ESTRO Honorary Members

About the Award: Honorary Membership is awarded to people having made an outstanding scientific contribution in the field of oncology and to the achievement of the goals of the Society – particularly in the field of interdisciplinary or international cooperation. Nominees are located worldwide. The award is granted to specialists from other disciplines as well as professionals in radiation oncology in recognition of their dedication to fostering international co-operation.

Recipient: Bruce Minsky

Bruce Minsky is Professor and Deputy Head of Division of Radiation Oncology at MD Anderson Cancer Centre, Director of Clinical Research for Department of Radiation Oncology, and an active clinician and clinical research investigator on Gastrointestinal Cancer multidisciplinary team.

He received his medical degree from Massachusetts University in 1982 and completed his residency in radiation therapy at Harvard Joint Centre for Radiation Therapy.

After his residency in 1986, he spent the first 20 years of his career at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Centre as a highly respected and outstanding clinician and clinical research investigator in Gastrointestinal Cancer.  He was  also Vice Chair of Radiation Oncology from 2000-2007 and, Professor of Radiation Oncology, Cornell University, 1999.  In 2004, he received a medical degree honoris causa from Friedrich Alexander University, in recognition of his work on gastrointestinal cancers.  He also received the 2008 MSKCC Distinguished Alumni Award. 

From 2007-2012 he served as Professor of Radiation and Cellular Oncology and Associate Dean, Biological Sciences Division, Chicago University, and received the 2009 AARO Educator award.  He is an editorial board member of several journals and has served on the board of directors of both ASTRO and ASCO. He has published extensively on Gastrointestinal Cancer.

Recipient: Robert Hermans

Dr Robert Hermans studied medicine at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (KUL), Belgium. He trained in several hospitals in Belgium and South Africa and was promoted with distinction to M.D. in 1987.
He entered the radiology training programme at the University Hospitals of Leuven, and became a certified radiologist in 1991, and wasemployed at the Department of Radiology in 1992. His primary interest is head and neck (H&N) radiology.

In 1998, he obtained a PhD in medical sciences on laryngeal cancer imaging, at the KUL, where he was appointed assistant professor in 1998, and full professor in 2004, in the faculty of Medicine.
Dr  Hermans is member of several scientific societies, and served as President of the International Cancer Imaging Society, and currently at the Royal Belgian Society of Radiology. He is editor-in-chief of Insights into Imaging, the official journal of the European Society of Radiology. He has authored about 180 articles and 40 book chapters, mainly on H&N imaging and edited four books.

Dr Hermans is an honorary member of the Radiological Society of South Africa and an honorary fellow of the Faculty of Radiologists of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland.

Recipient: Rethy Kieth Chhem

Professor Rethy Chhem is Director of Human Health Division IAEA since November 2008. He serves on the IAEA/WHO Steering Committee Cancer Control joint programme and represents IAEA at the UN Scientific Committee on Atomic Radiation Effects.

He holds an MD from Paris VI University  and PhDs in Education, and History from Montreal University. He was Professor of Radiology at universities Sherbrooke, McGill, Singapore National and Western Ontario. He was Head Radiology Department, London Health Science Centre and Chairman Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Western University Ontario 2003-2008. He has served on Canada Medical Council and is member of Canada Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons.

He is Founding Director Medical Education Unit at Singapore National University; Founding President at Asia Pacific Association for PBL in Health Sciences, and International Society for Scholarship of Medical Imaging Education. He serves on the Board of Directors Centre Khmer Studies and is medical advisor to the Angkor Children Hospital’s Board of Directors. He is Founding President of History of Medicine Southeast Asia Society.
He is currently Adjunct Professor of History of Medicine at the Institute of History, Philosophy and Ethics of Medicine, Ulm University; and Visiting University Professor: Fukushima Medical, Hiroshima, and Institute Atomic Bomb Diseases Nagasaki. He has over 100 publications and book chapters, and has co-edited 12 books.

Recipient: Cornelis van de Velde

Cornelis van de Velde is currently Professor of Surgical Oncology and Coordinator of Oncology at Leiden University Medical Centre, The Netherlands.

He received a PhD in breast cancer in 1977, and trained  at Leiden University Medical Centre and M.D. Anderson Hospital, Houston, in surgery and surgical oncology. In 1985 he was visiting Professor at Seoul National University Hospital and the National Cancer Centre Hospital, Tokyo. He was Professor of Surgery at Leiden University Medical Center in 1988. In 1999 he became Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons (London) and the Royal College of Surgeons and Physicians (Glasgow). He is also a member and past Chairman of the Dutch Royal Academy of Sciences. He founded and was the first Chairman of the Dutch cancer groups: Colorectal, Gastric and Breast; he is a past President of European Society of Surgical Oncology and  is currently President of ECCO – the European CanCer Society (2012 – 2013).

Prof. Van de Velde has authored more than 750 publications and was supervisor of over 60 PhDs; coordinator of 14 projects at the Netherlands Cancer Foundation and six at the Health Insurance Fund; six breast and four colorectal European randomised cancer studies. He is currently focused on translational research on minimal residual disease and biomarkers determining prognosis, genomic and proteomic profiling of tumours.