ARLINGTON, Va., June 27, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) is pleased to announce the 2017 ASTRO Gold Medalists. Søren M. Bentzen, DSc, PhD; Louis B. Harrison, MD, FASTRO; and Michael L. Steinberg, MD, FASTRO, have been awarded the highest honor bestowed upon ASTRO members. They will be recognized for their achievements at an awards ceremony during ASTRO's 59th Annual Meeting in San Diego, taking place September 24–27, 2017.

ASTRO awards its annual Gold Medal to individuals who have made outstanding lifetime contributions in the field of radiation oncology, including achievements in clinical patient care, research, teaching and service to the profession. In the award's 41st consecutive year, the new awardees join an exclusive class of 81 Gold Medalists selected over the decades from the Society's more than 10,000 members.

"It is a privilege to bestow the ASTRO Gold Medal upon these three great men, who have all contributed to the specialty in a myriad of ways," said ASTRO Board of Directors Chair David C. Beyer, MD, FASTRO. "Honoring these colleagues is a highlight of my role as Board Chair, made even more so by the fact that they are selected for this highest accolade by their peers."
Søren M. Bentzen, DSc, PhD, is passionate about science and math. By the numbers, this passion has led to more than 400 published articles, around 1,400 scientific citations per year, more than 300 invited talks at international scientific meetings, 54 visiting professorships, 15 trial steering committee memberships and four clinical trial or research group chairmanships.

With stats like those, it's no wonder that his nominating letters for the ASTRO Gold Medal contained descriptions of Dr. Bentzen like, "leader in the field," "one of the top scientists" and "preeminent researcher in the world."

Dr. Bentzen is currently a professor and director of the Division of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics in the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore. He holds a secondary faculty appointment there as a professor of radiation oncology and is a member of the University of Maryland Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum Comprehensive Cancer Center, as well.

After earning his doctorate in medicine and medical physics from the University of Aarhus in Denmark, Dr. Bentzen was a visiting scientist at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center from 1987–1988. While in Houston, he studied under radiation oncology stalwarts, such as Howard Thames, PhD, FASTRO, Lester Peters, MD, FASTRO, and K. Kian Ang, MD, PhD, FASTRO, all ASTRO Gold Medalists themselves.

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