Thomas E. Merchant DO, PhD is the Baddia J. Rashid Endowed Chair of Radiation Oncology at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee where he has practiced for 25 years. Dr. Merchant’s prior training and experience as a nuclear engineer, researcher and radiation oncologist included the following institutions: French Atomic Energy Commission, Fontenay-aux-Roses, France; Departments of Pathology and Surgery, University of Utrecht, The Netherlands; Department of Radiation Oncology, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York, New York. He led the radiation oncology discipline committee in the Children's Oncology Group 2006-2015. His research has focused on application of advanced radiotherapy methods for children with central nervous system tumors. The results have provided the basis for the dose, volume and normal tissue tolerance guidelines used in many of the cooperative group brain tumor trials for children with medulloblastoma, ependymoma, low-grade glioma and craniopharyngioma. His pioneering work in ependymoma led to the frontline use of radiation therapy in children under the age of 3 years. Dr. Merchant led the development of the St. Jude Red Frog Events Proton Therapy Center. The world’s first proton therapy center dedicated solely to the treatment of children with cancer. He has published his work in several highly regarded oncology journals including Lancet Oncology, Journal of Clinical Oncology and the International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology and Physics.
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