ASTRO Selects Pediatric Oncologist As 2008 Honorary Member

Main Category: Pediatrics / Children's Health
Also Included In: Cancer / Oncology
Article Date: 29 Aug 2008 - 0:00 PST

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The American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology has selected renowned pediatric oncologist Audrey Evans, M.D., as its 2008 honorary member. Dr. Evans will be recognized during the Awards Ceremony held Tuesday, September 23, at 10:00 a.m. during ASTRO's 50th Annual Meeting in Boston.

Dr. Evans has been on the forefront of the treatment and study of childhood cancer for decades. She was one of the co-founders of the original Ronald McDonald House, which opened in Philadelphia in 1974 and expanded into Ronald McDonald House Charities in 1984 and the Ronald McDonald Camp in 1987. She also developed the Evans Staging System for neuroblastoma and instituted and chaired the initial meetings of the Advances in Neuroblastoma Research Conference, which began in 1975 and continue to this day.

Over the course of her career, Dr. Evans has been awarded the Janeway Award from the American Radium Society, the American Society of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Distinguished Career Award, the American Red Cross Spectrum Award, the Alpha Delta Kappa International Woman of the Year Award and the University of Pennsylvania Osler Award, among many other awards. She also has co-authored approximately 250 papers in peer-reviewed literature.

"Dr. Evans is truly a pioneer in the field of pediatric oncology and in patient care," Louis B. Harrison, M.D., chair of ASTRO's Board of Directors and a radiation oncologist at Beth Israel Medical Center in New York, said. "ASTRO is honored to be able to extend an honorary membership to her in recognition of her admirable career and the contributions she has made to cancer patients and the field of oncology."

Dr. Evans attended medical school at the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons in Edinburgh, UK, and came to the United States in 1953 as a Fulbright Fellow at the Boston Children's Hospital. She became the head of the pediatric hematology-oncology unit at the University of Chicago clinics in 1964 and director of the Children's Cancer Center at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia in 1968.

From 1969-1989, Dr. Evans served as the chair of the Division of Oncology at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and was appointed a professor of pediatrics at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in Philadelphia in 1972.

ASTRO Honorary Membership is the highest honor the Society bestows on distinguished cancer researchers and leaders in disciplines other than radiation oncology, radiation physics or radiobiology.

For more information on ASTRO's 50th Annual Meeting in Boston, visit http://www.astro.org/Meetings/AnnualMeetings/. To learn more about radiation therapy treatment options, visit http://www.rtanswers.org.

ASTRO is the largest radiation oncology society in the world, with more than 9,000 members who specialize in treating patients with radiation therapies. As the leading organization in radiation oncology, biology and physics, the Society is dedicated to improving patient care through education, clinical practice, advancement of science and advocacy.

American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology