2025 Educational Series: STEM Careers in Radiation Oncology

Over half of all cancer patients receive some form of radiation therapy as part of their care. In this context, the department of Radiation Oncology at Stanford University has a long history of developing cutting-edge technologies that meaningfully improve the treatment of these devastating cancers. In this overview, members of our program will showcase different the different career options available in Radiation Oncology. 

In our department, interdisciplinary teams of oncologists, physicists, researchers, dosimetrists, nurses, and radiation therapists work together to plan and deliver optimal radiation treatments that target the tumor while sparing the surrounding normal tissues. Radiation therapy involves advanced technologies and requires STEM skills including physics, engineering, math, and biology. 

As an academic program, the department also trains new professionals through residency programs in Radiation Therapy and Medical Physics, and through a graduate PhD program in biomedical physics.

This presentation will be of interest to undergraduate students considering careers in the healthcare, biomedical research, or biomedical physics and engineering. Students from community colleges in the Bay Area and beyond are especially welcome to attend. Our panel of experts will be available at the end of the presentation for any questions you may have regarding radiation oncology.

ABOUT THE SPEAKERS

Guillem Pratx, PhD

Associate Professor, Host

Department of Radiation Oncology, Division of Medical Physics

Guillem Pratx, PhD is an Associate Professor of Radiation Oncology and Medical Physics at Stanford University. Originally from the south of France, he studied engineering at Ecole Centrale Paris, and then went on to get a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University, during which time he developed several innovative instruments and algorithms for in vivo cancer imaging. The Physical Oncology Laboratory, which he leads, investigates how novel physical approaches can solve longstanding problems in oncology. For instance, they use single-cell radionuclide imaging to measure the uptake of clinical PET tracers in heterogeneous cell populations and, in this way, derive a new interpretation of PET scans that accounts for factors such as cell diversity, microenvironmental factors and cell metabolism. Other areas of investigation include methods and probes for in vivo cell tracking and physical models of radiation therapy. Prof. Pratx was named a Damon Runyon Innovator and a Society of Nuclear Medicine Young Investigator. He has published over 90 papers and been principal investigator on grants from the NIH, DoD and CIRM.

Richard Frock, PhD

Assistant Professor, 

Radiation Oncology, Division of Cancer Biology

Dr. Richard Frock is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Radiation Oncology, Division of Radiation and Cancer Biology at Stanford University.  He received his B.A. in Biochemistry at Vassar College and Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the University of Washington studying A-type nuclear laminopathies in striated muscle and lymphocyte development.  Richard then completed his postdoctoral training at Harvard Medical School and Boston Children’s Hospital where he made seminal contributions to the development (HTGTS) and improvement (LAM-HTGTS) of a high-throughput chromosome translocation sequencing technology, which has been used extensively to locate recurrent and widespread DNA double-stranded breaks (DSBs) genome-wide in developing lymphocytes and cancer cells and to reveal the collateral damage associated with using engineered endonucleases for genome editing. His group is continuing to evolve this technology, most recently described as reJoin and Translocation sequencing (HTGTS-JoinT-seq), to aid in developing novel therapeutics and to further reveal the underlying biological responses to various sources of DNA damage.  

Dr. Frock is a member of the Stanford Cancer Institute (SCI), Maternal and Childhood Health Research Institute(MCHRI), and the Stanford Bio-X Initiative. He is the recipient of the 1st Annual Career Development Award from the Radiation Research Foundation, a V Scholar for the V Foundation for Cancer Research and is an American Cancer Society Research Scholar.

Alireza Ghiam, MD

Radiation Oncologist

Stanford University, Department of Radiation Oncology

Dr. Ghiam is an American and Canadian Board-Certified Radiation Oncologist with the Stanford Medicine Cancer Center and a Clinical Associate Professor in the Department of Radiation Oncology at Stanford University School of Medicine. After completing an MSc in Molecular Biology & Genetics at the University of Montreal, he completed a residency in Radiation Oncology and fellowship in Head & Neck and GU radiation oncology at the University of Toronto.

He diagnoses and treats various conditions specializing in head & neck cancer, genitourinary malignancies, and metastatic disease. His treatment expertise includes oligometastatic disease, palliative radiation therapy, stereotactic ablative radiotherapy, and proton therapy.

Dr. Ghiam has contributed to the field through his authorship of technology- and biology-based publications and collaboration in clinical trials. He has been recognized by awards from the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO), the Canadian Association of Radiation Oncology (CARO), and the Universities of Toronto and Pennsylvania. In recognition of his educational work, he received two prestigious teaching awards for teaching residents and medical students. He has presented his research work nationally and internationally and authored and co-authored several papers.

Dr. Ghiam's interest lies in exploring novel AI-powered technologies that can enhance patient outcomes, and bridge health equity gaps in radiation oncology. He is also interested in clinical trials of innovative radiation therapy techniques with a focus on leveraging technology and biology to reduce toxicity and increase precision.

Dr. Ghiam is dedicated to academia, education, and diversity. He is committed to improving patient outcomes and changing the role of supportive care in radiation oncology by promoting quality standards and utilizing palliative radiotherapy to enhance the quality of life for his patients.

Dr. Ghiam practices evidence-based care with compassion and treats his patients as he would his own family.

Ramish Ashraf, PhD

Medical Physicist, Former Medical Physics Resident

Stanford University, Department of Radiation Oncology

Ramish Ashraf, PhD, received his B.Sc in Electrical Engineering from LUMS, Lahore, Pakistan, in 2017. That same year, he moved to Hanover, NH, to begin his PhD at Dartmouth College, focusing on optical imaging of Scintillation and Cherenkov for dosimetric and quality assurance purposes in the radiotherapy clinic. In 2021, he completed his PhD and moved to Stanford for his Medical Physics residency. During his residency, Ramish's research centered on bringing FLASH radiotherapy to the clinic. He recently started his Assistant Clinical Professor position at the Stanford Cancer Center.  His career goal is to use the skills gained from his graduate research and residency training to advance cancer research and make cancer treatments more accessible.

Joshua Langer, RTT

Medical Dosimetrist in Training

Department of Radiation Oncology

Joshua’s passion for science and anatomy, combined with a calling to positively affect human suffering, inspired him to get a Bachelor’s degree in Radiation Therapy. Radiation Therapists are radiologic technologists who administer radiation treatments to patients as prescribed by Radiation Oncologists, specialist physicians who treat cancers. Because radiation treatments are typically administered over several sessions, this results in the very rewarding work of helping to cure patients of cancer or to palliate their cancer symptoms.

After working 16 years in the field, including seven at Stanford Health Care, Joshua is studying for a master’s degree in Medical Dosimetry. Medical Dosimetrists develop individualized radiation treatment plans that will eradicate the tumor cells while sparing the healthy tissues of the body. The plans are created using special computer software programs, where the tumor disease and bodily organs are viewed in 3D. The Dosimetrist and Radiation Oncologist work together to model an optimized radiation dose plan using established techniques, clinical experience, and collaborative creativity. organs are viewed in 3D. Using the technology and the Dosimetrist creativity an optimal radiation treatment plan is created.