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                        JeffNEWS, December 13, 1994
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Jefferson Names New Radiation Oncology Chair
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Walter J. Curran Jr., MD, has been named the new chairman of the 
department of radiation oncology at Jefferson.

Dr. Curran comes to Jefferson from Fox Chase Cancer Center, where he 
served as a full member and director of clinical research in the department 
of radiation oncology.  He will continue to serve as Deputy Group Chairman 
of the Radiation Therapy Oncology group (RTOG), a federally funded 
cooperative group with members from more than 200 institutions, founded by 
Dr. Simon Kramer at Jefferson in 1968.  In addition, he will continue to 
serve as chairman of the Brain Tumor Committee within RTOG and as principal 
investigator of three national clinical protocols.

Dr. Curran's areas of clinical research include investigating therapies 
for patients with tumors of the lung and brain, with emphasis on new 
methods of integrating radiation therapy, chemotherapy and surgery.  He 
will serve as co-director of the newly formed brain tumor research program, 
which was jointly developed by Wills Eye Hospital, Thomas Jefferson 
University Hospital and Pennsylvania Hospital.

Dr. Curran completed his residency in the department of radiation 
therapy at the University of Pennsylvania Medical Center and an internship 
in internal medicine at Presbyterian Medical Center.  His medical degree 
was earned from the Medical College of Georgia, and undergraduate degree 
from Dartmouth College.


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