Southwest Florida Proton hires Dr. Shannon MacDonald as medical director
Southwest Florida Proton has hired Dr. Shannon MacDonald, an international leader and pioneer in the field of proton therapy, to serve as the new center’s senior medical director.
In this role, MacDonald will work alongside Dr. Arie Dosoretz, managing partner, and Dr. Todd Pezzi, associate medical director, to oversee the center’s clinical operations and guide long-term strategic planning. MacDonald’s clinical expertise is treating breast, pediatric, skull-base tumors and sarcomas.
Southwest Florida Proton opened Phase 1 in December when Advocate Radiation Oncology debuted a traditional radiation oncology practice, and Lee Health opened its diagnostic imaging center. Teams of engineers are currently assembling and calibrating the center’s IBA ProteusONE, a cancer-fighting machine widely recognized as offering the most precise, advanced proton technology in the world. Phase 2 is expected to open in late 2025 when MacDonald and her staff will begin delivering the first proton therapy treatments.
“The team that envisioned and developed Southwest Florida Proton recognizes the future of cancer care is moving toward proton therapy as a preferred course of treatment for many types of cancers,” MacDonald said. “After committing my 18-year career to proton therapy treatment, it’s exciting to be part of this evolution and introduce this state-of-the-art proton therapy as an option for cancer patients seeking this care in Southwest Florida.”
Proton therapy, which uses charged proton particles accelerated to two-thirds the speed of light to destroy cancer cells, is an effective treatment option for cancers of the brain and spine, breast, esophagus, head and neck, liver, lung, eye, pancreas, prostate, lymphoma and sarcomas. Research shows it’s a safe option for patients who have undergone prior radiation treatment when regular radiation is not an option. Many studies have shown reduced long-term radiation risks, such as growth impairment and learning disabilities in pediatric cancer patients. In adult sarcomas, protons can achieve higher doses of tumors than traditional radiation, allowing for the cure of these sarcomas that were not possible or safe with regular radiation. Protons are particles that travel into a cancer, but not beyond it, which avoids the risks of radiation damage in organs that do not have cancer cells. Regular radiation must enter and exit, leading to more collateral damage in healthy tissues.
Prior to joining Southwest Florida Proton, MacDonald was an accomplished associate professor of radiation oncology at Harvard Medical School while also serving as director of base-of-skull service, director of sarcoma service and proton therapy liaison at Massachusetts General Hospital to provide this therapy for patients at Dana Farber Cancer Institute and Boston Children’s Hospital, where she was also credentialed to see patients. Her previous roles at Mass General included director of breast radiation oncology, course director for radiation oncology and Harvard Medical School student clinical clerkship. She has served on leadership committees for various international, national, regional and local organizations, including the National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers, Children’s Oncology Group and the Particle Therapy Cooperative Group. She has run numerous trials for proton radiation and is the clinical chair of RADCOMP, the most prominent randomized trial studying proton therapy for breast cancer.
MacDonald earned a Bachelor of Science degree in biology from Boston College before completing a Doctor of Medicine degree from the Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine. She then completed residency in radiation oncology through the New York University Grossman School of Medicine, where she served as chief resident for her final two years.
An accomplished researcher and presenter, MacDonald’s research and findings have been published in countless peer-reviewed publications, including Journal of Clinical Oncology, New England Journal of Medicine, The Lancet Oncology, The Journal of Pediatrics, Cancer and Journal of Neuro-Oncology, and she has published opinion pieces on patient advocacy in the Boston Globe and Wall Street Journal. She has served as a senior associate editor for the International Journal of Proton Therapy and International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology, Physics.
MacDonald is certified in radiation oncology through the American Board of Radiation Oncology. She is a fellow of the American College of Radiation Oncology and the American Society of Therapeutic Radiation Oncology.
“We have been exploring the feasibility of bringing proton therapy to Southwest Florida for many years, and we’re now just months away from bringing the first proton treatments to Florida’s west coast,” said Dosoretz. “Dr. MacDonald is an incredible physician with true expertise. She is widely regarded as one of the world’s preeminent clinicians, so bringing in a leader of her caliber clearly puts Southwest Florida on the international map for cancer care.”
For more information, please visit SWFLproton.com.