"Coming to Moffitt was a big decision for me. I think Moffitt is a great place to collaborate with outstanding multidisciplinary colleagues and pursue team science," said Dr. Harrison. "That's an integral step to fulfill our dream of developing personalized radiation therapy."

Michael L. Steinberg, MD, FASTRO, is driven by his professional commitment to provide excellence in patient care through his expertise in health policy, and he has worked tirelessly in service to the specialty of radiation oncology as an advocate and leader.


"I am grateful and humbled to receive this recognition from my peers," Steinberg said. "For me, this award celebrates the incredible advances we have achieved in radiation oncology and cancer treatment, but also underscores the continued need to combine clinical research with effective health policy to best provide our patients with state-of-the-art care."

Following his graduation from the University of Southern California School of Medicine, Dr. Steinberg completed a postgraduate year in surgery at LAC+USC Medical Center, before entering the radiation oncology residency and fellowship program at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA).

"Early in my medical training, I found that I was most comfortable taking care of patients with the most significant and severe health problems," Dr. Steinberg said of his decision to specialize in radiation oncology. "I quickly learned that cancer patients are among the most heroic patients one can see in the practice of medicine."

In the early years of his private medical practice, Dr. Steinberg developed an expertise in health care economics and health policy through teaching and working in health services research at UCLA and the Rand Corporation. Dr. Steinberg was tapped to serve as a representative to the Relative Value Update Committee (RUC) for ASTRO from 1997–2002 and as the radiation oncology representative to the CPT Editorial Committee from 2002–2010. As one of his nominating letters put it, "There is a debt owed to Dr. Steinberg by all radiation oncologists for the many tireless years of work he put in to the CPT Panel, due to his deep understanding of complex health care and reimbursement issues."

Dr. Steinberg understood and foresaw the increasing demands of managing health care economic issues for the specialty of radiation oncology. "This is not just about billing, this is also about access to radiation oncology care and the quality of that care," Dr. Steinberg would say. In 2002, the Health Policy Council was formed as part of the reorganization of ASTRO governance. Dr. Steinberg was subsequently elected to the ASTRO Board of Directors as the inaugural Chair of the Health Policy Council, from 2003–2007.

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