Perhaps it is because Arno J. Mundt, MD, is an internationally recognized academic radiation oncologist with Moores Cancer Center at University of California, San Diego Health System or maybe it is his volunteerism in faraway places like Senegal, West Africa that led his peers to select him as the president of the American College of Radiation Oncology (ACRO).
In either case, Mundt, professor and chair of the UC San Diego School of Medicine’s Department of Radiation Medicine and Applied Sciences, was inaugurated as the president of ACRO at the organization’s 2013 annual meeting held in February.
“I look forward to representing both academic and private radiation oncologists and working to further advance the field of radiation oncology here in the United States and abroad,” said Mundt.
ACRO is a professional medical society founded in 1990 and comprised of approximately 1,000 practicing radiation oncologists and residents in training nationally. As president, Mundt will oversee the board of chancellors and will serve as the chief executive officer of the organization for the next two years.
With a visit to Senegal in December 2012, Mundt has already been leading by example. ACRO’s mission is to ensure the highest quality care for radiation therapy patients and promote success in the practice of radiation oncology through education, responsible socioeconomic advocacy, and integration of science and technology into clinical practice.
Mundt, who has been named a Top Doctor by US News & World Report and San Diego Magazine, led a team of eight radiation oncologists, one gynecologist, three physicists, therapists and volunteers as part of a project sponsored by the not-for-profit charity Radiating Hope. Senegal is home to only one radiation oncology center that serves 13 million people, including patients from multiple neighboring countries. The team brought with it Senegal’s first modern high dose rate brachytherapy machine which will allow doctors to better treat cervical cancer and many other malignancies.
After graduating from Stanford University with a degree in philosophy, and medical school at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Mundt did his radiation oncology residency at the University of Chicago. Since then, he has put into good practice his study of eight languages. Mundt has been invited to speak at more than 150 seminars, symposia and workshops in such places as Brazil, Chile, China, Japan, Taiwan and England. He has published more than 150 journal articles, book chapters and reviews and has edited three textbooks, including two devoted to novel radiation technologies.
Related Specialties
Radiation Oncology