Jatinder Palta appointed first Director of Medical Physics Institute

Dr. Jatinder Palta, an Indian American professor at Virginia Commonwealth University, has been appointed as the first director to lead the Medical Physics Institute (MPI) within the American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM).

Palta is retiring from his current position as a tenured professor and Chairman of Medical Physics in the Department of Radiation Oncology at Virginia Commonwealth University at the end of this academic year.

Palta has been an AAPM member for over 25 years, became an AAPM Fellow in 1996, and received the William D. Coolidge Gold Medal Award – a top honor within the organization – in 2017, according to a media release.

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“I am really thrilled to take on the responsibility of heading MPI as its inaugural Director,” said Palta. “I am looking forward to working with AAPM subject matter experts, vendor partners, and government agencies to make MPI successful in its vision and mission of providing resources for safe medical physics practice and opportunities for AAPM to grow its portfolio.”

MPI was approved by the AAPM Board of Directors in 2023 to improve the quality and safety of patient care in radiology and radiation oncology, according to the release. It focuses on providing early assessment and direction when new technologies are developed.

MPI plans to partner with imaging and radiotherapy equipment vendors, becoming an international resource for radiology and radiation oncology health care providers, regulatory agencies, funding agencies, and equipment vendors.

“MPI will serve a critical need in industry as new physics-related technologies and tools are applied in medicine, all in pursuit of improving human health,” said AAPM’s Executive Director C. David Gammel. “I am excited to partner with Dr. Palta to launch the Institute as an important new addition to AAPM.”

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MPI will serve as a broker of medical physics consulting; advisory services for new technologies and solutions; technology assessment; early guidance on standardization of processes; semantic interoperability of products; and development of early guidance quality assurance process for new treatment techniques. MPI’s stakeholders include imaging and radiotherapy professional societies and their members, government agencies, radiological equipment vendors, educational institutions, and patients. It will also facilitate the submission of technology assessments and innovation grants as a consortium for AAPM members.

“One of the greatest benefits to AAPM members with the launch of the Medical Physics Institute is that, for the first time, clinical physicists will have access to early expert guidance on cutting-edge technologies and treatment techniques helping to ensure safe, effective, and efficient clinical implementation,” said AAPM President Todd Pawlicki. “We’re confident that Jatinder’s leadership will drive this initiative forward.

AAPM is the premier organization in medical physics, a scientific and professional discipline that uses physics principles to address a wide range of biological and medical needs.