About the 2024 RSS Board of Directors Election
This year, there are three open seats on the Radiosurgery Society® (RSS) Board of Directors (BOD). Professional Members of the RSS are hereby notified that six candidates have been nominated to run for the following open seats:
- One (1) At-Large BOD Member
- One (1) Medical Physics Officer
- One (1) Neurosurgery Officer
The BOD At-Large seat is a three-year term, beginning April 1, 2024, through March 31, 2027. The Medical Physics Officer and Neurosurgery Officer seats are each two-year terms, beginning April 1, 2024, through March 31, 2027. Eligible RSS Members will choose one (1) BOD At-Large candidate, one (1) Medical Physics Officer candidate and one (1) Neurosurgery Officer candidate.
All Professional Members of the RSS who are in good standing* as of January 31, 2024, will be eligible to vote. Online voting, via electronic ballot, will commence on February 1, 2024, and will close at 5:00 pm Pacific Time on March 15, 2024.
On February 1, 2024, electronic ballots will be emailed to all eligible RSS Members. If you do not receive your ballot, please contact us.
To verify your eligibility:
- Log-in to your account on www.therss.org/login
- Visit the My Profile Page
- Check your membership type*
- Check your renewal date and if past due, ensure your dues are paid
BOD At-Large Candidate: Debra Freeman, MD
Debra Freeman, M.D. completed her undergraduate studies in pre-medicine and theology at Davidson College, NC, graduating magna cum laude. She returned to her hometown, Gainesville, FL to complete medical school and residency at the University of Florida.
Dr. Freeman served as assistant professor in the UF Dept. of Radiation Oncology from 1991-1995, where she specialized in breast cancer and prostate seed implants. She also served as Residency Co-Director, Faculty Advisor for the College of Medicine and Medical Director of Radiation Therapy of Gainesville, Inc. She relocated to Naples, FL in 1995, joining Dr. Leonard Shukovsky at Naples Community Hospital. She became Medical Director of Radiation Oncology in 1999, and also served as Chairman of the Cancer Committee and Physician Liaison to the American College of Surgeons.
In 2004, Dr. Freeman introduced CyberKnife Robotic Radiosurgery in Naples, only the second such site in Florida. Dr. Freeman and her partner, Dr. Jay Friedland, developed the first community-based prostate radiosurgery program in the U.S. and gained national recognition as leaders in the field. In 2008, Dr. Freeman relocated to the Tampa area and helped open CyberKnife Centers of Tampa Bay, along with physicist Mary Ellen Masterson-McGary and several physician colleagues. She continues to develop and promote CyberKnife technology, both locally and nationally.
In 2010, Dr. Freeman and Dr. Mark Perman co-founded the Registry for Prostate Cancer Radiosurgery. This database was used to support Medicare coverage of prostate radiosurgery nationwide. In partnership with neurosurgery colleagues at the University of South Florida, Dr. Freeman also contributed to an upcoming publication on Radiosurgery of Skull-based Tumors.
Dr. Freeman is board certified in Radiation Oncology and Hospice and Palliative Medicine.
BOD At-Large Candidate: Percy Lee, MD, FASTRO
Dr. Lee is Professor and system-wide Vice-Chair for Clinical Research in radiation oncology at City of Hope National Medical Center (Los Angeles County, Orange County, Atlanta, Chicago, and Phoenix). In addition, he serves as the Medical Director for Orange County and the Coastal Regions in the Department of Radiation Oncology at City of Hope National Medical Center (City of Hope Orange County, Lennar Foundation Cancer Center in addition to 3 other radiation oncology network sites in the region).
Previously, he served as Section Chief for Thoracic Radiation Oncology at MD Anderson Cancer Center (MDACC) from 2019-2022, and Executive Section Chief for the Department of Radiation Oncology at MDACC from 2021-2022. Dr. Lee started his career at UCLA (2008-2019) where he rose to the rank of Professor and Vice Chair for Education for the Department of Radiation. At UCLA, he served as Chief of Thoracic Radiation Oncology, Residency Training Program Director, and Director of the Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy Program (SBRT), a program he founded in 2008.
He is an internationally recognized subject matter expert and thought leader in the clinical applications of SBRT. He has over 145 peer-reviewed publications on the clinical use, evidence for, and application of SBRT in the clinic. Dr. Lee has an international reputation in the treatment of thoracic and GI malignancies. He pioneered novel radiosurgery and SBRT technologies such as MRI-guided radiation therapy in the clinic with more than 55 peer-reviewed publications on this subject. He led the clinical implementation of MRI-guided radiation therapy program at UCLA as the 3rd site in the world with this innovation. In addition, he is a clinical trialist who is interested in combining novel radiation therapy approaches with new drugs to achieve improved outcomes in thoracic malignancies. He has served on various leadership roles within national organizations such as ASTRO, RSS, ABR, and ARS.
Medical Physics Officer Candidate: Grace Gwe-Ya Kim, PhD, DABR, FAAPM
In 2001, Dr. Kim earned her doctoral degree from Yonsei University in South Korea. Following graduation, she held the position of scientific officer at the Medical Device Safety Bureau within the Korea Ministry of Food and Drug Safety. Her post-doctoral fellowship was completed in the Department of Radiation Oncology at Stanford University. In 2009, Dr. Kim was recruited to join the Department of Radiation Oncology at the University of California, San Diego.
Over the years, Dr. Kim has taken on various roles within the field. She has served as the Assistant Vice-Chair of Clinical Medical Physics in the Department of Radiation Medicine and Applied Sciences at the University of California, San Diego. Additionally, she has contributed as an accreditation reviewer for the American College of Radiation Oncology (ACRO) and an exam developer for the American Board of Radiology (ABR). Her involvement also extends to the Radiosurgery Society, where she hold positions as a Physics committee member and QA Sub-committee Chair.
Within the American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM), Dr. Kim is currently serving in the Patient Safety Sub-Committee and Task Group 379 as Chair, and in the Global Data and Information Exchange Committee as a vice-chair and other 12 committees. She also serves as a member of the IEC United States Technical Advisory Group (US-TAG) as a representative of ASTRO.
At present, she holds the positions of Deputy Division Director and Technical Chief for the Central Nervous System (CNS). Her primary research efforts are concentrated on the implementation of innovative treatment techniques, enhancing patient safety, and refining intracranial radiosurgery procedures.
Medical Physics Officer Candidate: Brian Wang, PhD
Brian Wang joined the RSS Physics Committee in 2012 and became the Physics Committee Chairman in April 2021. Brian received his PhD in nuclear engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 2005 and a privatim BA from Yale University in 2019. He worked as a faculty medical physicist in the Department of Radiation Oncology at Cooper University Hospital from 2005 to 2007, where he received his clinical training. He joined the University of Utah as an assistant professor in 2007, where he specialized in LINAC-based stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) and stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS). Brian moved to the University of Louisville in 2013 to lead the physics team. In 2019, Brian became the Director of Radiation Oncology Physics at Yale New Haven Hospital and the Vice Chair of the Therapeutic Radiology department at Yale, leading all the physics, dosimetry, and engineering teams. In 2022, Brian joined Junxin Oncology Group in China as the CTO and COO, serving the local Chinese cancer patients. He is a Fellow of AAPM and an oral board examiner for ABR. Brian is on the presidential chain of NACMPA and a board member of SANTRO.
Neurosurgery Officer Candidate: Pantaleo Romanelli, MD
Dr. Romanelli,born in Novi Velia(SA),Italy on September 28 1969, earned his MD from the University of Naples, Italy , graduating Summa Cum Laude in 1994. He’s a certified specialist in Neurosurgery and Child Neurology and Psichiatry.
Dr. Pantaleo Romanelli is a neurosurgeon specializing in Functional Neurosurgery, Epilepsy Surgery and Stereotactic Radiosurgery with a clinical practice at the CDI Cyberknife Center in Milan. CDI is today recognized as a leading world center for LINAC radiosurgery, with a special reknown for the treatment of functional brain disorders like Trigeminal Neuralgia, neuropathic pain , epilepsy and spasticity( a novel radiosurgical treatment developed by Dr Romanelli at CDI, currently evaluted by a US prospective trial) . Dr Romanelli is now moving to US as Founder and Director of Stereotactic Radiosurgery at a novel SRS center focused on the treatment of Functional Brain Disorders, The Renaissance Center for Radiosurgery and Precision Radiotherapy (Orlando,FL).
Dr Romanelli’s clinical research is focused on the treatment of Trigeminal Neuralgia,Neuropathic Pain,Spasticity ,Epilepsy and Movement Disorders . He is currently leading a US trial on the treatment of spasticity with radiosurgery. He’s also studying the role of Synchrotron-generated Microbeams to develop novel treatments for epilepsy and brain tumors.
Dr Romanelli is currently a Milestone member of the Radiosurgery Society(RSS) and serves as Chairman of the RSS Functional Radiosurgery Working Group . Dr Romanelli is a member of the Medical Advisory Board of the International Cancer Institute in India. He’s also member of the advisory board of the journal Stereotactic and Functional Radiosurgery.
Neurosurgery Officer Candidate: Michael Schulder, MD, FAANS
Michael Schulder, MD, is Professor and Vice Chair of the Department of Neurosurgery at the Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell. He is the Program Director of neurosurgical residency training at the Zucker SOM, Director of the Brain Tumor Center of the Northwell Neuroscience Institute, and co-Director of the Center for Stereotactic Radiosurgery in the Northwell Cancer Institute. His particular areas of focus include image-guided brain tumor surgery, stereotactic radiosurgery, and functional neurosurgery, on which he has published over 130 peer-reviewed papers along with numerous book chapters and abstracts.
Dr. Schulder runs Northwell’s clinical trials programs for patients with brain tumors. He has been the principal investigator on numerous trials, pioneering the use of various methods of image guidance in neurosurgery, including functional and intraoperative MRI.
Dr. Schulder was director at large of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons, which he also served as the Historian. He is the Past President of the American Society for Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery, the World Society for Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery, and the New York Society of Neurosurgery. He has served as the Secretary of The Radiosurgery Society. Dr. Schulder is on the editorial board of several major neurosurgical journals, including Neurosurgery, Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery, and the Journal of Neuro-Oncology. He recently served for five years on the Journal of Neurosurgery editorial board. Dr. Schulder is the editor of The Handbook of Stereotactic Neurosurgery and a co-editor of Functional Neurosurgery: The Essentials. He has been named to Castle Connolly’s Top Doctors of the New York Metro Area for more than 20 years in a row, and is an elected member of the American Academy of Neurological Surgery (where currently serves as Historian) and the Society of Neurological Surgeons.
Dr. Schulder trained at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. He completed his residency in neurological surgery at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, and further advanced his training in stereotactic neuro-oncology at the University of Florida and at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital, a teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School.
* Members In Good Standing
Per the Bylaws, Section 2.05, Members in Good Standing are Professional Members (those who are in the following categories: Professional Physician, Professional Non-Physician, Professional Resident/Trainee) who have paid the required dues, fee, and assessments if any, and who are not suspended.