The University of Washington Department of Radiation Oncology is led by innovators and visionaries in cancer care. Read more about the UW Department of Radiation Oncology.
The University of Washington School of Medicine Department of Radiation Oncology was formed in 1979. An amalgam of three divisions: radiation oncology, radiation biology and medical physics. The Department’s research and innovation, however, had been established years before the department. Following funding by the National Institutes of Health, in the early 1970’s, to study cyclotron-generated fast neutron beams.
Today, the three divisions remain. We’ve also added a fourth division, radiation chemistry. The studies on the Cyclotron led to the establishment of its own center, including the UW Medical Cyclotron Facility. The education program has grown also. It includes accredited residency programs in both medical radiation oncology (physicians) and medical physics (physicists). Also included are newly established medical fellowships. Lastly, there are several post-doctoral research positions throughout the program.
The department has 33 physician faculty, 33 physicists, 3 research faculty, and 12 ARNP/PA-C faculty. Training programs include 10 radiation oncology residents, 4 medical physics residents, and several postdoctoral scholars. Graduate students also may participate in various research projects in radiation biology, molecular medicine, medical physics, and radiation chemistry.
UW Department of Radiation Oncology is committed to fulfilling, specific to radiation oncology, UW Medicine’s mission to improve the health of the public by:
A core value for the department is to bring an innovative, caring, comprehensive and collaborative approach to each service area. Our three service areas are: Clinical Care, Education, and Research.
For the University of Washington Department of Radiation Oncology – diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) are core values and mission priorities. Our work begins with the acknowledgement of the land we occupy today. The traditional home of the Tulalip, Muckleshoot, Duwamish and Suquamish tribal nations. This is followed by acceptance and celebration of the differences represented through the many diverse communities that surround us. These include black, indigenous, and/or people of color (BIPOC). We recognize that we are bound together in a collective experience and that our actions impact all in our community. Focus on lives of the most marginalized groups amongst us, subsequently creating conditions of equity, justice, and excellence for all. In our department, DEI is integral to excellence and it is our social responsibility to create actionable steps to create positive change. Only then can we truly help and subsequently improve the health of all people.
Read more about our efforts in DEI coupled with current news, see our Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Page.
We have explored and invested in advanced radiation therapy technologies. At the UW Department of Radiation Oncology, we are the only facility in North America which offers the widest range of radiation therapy modalities. Here we go beyond the commonly used Photon and Electron radiation, to offer all modalities, concluding Photon, Electron, Neutron and Proton to our patients.
With our talented, specialized team of physicians and providers, we offer a complete spectrum of radiation therapy options. This expands to a wide range of cancers, including extremely rare cancer types.
The University of Washington is recognized as one of the country’s premier cancer centers. We are a member institution of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN). Our faculty members contribute to NCCN guidelines. We are affiliated with the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center(FHCC). The FHCC pioneered bone marrow transplantation and faculty who have won three Nobel prizes.
UW Medicine, together with Fred Hutch and Seattle Children’s form the only NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center in the Northwest. This group of organizations is one of the top-funded cancer centers in the country.
The goal of our educational programs is to train future leaders in the field of radiation oncology and medical physics. Residents receive outstanding training in clinical radiation oncology, treatment planning, radiation physics, and radiobiology. Training enables graduates to provide comprehensive patient care and QA activities. Residents conduct substantive research in clinical radiation oncology, translational science, education, and health services, including safety and quality improvement. All faculty actively participate in the education program.
Residents rotate through several sites in the UW Medicine system and receive clinical training in all aspects of radiation oncology. They become adept in diverse radiation therapy modalities. These include photons, protons, neutrons, electrons, low dose rate and high dose rate brachytherapy, stereotactic radiosurgery with the Gamma Knife, stereotactic body radiation therapy, intraoperative radiation therapy using Mobetron unit, and intravascular therapy.
The department has active research programs in particle therapy, and integration of advanced imaging into radiation therapy practice. Also running are fundamental radiation biology, and medical physics topics. Medical physics topics include Monte Carlo, multi-objective optimization, tumor response modeling, synthetic diamond detectors, smARTsKin, decision theory, patient safety, and experimental therapy proton irradiator. In addition to these topics, we also enroll patients to trials with cooperative groups including NRG, Alliance, COG, and PCG.
The merger in July 2023 with Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center has expanded our bench research based on radiation oncology. In collaboration with other research divisions at Fred Hutch, this will expand our research program even further in the future.
To further learn about all of the incredible research, labs and teams, visit the Research Overview Page.
Radiation Oncology at UW School of Medicine and Fred Hutch, are fortunate to have resources of dedicated and also highly experienced professionals. This team reaches throughout all areas of our patient care, research and teaching missions. We have a large group of clinical research coordinators, cyclotron engineers, laboratory technicians, experts in grants, contracts and finance. Amongst our staff, we also have great IT support, skilled clinical care teams and collaborative administrative staff. Interested in joining the team? Please visit our careers page.
