During its recent Annual Meeting, the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) honored the recipients of its 2025 Gold Medal awards and other prestigious distinctions. Here, The ASCO Post celebrates the achievements of these leading radiation oncology experts.
Gold Medal
The Gold Medal is ASTRO’s highest honor, presented each year to members of the organization whose lifetime achievements have advanced radiation oncology in areas such as clinical patient care, research, teaching, and service. This year, four individuals received the prestigious distinction.
David Beyer, MD, FACR, FASTRO, a board-certified radiation oncologist at the Cancer Centers of Northern Arizona Healthcare, Sedona, often focuses on breast and prostate cancers and is honored with the Gold Medal for advancing brachytherapy in the latter malignancy. Additionally, he is credited with shaping national payment and policy decisions during his time as an ASTRO Chair. Being known for his commitment to both innovation and compassionate care, Dr. Beyer shared this comment on his institutional profile: “Every day is a new challenge and a chance to learn more about my specialty, more about my colleagues, and more about my patients.”
David Beyer, MD, FACR, FASTRO
Quynh-Thu Le, MD, FACR, FASTRO
Lawrence Marks, MD, FASTRO
Recognized as a head and neck oncology authority and NRG Oncology leader who has driven national clinical trials and translational research to personalize therapy and reduce treatment side effects, Gold Medalist Quynh-Thu Le, MD, FACR, FASTRO, also brings a remarkable personal story to her work. Having fled war-torn Vietnam and inspired by her father, a urologist, she chose a career in medicine to make a difference. Dr. Le is now the Katharine Dexter McCormick and Stanley McCormick Memorial Professor and Chair of Radiation Oncology at Stanford University, California, and Co-Director of the Radiation Biology Program at the Stanford Cancer Institute. She told ASTRO: “The Gold Medal serves as a motivation to continue pushing the boundaries of innovation to support our cancer patients and to inspire the next generation of radiation oncologists to strive for excellence in their work.”
Engineer-physician Lawrence Marks, MD, FASTRO, the Sidney K. Simon Distinguished Professor of Oncology Research at the University of North Carolina (UNC) School of Medicine in Chapel Hill, noted on his institutional profile that he is “interested in…methods to understand (and prevent) radiation-associated normal tissue injury.” This focus, along with his leadership in developing national radiation dose–tolerance guidelines and advancing safety and quality in clinical care, reflects the work for which he is being recognized with the Gold Medal. During his tenure at UNC, Dr. Marks spearheaded the creation of the Division of Healthcare Engineering and led the Department of Radiation Oncology through a period of significant growth and innovation.
Jatinder Palta, PhD, FAAPM, FASTRO, FACR
As a recipient of several awards from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in medical informatics and optimization research, medical physicist Jatinder Palta, PhD, FAAPM, FASTRO, FACR, National Chief of Physics for the National Radiation Oncology Program of the Veterans Health Administration and Professor Emeritus at Virginia Commonwealth University, now adds the Gold Medal to his collection of accolades. He has served on the NIH study section and the Boards of both the American Association of Physicists in Medicine and ASTRO, and his current recognition by ASTRO honors his development and implementation of programs that ensure a safe and effective radiation oncology practice and his efforts to advance radiosurgery and other innovative treatments into clinical practice.
Other Awards
W. Archie Bleyer, MD, from Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, was named ASTRO’s 2025 Honorary Member. This distinction represents the organization’s highest recognition for those outside radiation oncology, radiobiology, and medical physics who have contributed to advancing the specialty.
W. Archie Bleyer, MD
Iris Gibbs, MD, FACR, FASTRO
Helen Shih, MD, MS, MPH, FASTRO
The 2025 Mentorship Award was presented to Iris Gibbs, MD, FACR, FASTRO, of Stanford Medicine, California; Helen Shih, MD, MS, MPH, FASTRO, of Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston; and Joachim Yahalom, MD, FACR, FASTRO, of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.
