Panel Discussion: Didactic Session 4: Advances in Radiotherapy

Steven J. Frank, MD, is an endowed tenured professor of Radiation Oncology and holds the Bessie McGoldrick Professorship in Clinical Research at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Dr. Frank is the Executive Director of the Particle Therapy Institute and Deputy Head of Strategy for the Division of Radiation Oncology.
Dr. Frank was instrumental in facilitating the restructuring of MD Anderson’s Proton Therapy Center through an asset acquisition and a subsequent expansion of a second Proton Therapy Center to advance Intensity Modulated Proton Therapy (IMPT). Dr. Frank is amongst the first, if not the first, to use IMPT to treat head and neck tumors, and he is the Principal Investigator of an NIH/NCI -sponsored multi-institutional Phase II/III randomized trial in advanced-stage oropharyngeal cancer that compares outcomes after chemoradiation given by IMRT versus IMPT.
Dr. Frank has approximately 300 peer-reviewed publications, has authored many book chapters, and has recently published the first textbook on Proton Therapy, based on the MD Anderson experience. Dr. Frank’s lab is studying the biologic enhancement factor of proton therapy and FLASH radiotherapy for head and neck cancer, as well as MRI-Assisted Radiosurgery (MARS) as the next generation of prostate brachytherapy. Dr. Frank’s expertise in MRI radiotherapy has led to the development and FDA approval of multiple novel positive-contrast implantable markers for use in MRI-guided LDR and HDR prostate brachytherapy and external beam radiation therapy.
As founder of the company, C4 Imaging, Dr. Frank has developed the MRI marker technology at MD Anderson, has been granted 31 national and international patents, developed three FDA-approved products, and has established MRI-Assisted Radiosurgery (MARS) at MD Anderson for the treatment of prostate cancer. He has funding from the NIH, the Prostate Cancer Foundation, the Texas Ignition Fund, Hitachi, and MD Anderson, and he has also raised multiple rounds of private equity financing to advance C4 technology.
Dr. Frank has served as the past President and Chairman of the Board of the American Brachytherapy Society and is the 2023 recipient of the Ulrich Henschke Award, the highest honor awarded by the ABS to a practitioner of brachytherapy. Dr. Frank has served as the chair for the head and neck oral boards for the American Board of Radiology over the last six years and will join the Board of Trustees in October 2023. Dr. Frank is a fellow of the ABS, ACR, and ASTRO.
Prior to entering medicine, Dr. Frank served in the military as a U.S. Navy Diver and submarine officer on the fast attack nuclear submarine USS Batfish (SSN-681). He is married to Dr. Ivy Frank, a veterinarian, and his hobbies include golf, flying, and coaching softball for his four daughters.

Richard G. Stock, MD, is a Professor of Radiation Oncology and Director of Genitourinary Radiation Oncology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City. He has dedicated his career to delivering the highest quality care to patients using the most advanced technology available, including intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT), Novalis Shaped Beam Radiosurgery, real-time ultrasound guided prostate seed implants, and MammoSite, all of which allow him to meticulously target tumors while achieving maximal sparing of normal tissues.

Dr. Stock has served on the board of American College of Radiology Testing and the American Brachytherapy Society, where he is member at large, and as guest editor of a special Brachytherapy issue of Techniques in Urology. He has lectured and presented at dozens of meetings and symposiums across the country and internationally, including in New York, San Francisco, Chicago, Philadelphia, Boston, Spain, Holland, France, and Japan.

Dr. Stock completed his internship at Beth Israel Medical Center and his specialty training at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. He is listed in America's Top Doctors.

Nelson N. Stone, MD, is Professor of Urology, Radiation Oncology, and Oncological Sciences at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and chief medical officer at Viomerse, Inc.

Dr. Stone earned his medical degree from the University of Maryland in 1979. He completed a Residency in General Surgery in 1981 at the University of Maryland, followed by a Residency in Urology at the University of Maryland. He then completed a Fellowship in Urologic Oncology at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and a Research Fellowship in Biochemical Endocrinology at Rockefeller University in 1986. He was Chief of Urology at Elmhurst Hospital Queens from 1986-1996.

Dr. Stone has founded several medical companies and serves on the editorial board of many scientific journals. He is a member of many professional societies, including the Prostate Conditions Education Council, the Society for Minimally Invasive Therapy, the New York State Urological Society, the American Association of Clinical Urologists, and the American Urologic Association. Dr. Stone has participated in approximately 25 research studies on prostate cancer and has authored more than 500 articles, abstracts, and book chapters, primarily on prostate cancer. He invented the real-time technique for prostate brachytherapy in 1990 and has trained more than 5,000 physicians worldwide through his company ProSeed. His most recent company, Viomerse, creates synthetic body parts (phantoms) for surgical training and has recently released an extended reality remote training platform.

Juanita M. Crook, MD, FRCPC, completed her medical training at the University of Toronto and her Residency in Radiation Oncology at Princess Margaret Hospital. She is currently a Professor of Radiation Oncology at the University of British Columbia in Kelowna. She is a radiation oncologist at the BC Cancer Agency Sindi Ahluwalia Hawkins Centre for the Southern Interior, also in Kelowna, where she has developed image-guided HDR gynecologic brachytherapy, US-planned HDR prostate brachytherapy, and permanent seed brachytherapy for breast cancer.

Previously a Professor of Radiation Oncology at the University of Toronto/University Health Network and Associate Professor at the University of Ottawa, she has a particular interest in intermittent androgen suppression, post-radiation prostate biopsies, and penile brachytherapy. She has written more than 20 book chapters and over 200 journal articles and is a frequent speaker at international meetings where she presents in English, French, and Spanish. She was Scientific Chair of the 2007 American Brachytherapy Society meeting and frequently teaches at the ABS Prostate Brachytherapy School. She is the Former President of the Board of the American Brachytherapy Society and the recipient of the Thom Shanahan Distinguished Brachytherapy Educator Award.