Minsong Cao, PhD, DABR, FAAPM
Dr. Minsong Cao is a Professor and Vice Chair of Academic Mission Development in the Department of Radiation Oncology. He also severs as the Director of the Medical Physics Residency Training Program. Dr. Cao received his PhD in Medical Physics from Purdue University before embarking on his career at Indiana University as an Assistant Professor. In 2012, Dr. Cao joined the faculty at UCLA, where he made significant contributions as the treatment planning and dosimetry lead. He has been actively involved in the clinical implementation of MR guided radiotherapy (MRgRT). Dr. Cao’s primary research interests include Image guided radiotherapy (IGRT), MRgRT, functional imaging, and advanced treatment planning. He has authored over 125 journal articles and 5 book chapters and been invited to present at numerous national and international meetings.
Dr. Cao has served in many capacities within AAPM, ASTRO and other international organizations. He is a member or co-chair of multiple AAPM/ASTRO committees and currently the AAPM liaison to the Medical Dosimetry Certification Board. He had served as mentor for the Summer Undergraduate Fellowship Program and President of the Ohio River Valley Chapter of AAPM. He currently serves as Associate Editor for JACMP, Associate Section Editor for the Red Journal and a member of the Residency Program Committee of CAMPEP. Dr. Cao has served on expert panels and contributing author of several guidelines including NRG Oncology Work Group on State of the Adaptive Radiation Therapy (ART), ASTRO Task Force on Radiation Therapy for Primary Liver Tumors Guideline, AAPM Ad Hoc Committee on Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Radiation Therapy and ICRU Report Work Group on MRI-Guided Radiation Therapy. Currently, Dr. Cao serves as the co-chair of AAPM Task Group 352, focusing on the quality assurance of MRI-Linear Accelerators.
Dr. Cao also serves as faculty at the CAMPEP-accredited Physics and Biology in Medicine (PBM) Graduate Program at UCLA. Dr. Cao is actively engaged in teaching and mentoring graduate students, medical physics, and radiation oncologist residents. He has been active in global outreach education of medical physicists in multiple developing countries. He was a recipient of the 2017 ARRO Educator of the Year award in recognition for his educational contributions. He was elected as a Fellow of the AAPM in 2019, an honor that underscores his contributions to the field of medical physics.