Philadelphia, PA -- Q. Ed Zhang, Ph.D., has joined the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG) as a senior statistician in the group's Statistics and Data Management Center. Dr. Zhang's is the new leader for center's head and neck cancer and sarcoma research team. RTOG is a National Cancer Institute-funded national clinical trials group and is administered by the American College of Radiology.

Dr. Zhang holds a Ph.D. in biostatistics and a MPH in international and family health from the University of Texas at Houston School of Public Health as well as a MS in pathology and a BM in medicine from the China Medical University in the Peoples Republic of China. Prior to coming to RTOG Dr. Zhang was a faculty biostatistician in the Department of Pediatrics at George Washington University School of Medicine and a principal biostatistician at GlaxoSmithKline in King of Prussia, PA. Dr. Zhang assumed the responsibility for the head and neck cancer and sarcoma research team from Thomas F. Pajak, Ph.D., who will continue to work on special projects for RTOG on a part-time basis.

"I look forward to working with everyone in the team to best support our clinical research activities." said Dr. Zhang. "There are many exciting ongoing projects in development within the group that will make this position very interesting."
"Dr. Zhang is a welcome addition to our statistical staff," said Walter J. Curran, Jr., M.D., the RTOG Group Chair, and the Lawrence W. Davis Professor and Chair of the Department of Radiation Oncology in the Emory School of Medicine and Chief Medical Officer of the Emory Winship Cancer Institute. "His background and research interests fit in very well with the needs of our group and I know he will be an asset to the RTOG."

The Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG) is administered by the American College of Radiology (ACR), and located in the ACR Center for Clinical Research in Philadelphia, PA. RTOG is a multi-institutional international clinical cooperative group funded primarily by National Cancer Institute grants CA21661 and CA37422. RTOG has 40 years of experience in conducting clinical trials and is comprised of over 300 major research institutions in the United States, Canada, and internationally. The group currently is currently accruing to 40 studies that involve radiation therapy alone or in conjunction with surgery and/or chemotherapeutic drugs or which investigate quality of life issues and their effects on the cancer patient.

The American College of Radiology (ACR) is a national professional organization serving more than 32,000 radiologists, radiation oncologists, interventional radiologists and medical physicists with programs focusing on the practice of radiology and the delivery of comprehensive health care services.

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