John Han-Chih Chang, MD

Dr. Chang, was most recently the Director of Clinical Research and Education at Northwestern Medicine’s Chicago Proton Center for the past 8 years, is now on the faculty at Vanderbilt University as Director of Pediatric Radiation Oncology. Board Certified in Radiation Oncology, Chang completed medical school at the University of Michigan and residency at the University of Pennsylvania before he returned to the Midwest. Dr. Chang is the principal investigator for the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG) and the Children’s Oncology Group (COG) research studies, and was clinical faculty at Northwestern and Lurie Children’s Hospital along with being an assistant professor at the Chicago Medical School/Rosalind Franklin School of Medicine and Science before coming to Nashville.  He remains a peer review editor for the International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Physics and Biology and the International Journal of Particle Therapy.

Dr. Chang has expertise in the use of conformal 3-D radiation therapy, intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT), stereotactic radiosurgery, high dose rate brachytherapy, and permanent brachytherapy (seed implants) along with Proton therapy. His main sites of cancer treatment are head & neck and pediatric malignancies. He has published and presented numerous papers, along with giving lectures on various cancer treatments.  He spends his leisure time playing hockey and traveling with his sons and wife.  They derive great enjoyment from training their bulldogs for the show ring and as great family companions.

When asked why he chose Radiation Oncology, he states, “Although I thoroughly enjoyed research and the technological aspect of medicine early in my career, I longed for patient contact. Radiation Oncology gives me the perfect setting to use my expertise in technology to help my patients fight their disease with the most advanced therapies possible.”