Dr. Indra Das accepts his award from Dr. Raymond Wu at the American College of Medical Physics meeting

Indra J. Das, Ph.D., vice chair and professor director of medical physics in the Department of Radiation Oncology at the Indiana University School of Medicine and overseeing physics at Midwest Proton Radiotherapy Institute was named a fellow of the American College of Medical Physics (ACMP). Dr. Das also is a researcher within the Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Cancer Center.

Dr. Das, who is a fellow with four other medical societies, received this award at a May 4 meeting of ACMP in Virginia Beach, Va. ACMP is the only organization in the United States devoted exclusively to the professional activities of medical physicists. The group awards fellowships to members who are highly respected nationally for professional activities, and who have made an important impact upon professional matters, clinical practice or education.

“It was nostalgic for me to share this year’s fellowship awards with a renowned physicist and editor of the journal Medical Physics, William Hendee,” said Dr. Das. “To go from reading his textbook as a graduate student to sharing this honor with him is something I never would have imagined.”

Dr. Das, an internationally acclaimed medical physicist, scholar, author and lecturer, is responsible for the physics operations at MPRI, one of only five proton therapy centers in the country offering highly precise radiation treatment for cancer.

“I have worn every hat possible in medical physics, and now I want to focus my attention on proton beam therapy research,” said Das. “I am very optimistic that proton therapy will change the future of cancer patient care in this country. I want to show the world that proton therapy is an effective means of treating patients while minimizing side effects.”

Before joining the IU School of Medicine in 2008, Dr. Das was chief of medical physics at the University of Pennsylvania Medical School in Philadelphia. He has worked in various capacities at the Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia, Pa., and the University of Massachusetts Medical Center in Worcester, Mass.

“It was a spectacular success to bring Dr. Das to Indiana from the University of Pennsylvania, and he made an impact immediately upon arriving,” said Dr. Peter Johnstone, president and chief executive officer of MPRI, and chair and William A. Mitchell professor of radiation oncology at the Indiana University School of Medicine.

A native of India, Dr. Das h as degrees from Gorakhpur University and Bombay University, as well as the University of Wisconsin – Madison and the University of Minnesota – Minneapolis. He has focused his research, which includes more than 225 abstracts, 120 peer-review papers and 10 book chapters, on the impact of imaging in radiation oncology.