. Upon arriving at the NCI, Allen found that there was a CT scanner for treatment planning in the radiation oncology department, but it had never been used. Subsequently, he and a highly talented group of medical physicists began to develop tools to display three-dimensional CT images of outlined tumors and normal tissue structures and to develop sophisticated methods to use these images in treatment planning. Allen applied these methods to make several noteworthy technical improvements in how breast cancer is treated with radiotherapy. He was also the principal investigator of a randomized trial comparing conservation surgery and radiation to mastectomy in patients with Stage I and II breast cancer. Thanks to this and other seminal studies, breast conservation now represents a standard treatment approach, affording women the opportunity to preserve their breasts. In 1984 Allen returned to the University of Michigan to become Chair of the Department of Radiation Oncology. There, he assembled an outstanding team of clinicians and physicists that set out to make threedimensional treatment planning a clinical reality. The result was a major paradigm shift in radiation oncology. Incorporating the tools of the dose-volume histogram, beam’s eye view, and digital reconstructed radiographs, a new treatment approach called three-dimensional conformal radiation therapy was born. Allen proposed what has become known as the “3-D hypothesis.” To wit, by reducing the volume of irradiated normal tissues with conformal techniques, the tumor dose can be safely escalated, and the higher doses will improve local control. Indeed, this hypothesis has been proven in prostate cancer, and there is evidence to support this notion in other tumor types as well.
A58
I. J. Radiation Oncology
● Biology ● Physics
Volume 63, Number 2, Supplement, 2005
Allen was named Dean of the University of Michigan Medical School in 1999, a position that he still holds today. His excellence as a Dean is highly acclaimed throughout the country, and under his steadfast guidance, Michigan is recognized to be among the very best of medical schools. Allen Lichter has served in important leadership positions in many organizations related to oncology and graduate medical education. He was a valued member of the ASTRO Board of Directors and was an important contributor to the strategic planning effort that resulted in our Society achieving the stature that it now enjoys. He was Chairman of the ASTRO Membership Committee and Co-Chair of the Scope of Practice Task Force. He also served on the Scientific Program Committee and Awards Committee. Recognizing the need to promote the role of radiation oncologists in the multi-disciplinary care of cancer patients, Allen made a concerted effort to advance our profession within the American Society of Clinical Oncology. He served on the Scientific Program Committee and was Chairman of the Young Investigator Awards Committee, the Clinical Practice Committee and the Public Issues Committee. He held the prestigious position of President of that Society from 1998 to 1999, being only the second radiation oncologist to attain that distinction. He later was President of the ASCO Foundation. Allen has been the recipient of many honors and awards. These include the NIH Award of Merit, induction into the Johns Hopkins University Society of Scholars, honorary membership in the Belgium Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology, the Isadore Lampe Professorship of Radiation Oncology and the Newman Family Professorship of Radiation Oncology. He is also a Fellow of the American College of Radiology. Most recently, he was selected to become a member of the Institute of Medicine. Allen has given numerous named lectureships including the esteemed Moskowitz, Fletcher, Vera Peters and Buschke lectures. I have great admiration for Allen. I have personally known him since the day we began our residency training at UCSF in July 1973. During that time I found him to be a bright, inquisitive and compassionate physician, a gourmet chef, a wine connoisseur, a theater aficionado and an avid sailor. I have since recognized that he is a dynamic teacher, an accomplished investigator, a charismatic leader, and an articulate spokesman for our profession and for all of medicine. As Chair of Radiation Oncology, Allen made certain that an introduction radiation oncology was part of the medical school curriculum, and each year 3 to 6 students from the University of Michigan entered radiation oncology residency programs. He continues to inspire undergraduate students to go into medicine which he considers “the greatest profession.” Allen and his wife, Evie, have been married for 17 years, and all who know them extol their warmth and graciousness. They are ardent University of Michigan sports fans, and on any given fall Saturday you can hear them shouting “go blue”! Allen continues be a golf enthusiast, though his handicap has increased since becoming Dean. Given the breadth of his achievements, Allen Lichter is richly deserving of our society’s highest honor, the ASTRO Gold Medal. This award is a most befitting way to highlight Allen’s brilliant career and his many contributions to the field of radiation oncology.