UMMC Department of Radiation Oncology

08/31/2026

Last week, we highlighted the value of collaboration between Radiation Oncology and Radiology. This week, that same spirit of interdisciplinary learning continued as we welcomed Ms. Tammy Wigginton from UMMC Speech-Language Pathology and Otolaryngology –Head and Neck Surgery, UMMC Ear, Nose and Throat for an educational session on the important role of speech pathology in head and neck cancer care.
For patients with head and neck cancer, treatment is truly multidisciplinary. Speech pathologists play an essential role in helping patients preserve and recover critical functions such as swallowing, communication, and quality of life throughout and after treatment.
Bringing our specialties together not only strengthens patient care, but it also gives our residents, fellows, physicians, and staff the opportunity to learn from one another and better understand the full patient journey.
We are excited to continue creating opportunities for our departments and programs to learn together, share expertise, and elevate one another.

08/28/2026

This October, UMMC will break ground on a new 250,000-square-foot Cancer Center designed around a multidisciplinary model of cancer care. But in many ways, we started building it years ago.
Not with concrete. With collaboration. Since 2021, our Radiation Oncology team has worked closely with our colleagues in Radiology to provide MRI-guided brachytherapy for women with cervical cancer. Why does that matter?
Brachytherapy allows us to deliver a very high dose of radiation directly to a cervical tumor while protecting nearby organs such as the bladder, re**um, and bowel. MRI gives us an exceptionally detailed view of the tumor and surrounding anatomy, allowing us to individualize treatment to the patient in front of us. Large international efforts such as EMBRACE have demonstrated the importance of modern MRI-guided adaptive brachytherapy. Yet access remains a challenge. Recent American Brachytherapy Society data show that MRI is still not routinely incorporated into cervical brachytherapy everywhere, with MRI availability around the time of the procedure remaining one of the biggest barriers.
At UMMC, that barrier has not stopped us.
Why?
Because our colleagues in Radiology said yes.
Yes to finding MRI time for a complicated procedure.
Yes to coordinating technologists, physicians, nurses, physicists, therapists, and schedules.
Yes to crossing departmental lines when doing so could improve care for a patient.
That is what multidisciplinary cancer care looks like.
Our new Cancer Center will give that model an extraordinary new home. But putting different specialties in the same building does not create collaboration.
People do.
Relationships do.
Teams willing to work together around the needs of a patient do.
We will break ground on the building in October.
In many ways, we started building the Cancer Center years ago.
And that is how we will continue building A Healthier Mississippi.

08/21/2026

Celebrating the people who keep GME moving forward. Special thanks to our very own Office of Graduate Medical Education for their guidance, partnership, and unwavering support. They make our residency and fellowship programs stronger every day.

08/19/2026

A little magic happens behind every great treatment plan. Today, we're celebrating Aabroo Sohail and Brent Eske on National Medical Dosimetrist's Day!

08/14/2026

We're excited to see this important investment in cancer research at UMMC. This grant will help modernize 14,000 square feet of research space, strengthening the infrastructure needed to advance cancer research and support UMMC’s long-term pursuit of National Cancer Institute designation.
As part of the UMMC Cancer Center and Research Institute, our Department of Radiation Oncology is proud to support a shared mission of advancing cancer care, research and innovation for patients across Mississippi for .

HYDE-SMITH, GUEST ANNOUNCE $2.4 MILLION GRANT LINKED TO UMMC CANCER CENTER

Miss. Lawmakers Secured NIST Funding in FY2026 Appropriations to Renovate & Equip Research Space

U.S. Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.) and U.S. Representative Michael Guest (R-Miss.) have announced the award of a $2.4 million federal grant to rehabilitate research space at the University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC) as part of the research hospital’s long-term goal of being designated a National Cancer Institute (NCI).

Hyde-Smith and Guest, who serve on the Senate and House Appropriations Committees, respectively, secured the FY2026 funding through the National Institute of Standards and Technology, an agency within the U.S. Department of Commerce. The funding will be used to support the renovation and equipping of approximately 14,000 square feet of space in the UMMC Research Wing.

“Upgrading this space at UMMC is just one more step toward creating a facility that will draw more cancer researchers to our state,” said Hyde-Smith. "The world-class work done there, along with the planned UMMC Cancer Center and Research Institute, is part of our goal to get that critical NCI designation, and I’m pleased to help reach these worthy goals."

“The University of Mississippi Medical Center has been a national leader in medicine since it hosted the first heart transplant in 1964,” said Guest. "Now, UMMC is taking a critical step in attaining its federal designation as a National Cancer Institute. I am proud to serve UMMC through my work in Congress and will continue to support the institution’s legacy of excellence and its efforts to supercharge cancer research, deliver better health outcomes, and ultimately find a cure."

The project will update research space that has not been renovated in nearly 30 years. The planned improvements will help expand and modernize the UMMC cancer research program.

Currently, there is no NCI-designated cancer center in Mississippi, Louisiana, or Arkansas, which often requires patients in these states to travel significant distances for advanced cancer care.

08/13/2026

Collaboration was at the center of today's SRS educational session, bringing together colleagues from Medical Physics, UMMC Department of Neurosurgery, and Dosimetry. Special thanks to Brainlab for facilitating such an informative presentation and insightful discussion about the continued development of our SRS program. Also, thanks to everyone who participated. Opportunities like this allow us to learn together, strengthen interdisciplinary relationships, and continue to build our radiosurgery program with our patients at the center.

08/07/2026

For a patient receiving cancer treatment, distance is never just mileage. It can mean gas money, missing work, arranging childcare, time away from family, and a long drive home after an exhausting day of treatment.
That is why what is happening in Greenwood matters.
After years of uncertainty surrounding Greenwood Leflore Hospital, a new chapter has begun with UMMC Greenwood. Our Radiation Oncology team is expanding its support to the Greenwood cancer center so that patients in the Mississippi Delta can continue receiving essential cancer care closer to home.
This is not simply a story about one health system assuming responsibility for another facility.
It is a story about preserving something precious: access.
It is also a story about the physicians, radiation therapists, nurses, dosimetrists, physicists and staff members in Greenwood who continued caring for patients through an extraordinarily difficult period. Their commitment created the foundation for what comes next.
Our responsibility is to listen, support that local team, strengthen the services already present and connect Greenwood patients with the expertise and resources of Mississippi’s academic medical center.
We are building a destination cancer center for our state—but our vision cannot stop in Jackson. Building the future of cancer care in Mississippi also means strengthening care in the communities where Mississippians live.
We hope you and your family never need radiation therapy.
But if you do, where you live should not make a difficult diagnosis even harder.
This is what “A Healthier Mississippi” means to us: preserving care, expanding access and showing up for every part of our state.

We are grateful to serve Greenwood and the Mississippi Delta.

07/31/2026

🎉 Congratulations to Lacey Weatherall, our lead radiation therapist, on being named CCRI’ Employee of the Month!
Lacey’s leadership, dedication and unwavering commitment have been instrumental as our team has navigated relocation, the installation of new treatment equipment, and many other important transitions. We are incredibly proud to have her leading our radiation therapy team. Please join us in celebrating this well-deserved recognition!
https://umc.edu/cancerinstitute/directors-cut-newsletter/2026/July-2026/Articles/Employee-of-the-month-July.html

07/29/2026

When someone is diagnosed with cancer, people often think first about the treatment itself.
But sometimes the hardest part is everything required just to get to treatment.
Imagine a patient who is already very sick in the hospital. Maybe they are in the ICU. Maybe they are weak, in pain, on oxygen, connected to monitors, or being cared for by multiple medical teams.
For that patient, a “quick trip” is not quick.
Moving from a hospital bed to a stretcher matters.
Transporting across the hospital matters.
Waiting matters.
Doing it more than once matters.
Traditionally, radiation therapy usually begins with a separate planning appointment called a simulation. For many patients, that step is essential.
But in carefully selected situations, advances in imaging, planning, and treatment technology allow us to ask a very patient-centered question:
Can we safely combine steps and spare the patient an extra trip?
At UMMC, our team has implemented simulation-free radiation treatment workflows for selected patients. This may allow some patients to move more directly toward treatment without a separate simulation appointment.
This is not a shortcut. It is not appropriate for every patient. Safety, accuracy, and physician judgment always come first.
But when it is appropriate, one less trip can mean less pain, less stress, less waiting, and faster care at a moment when every hour can feel heavy.
That is the kind of innovation that matters.
Not innovation for headlines.
Not technology for technology’s sake.
Innovation that makes care more thoughtful for the person in the bed.
At UMMC, our mission is A Healthier Mississippi.
Sometimes building the future means adding new capabilities.
Sometimes it means removing one unnecessary step for a patient who already has too many.

07/27/2026

Please join us in welcoming Dr. Hashir Rashad to the Department of Radiation Oncology at UMMC!
We're excited to welcome Dr. Rashad as the newest member of our Medical Physics team. His expertise will help strengthen our commitment to delivering safe, precise, and innovative radiation therapy for our patients.
Welcome to the team, Dr. Rashad! We're delighted to have you with us. 💙