ROI will kick-off 2025 with new Board leaders
On January 1, Gita Suneja, MD, MSHP, will begin her new role as President of the Board of Trustees of the Radiation Oncology Institute (ROI) – the ASTRO Foundation. Together she will lead with Jason Efstathiou, MD, DPhil, FASTRO, who was recently elected to be Vice-president. In 2025, the Board will grow to thirteen members when ROI welcomes Fumiko Chino, MD, as a new Trustee.
Dr. Suneja has served as Vice-president of the ROI Board since 2022 and was Chair of the ROI Research Committee for the preceding four years. She is a Professor of Radiation Oncology at the University of Utah School of Medicine and an Investigator and Senior Director at the Huntsman Cancer Institute. Her research focuses on utilizing advanced health services research methods to enhance health equity and cancer outcomes and is supported by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and a variety of other funders.
Dr. Efstathiou was first elected as an ROI Trustee in 2021 and has served on several ROI committees over the past decade. He is a Professor of Radiation Oncology at Harvard Medical School, Vice-chair of Faculty and Academic Affairs and Director of the Genitourinary (GU) Division in the Department of Radiation Oncology and Clinical Co-director of the Claire and John Bertucci Center for GU Cancers at Massachusetts General Hospital. He has received grants from NCI and other funders to advance his research that addresses organ preservation for bladder cancer and emerging therapies for prostate cancer.
Dr. Chino was the recipient of an ROI Innovative Projects in Radiation Oncology grant in 2018 and has been an active member of the ROI Development Committee since 2020. She is an Assistant Professor of Radiation Oncology at MD Anderson Cancer Center. Her research is focused on the financial toxicity of cancer care, health care disparities and access, patient reported outcomes, shared decision making, survivorship and end-of-life care, and she has received research support from the National Institutes of Health and the Chanel Foundation in addition to ROI.
ROI is grateful to outgoing President of the Board of Trustees, Colleen A. F. Lawton, MD, FASTRO, who has been a passionate leader and generous supporter of the organization since its founding. Dr. Lawton will remain on the ROI Board as Immediate Past President. She is Professor Emerita of Radiation Oncology at the Medical College of Wisconsin and her research on prostate cancer and other GU malignancies resulted in hundreds of manuscripts, abstracts, and other publications.
Founded in 2006 by the American Society for Radiation Oncology, ROI is a 501(c)(3) public charity that is accelerating bold and innovative ideas in radiation therapy. ROI has invested $4.7 million in ground-breaking research to support the best and brightest investigators and advance radiation oncology. Join ROI in celebrating the new Board leadership who will build on the foundation’s successes to realize a future in which every person has access to the best radiation therapy to live a longer, healthier life.
