UMMC Department of Radiation Oncology

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UMMC Department of Radiation Oncology

At UMMC, we aim to blend empathy with the latest scientific advancements to enhance patient outcomes and drive progress in cancer care.

07/31/2026

🎉 Congratulations to Lacey Weatherall, our lead radiation therapist, on being named CCRI’ Employee of the Month!
Lacey’s leadership, dedication and unwavering commitment have been instrumental as our team has navigated relocation, the installation of new treatment equipment, and many other important transitions. We are incredibly proud to have her leading our radiation therapy team. Please join us in celebrating this well-deserved recognition!
https://umc.edu/cancerinstitute/directors-cut-newsletter/2026/July-2026/Articles/Employee-of-the-month-July.html

07/29/2026

When someone is diagnosed with cancer, people often think first about the treatment itself.
But sometimes the hardest part is everything required just to get to treatment.
Imagine a patient who is already very sick in the hospital. Maybe they are in the ICU. Maybe they are weak, in pain, on oxygen, connected to monitors, or being cared for by multiple medical teams.
For that patient, a “quick trip” is not quick.
Moving from a hospital bed to a stretcher matters.
Transporting across the hospital matters.
Waiting matters.
Doing it more than once matters.
Traditionally, radiation therapy usually begins with a separate planning appointment called a simulation. For many patients, that step is essential.
But in carefully selected situations, advances in imaging, planning, and treatment technology allow us to ask a very patient-centered question:
Can we safely combine steps and spare the patient an extra trip?
At UMMC, our team has implemented simulation-free radiation treatment workflows for selected patients. This may allow some patients to move more directly toward treatment without a separate simulation appointment.
This is not a shortcut. It is not appropriate for every patient. Safety, accuracy, and physician judgment always come first.
But when it is appropriate, one less trip can mean less pain, less stress, less waiting, and faster care at a moment when every hour can feel heavy.
That is the kind of innovation that matters.
Not innovation for headlines.
Not technology for technology’s sake.
Innovation that makes care more thoughtful for the person in the bed.
At UMMC, our mission is A Healthier Mississippi.
Sometimes building the future means adding new capabilities.
Sometimes it means removing one unnecessary step for a patient who already has too many.

07/27/2026

Please join us in welcoming Dr. Hashir Rashad to the Department of Radiation Oncology at UMMC!
We're excited to welcome Dr. Rashad as the newest member of our Medical Physics team. His expertise will help strengthen our commitment to delivering safe, precise, and innovative radiation therapy for our patients.
Welcome to the team, Dr. Rashad! We're delighted to have you with us. 💙

07/22/2026

Congratulations to our Medical Physics research team!
We are proud to celebrate the presentation of our collaborative research at the 2026 Joint AAPM | COMP Annual Meeting & Exhibition in Vancouver, Canada. Presented by Li Yuan, this collaborative work between the UMMC Department of Radiation Oncology and Mississippi State University introduces an innovative AI framework designed to improve the detection of extranodal extension in head and neck cancer, advancing more accurate and clinically meaningful decision-making in radiation oncology.
Congratulations to Li, Neil Duggar, Haifeng Wang, and Amirhossein Eskorouchi on this outstanding collaboration and for representing our program on the international stage.

07/21/2026

Mississippians deserve the very best cancer care—especially when they are facing the very worst.
They should not have to leave our state to access world-class treatment, innovative research and hope. This campaign is an investment in our patients, our families and the future of cancer care in Mississippi.
This powerful video shares why the new CCRI facility is so urgently needed. It’s time to bring the cancer care Mississippians deserve closer to home for . It's about time!

07/20/2026

Proud to see Li Yuan representing the UMMC Department of Radiation Oncology at the Annual Meeting in Vancouver! 🇨🇦 From the Residency Fair to the latest innovations in medical physics, we're excited to be part of advancing the future of cancer care.

07/08/2026

Some cancer treatments are difficult not only because of the disease, but because of what patients must go through to receive them.
For certain patients preparing for stem cell or bone marrow transplant, radiation therapy to the whole body may be part of their treatment. This is called Total Body Irradiation, or TBI.
TBI has been used for many years, but it is one of the most complex treatments in radiation oncology. It requires careful planning, precise delivery, and close teamwork across many different specialties.
Our team at UMMC recently implemented a modern approach called VMAT Total Body Irradiation.
We did not build this program in isolation. We studied the published work and experience of leading cancer centers, including Stanford Radiation Oncology and City of Hope, and adapted that knowledge to serve patients here in Mississippi.
That is how academic medicine should work: learn from others, build carefully, validate thoroughly, and bring advanced care closer to the people we serve.
For patients already going through an incredibly difficult journey, improvements in precision, workflow, comfort, and safety matter.
This kind of treatment does not happen because of one person or one machine. It takes physicians, radiation therapists, dosimetrists, medical physicists, nurses, transplant teams, administrators, and support staff working together with a shared purpose.
VMAT TBI remains relatively uncommon nationwide, and we are proud to bring this capability to patients here in Mississippi.
At UMMC, our mission is
This is one more way we are working to make that mission real.

07/06/2026

What looks like a simple 3D print is actually an important step toward more personalized cancer care. This timelapse shows our Medical Physics team producing a 3D-printed nose bolus - a custom device used to help deliver radiation treatment with greater precision. Before anything reaches a patient, every print undergoes careful quality assurance to verify that it matches the intended design exactly.
Innovation isn't just about new technology. It's about making treatments more accurate, more personalized, and better for the patients we serve every day.

07/02/2026

Cancer care is rarely one-size-fits-all.
Sometimes the challenge is not just treating the cancer — it is treating the cancer safely when it sits very close to an important organ.
Recently, our team cared for a patient whose lung tumor was touching the stomach, which was pushing into the chest due to a hiatal hernia. In a situation like that, delivering a strong tumor-fighting dose can be very difficult. If you push the dose too far, the stomach may be harmed. If you pull back too much, part of the tumor may not receive the treatment it needs.
This is where online adaptive radiation therapy can make a real difference.
With this technology, our team can evaluate the patient’s anatomy each day before treatment and adjust the plan when needed based on what we see that day. In this case, daily adaptation helped us improve treatment to the tumor while still protecting the stomach.
That is what makes this approach so meaningful. It is not about using technology for technology’s sake. It is about using every available tool to care for patients as safely and effectively as possible.
Behind every adaptive treatment is a team effort. Physicians, radiation therapists, dosimetrists, medical physicists, nurses, and many others work together in real time to make these treatments possible.
We are proud to offer online adaptive radiation therapy here in Mississippi because our patients deserve access to advanced cancer care close to home.
At UMMC, our mission is simple: A Healthier Mississippi.
This is one example of what that mission looks like in practice.

07/01/2026

Today, we welcomed Dr. Nayan Agarwal (right) to our Radiation Oncology Residency and Prakash Pandey (left) to our Medical Physics Residency! We're thrilled to have them join the UMMC Radiation Oncology team and are confident they'll radiate excellence. Here's to a radiant 2026–2027 academic year!

Address

2500 N. State Street
Jackson, MS
39216

Website

http://umc.edu/radonc

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