Professor of radiation oncology selected president-elect of society

July 30, 2010 | News, UToday
By Josh Martin



The Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society recently selected a University of Toledo professor its new president-elect.

Feldmeier

Feldmeier

Dr. John Feldmeier, UT professor and chair of the Department of Radiation Oncology, was tapped by the members of the organization for the leadership position at the annual meeting in June.

“The election represents the culmination of many years of effort by me in this profession in defining the role for hyperbaric oxygen as a treatment for radiation injuries,” Feldmeier said. “I am especially pleased to be elected to this office because it was achieved by a vote of my professional peers.”

Feldmeier has been a member of the society since 1980, has served as chair of the society’s Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy Committee, and is the current chair of the society’s Research Committee. He is also the only physician in the nation to be board-certified in both hyperbaric medicine and radiation oncology.

“The election to a national professional medical society is a rare and humbling honor,” he added. “My goal is to live up to the confidence that my colleagues in hyperbaric oxygen have entrusted in me.”

The Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society is the premier professional group for those who practice or pursue research in hyperbaric medicine. The society has a professional membership of about 3,000 physicians and PhDs. These professionals from many different backgrounds share a common interest in diving and/or clinical hyperbaric medicine.

Feldmeier has served as chair of the UT Department of Radiation Oncology for 12 years, and is the former chief of radiation oncology at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, as well as at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio and Grace-Sinai Hospital in Detroit.

The appointment of Feldmeier is an eight-year term. He will be president-elect for two years, then president of the society for two years. Subsequently, he will serve on the Board of Directors as immediate past president for two years, then as past president for a final two-year period.

As president of the society, Feldmeier said his duties will be scientific, political and administrative. One of his primary goals, he said, is to move his presidency “toward a collaborative multi-institutional research group for hyperbaric oxygen comparable to the cancer research groups sponsored by the National Cancer Institute.”

“My highest goal as a clinician involved in hyperbaric oxygen therapy is to ensure the best quality of care to our patients,” he added.

“Dr. Feldmeier excels as an educator and as a physician, and has shown a genuine commitment to advancing science and medicine,” said Raj Patel, a third-year medical student who worked with Feldmeier on a research project last summer. “He has made many contributions to the field of hyperbaric medicine during his years as a physician.”

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