Radiation oncologist and proton therapy expert Oren Cahlon has been named associate deputy physician-in-chief for the Memorial Sloan Kettering Regional Care Network, which includes a site on Westchester Avenue in West Harrison.
Cahlon, who will retain his role as vice chair of the Department of Radiation Oncology, will help oversee the network”™s outpatient clinical programs at sites in New York and New Jersey. In 2017, the sites collectively tracked more than 196,000 outpatient visits. Construction of a 140,000-square-foot MSK Nassau facility is underway in Uniondale, Long Island. It is expected to open in the spring.
“We are very fortunate to have Dr. Cahlon, with his enormous skill as a physician and his extensive experience in developing strong relationships with community partners, stepping into this leadership position,” said Lisa DeAngelis, Memorial Sloan Kettering”™s acting physician-in-chief. “We look forward to seeing all that he accomplishes in collaboration with his clinical and administrative partners.”
In his new role, Cahlon will be responsible for building new and maintaining current relationships with local health care providers, including multispecialty groups, so that patients have ready access to nononcologic care in their communities. He will help with ongoing programming, such as continuing medical education courses for local health care professionals, preventive screenings for the community at large and other oncology-focused public events.
“MSK”™s regional network is one of the most integrated and expansive outpatient cancer treatment networks in the country, and I hope to continue to expand on the many successes the team has experienced thus far,” Cahlon said. “This includes developing additional partnerships with specialized care providers, expanding our clinical trial portfolio, and introducing other patient care services to the sites.”
An internationally recognized leader in proton therapy, Cahlon has “produced groundbreaking work on the use of proton therapy in treating breast cancer, including its effectiveness at reducing cardiac toxicity in breast cancer survivors,” according to a statement. He serves as the national co-principal investigator of a phase III randomized trial investigating the role of proton therapy for nonmetastatic breast cancer.
In 2013, Cahlon was medical director of the ProCure Proton Therapy Center in Somerset, New Jersey.
