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Dr. Srinivasan Vijayakumar, who leads the UMMC Department of Radiation Oncology, as a penchant for working to update processes or equipment that enhance cancer care. He's standing by a new Eleka Versa HD linear accelerator that currently is being installed.
Dr. Srinivasan Vijayakumar, who leads the UMMC Department of Radiation Oncology, as a penchant for working to update processes or equipment that enhance cancer care. He's standing by a new Eleka Versa HD linear accelerator that currently is being installed.

People of the U: Srinivasan Vijayakumar

Published on Friday, November 15, 2019

By: Cynthia Wall

Since 2007, Dr. Srinivasan “Dr. Vijay” Vijayakumar has led the Department of Radiation Oncology with an eye toward growth and excellence.

His conversations often veer to new equipment, new residents, new procedures, new research or new ways to better serve patients.

You might say Dr. Vijay, professor of radiation oncology, is always looking to the future.

This month, he is watching the installation of new equipment that will provide better treatment options for patients.

The department is installing a new Eleka Versa HD linear accelerator that will enhance its stereotactic capabilities. Versa HD delivers absolute reliability, accuracy and confidence in stereotactic radiosurgery and stereotactic body radiotherapy treatments, or SRS and SBRT for short, respectively.

“We’ve been doing SBRT for eight years, mainly for lung and with good results,” he said. “Once this installation is complete, we can do pancreatic, liver, spine and lung.”

One advantage of the new equipment: “The table can adjust in six dimensions to get the patient in better position for radiation,” he said.

His focus on moving the department forward also includes regularly reviewing procedures, holding regular planning sessions for each patient’s treatment and focusing on enhancing the skills of his staff.

His own skills fall under that category. He recently completed work on his master’s in public health at George Washington University. He jokes that at 66, he may be one of their older graduates.  

Recently, he also was named an American Society of Radiation Oncology fellow. The ASTRO Fellows designation is awarded to members based on the length of their membership, their service to ASTRO and service to the field of radiation oncology.

Vijayakumar completed his initial training in radiation oncology at Madras Medical College in India and completed a residency at the University of Chicago.

UMMC recruited him to help start the new department and the new residency program.

Before joining UMMC in 2007, he was a faculty member at the Cleveland Clinic, the University of Chicago, the University of Illinois and the University of California Davis. He has authored numerous articles, book chapters and a widely read book on prostate cancer, now in its third edition.

From late 2013-2016, Vijayakumar served as director of the Cancer Institute as well as maintaining his departmental leadership.


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