Minesh Mehta
Minesh Prafulchandra Mehta is an American radiation oncologist and physician-scientist of Indian origin and Ugandan birth. He is currently deputy director and chief of radiation oncology at Miami Cancer Institute at Baptist [Health South Florida].
Early life and career
Mehta was born in Uganda to two teachers from India. After moving to Zambia, he completed high school and enrolled in the pre-medical curriculum, graduating with a bachelor's degree in human biology from the University of Zambia. He also completed medical school at the University of Zambia. After completing his internship and a year of residency training, he completed a residency at the University of Wisconsin. After completing his residency training, he joined the department of human oncology, University of Wisconsin [School of Medicine and Public Health], Madison as an assistant professor, eventually becoming a tenured professor and department chair as well as chief resident in radiation oncology. While at Wisconsin, he received the Eric Wolfe Professorship of Human Oncology.His work at Wisconsin included the scientific and clinical implementation of image-guided intensity modulated radiotherapy, overseeing the development of translational programs combining radiotherapy with targeted agents integrating advanced imaging. This period also included his leadership of the brain tumor committee of the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group. This committee completed the largest ever randomized trial in Glioblastoma, incorporating patient-specific, advanced-imaging, molecular, and cognitive/quality-of-life endpoints.
Additionally, through his work in the RTOG and other clinical trial mechanisms he was involved in setting standards in clinical research on brain metastases through a series of multicenter, international, randomized trials, resulting in neurologic and neurocognitive dataset collection and evaluation for this condition. He developed a statewide network of radiotherapy centers allied to the University and began working in the area of cancer disparities in underserved populations, pursuing survey, epidemiologic, interventional, and translational research in this field. In 2007 he focused on brain and thoracic tumor clinical trials, as well as resident, national, and international education.
In 2010 he resigned from his position at the University of Wisconsin, after a potential conflict of interest investigation began into his consultancy work for TomoTherapy Inc.
[Image:MpM 8a.jpg|thumb|right|140px]
Until 2013, Mehta was at Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University in Chicago, where he was co-director of the radiation oncology residency training program. He has designed and led national and international clinical studies, receiving NIH and NCI grants for his research in brain and central nervous system tumors.
Before coming to Baptist Health South Florida in 2016, Mehta served as medical director of the Maryland Proton Treatment Center at University of [Maryland School of Medicine] in Baltimore, launching the area’s first proton treatment center.