Interview: Combined-modality therapy in gastrointestinal cancers

Abstract

Charles Richard Thomas Jr speaks to Theo Bond, Assistant Commissioning Editor: Charles Richard Thomas Jr is Professor and chair of the Department of Radiation Medicine and Professor of Hematology/Oncology in the Department of Medicine at the Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU) in Portland (OR, USA). He is also an active member of the OHSU Knight Cancer Institute (OR, USA). Thomas has received triple-board certification in Radiation Oncology (American Board of Radiology), Medical Oncology and Internal Medicine (American Board of Internal Medicine). He is a member of the NCI Rectal Anal Cancer Task Force. He also has an interest in cancer disparities and was one of the editors for the special edition on cancer disparities published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology in 2006. He is also active in protocol development either as chair or co-chair within the US co-operative group mechanism, with a focus on novel therapeutic and translational clinical research on gastrointestinal and thoracic malignancies that have tested incorporation of novel antiproliferative systemic agents with radiotherapy. Currently, Thomas has served as the chair of the Radiation Oncology Committee of the American College of Surgeons Oncology Group (ACOSOG). He has served as editor-in-chief of Radiation Medicine Rounds (Demos Medical Publishing), as well as on the Editorial Boards of a number of peer-reviewed journals. Thomas has served as an oral and written examiner for the gastrointestinal section of The American Board of Radiology Certification Examination, as well as on multiple committees within the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), Radiological Society of North America (RSNA), American College of Radiology (ACR) and the American Society of Radiation Oncology (ASTRO). He is the author or co-author of over 145 journal articles and is a co-editor of multiple textbooks, including Mediastinal Tumors (1995), Biliary Tract & Gallbladder Cancers: Diagnosis and Therapy (2008) and Esophagus Cancers: Practice and Principles (2009). His passion resides with mentoring the best and brightest talent, especially individuals from historically under-represented populations, in order to further develop the pipeline of highly skilled oncologists.