Quynh-Thu Le is a Vietnamese

radiation oncologist A radiation oncologist is a specialist physician who uses ionizing radiation (such as megavoltage X-rays or radionuclides) in the treatment of cancer. Radiation oncology is one of the three primary specialties, the other two being surgical an ...

specializing in

head and neck cancer Head and neck cancer is a general term encompassing multiple cancers that can develop in the head and neck region. These include cancers of the mouth, tongue, gums and lips (oral cancer), voice box ( laryngeal), throat ( nasopharyngeal, orophary ...

. She is the Katherine Dexter McCormick and Stanley McCormick Memorial Professor and chair of the department of radiation oncology at the

Stanford University School of Medicine The Stanford University School of Medicine is the medical school of Stanford University and is located in Stanford, California, United States. It traces its roots to the Medical Department of the University of the Pacific, founded in San Fra ...

. Le co-directs the

radiation biology Radiobiology (also known as radiation biology, and uncommonly as actinobiology) is a field of clinical and basic medical sciences that involves the study of the effects of radiation on living tissue (including ionizing and non-ionizing radiation) ...

program at the

Stanford Cancer Institute The Stanford Cancer Institute is an NCI-designated Cancer Center at Stanford University in Palo Alto, CA. It is one of eight comprehensive cancer centers in California. The Stanford Cancer Institute leverages the scientific, technological, and hum ...

Life

Le was born in

Huế Huế (formerly Thừa Thiên Huế province) is the southernmost coastal Municipalities of Vietnam, city in the North Central Coast region, the Central Vietnam, Central of Vietnam, approximately in the center of the country. It borders Quảng ...

near the

Vietnamese Demilitarized Zone The Vietnamese Demilitarized Zone was a demilitarized zone at the 17th parallel north, 17th parallel in Quang Tri province that was the dividing line between North Vietnam and South Vietnam from 21 July 1954 to 2 July 1976, when Vietnam was off ...

to a Buddhist family. Her father was a

urologist Urology (from Greek οὖρον ''ouron'' "urine" and ''-logia'' "study of"), also known as genitourinary surgery, is the branch of medicine that focuses on surgical and medical diseases of the urinary system and the reproductive organs. Org ...

who wished to remain in the country. After he was sent to a concentration camp and the

Cambodian–Vietnamese War The Cambodian–Vietnamese War was an armed conflict between Democratic Kampuchea, controlled by Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge, and the Vietnam, Socialist Republic of Vietnam. It began in December 1978, with a Vietnamese invasion of Cambodia which to ...

began, the family decided to they needed to escape. By obtaining false documents identifying them as a Chinese-Vietnamese family, they were able to leave the country as part of the

Vietnamese boat people Vietnamese boat people () were refugees who fled Vietnam by boat and ship following the end of the Vietnam War in 1975. This migration and humanitarian crisis was at its highest in the late 1970s and early 1980s, but continued well into the earl ...

. After a perilous journey that involved being robbed by Thai pirates, the family arrived in Malaysia. They remained there in a beach camp supported by the

International Red Cross The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is a aid agency, humanitarian organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, and is a three-time Nobel Prize laureate. The organization has played an instrumental role in the development of Law of ...

for a month before being picked up by an Italy vessel and accepted as refugees. Le's family lived in Italy for two years while she completed middle school. In 1981, the family immigrated to

Northern California Northern California (commonly shortened to NorCal) is a geocultural region that comprises the northern portion of the U.S. state of California, spanning the northernmost 48 of the state's List of counties in California, 58 counties. Northern Ca ...

where she completed high school. Le majored in biology and chemistry at the

California Institute of Technology The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech) is a private research university in Pasadena, California, United States. The university is responsible for many modern scientific advancements and is among a small group of institutes ...

. During her undergraduate studies, she completed three summer research fellowships. During one of these fellowships, Le's professor, Edwin S. Munger, encouraged her to research at a university and hospital in

Durban Durban ( ; , from meaning "bay, lagoon") is the third-most populous city in South Africa, after Johannesburg and Cape Town, and the largest city in the Provinces of South Africa, province of KwaZulu-Natal. Situated on the east coast of South ...

which inspired her to pursue medicine. Le earned a M.D. from

University of California, San Francisco The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in San Francisco, California, United States. It is part of the University of California system and is dedic ...

in 1993. She decided to pursue

radiation oncology Radiation therapy or radiotherapy (RT, RTx, or XRT) is a treatment using ionizing radiation, generally provided as part of cancer therapy to either kill or control the growth of malignant cells. It is normally delivered by a linear particle a ...

after studying under Karen King-Wah Fu. She conducted an internal medicine internship at the Highland Hospital in 1994. Lee completed a radiation oncology residency at the University of California, San Francisco in 1997. In 1997, Le joined the

as a clinical instructor focused on brain and lung cancers. In 2004, she became a co-director of the radiation biology program at the

. She worked in the laboratory of Amato J. Giaccia. In 2011, she succeeded Giaccia as the chair of the department of radiation oncology. The same year, she was elected a fellow of the

American College of Radiology The American College of Radiology (ACR), founded in 1923, is a professional medical society representing nearly 40,000 diagnostic radiologists, radiation oncologists, interventional radiologists, nuclear medicine physicians and medical physicists ...

. In 2013, Le was elected to the

Institute of Medicine The National Academy of Medicine (NAM), known as the Institute of Medicine (IoM) until 2015, is an American nonprofit, non-governmental organization. The National Academy of Medicine is a part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineerin ...

. In 2014, she was elected a fellow of the

American Society of Therapeutic Radiation Oncology American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

. Her research program focuses on radiation therapy in

. Le is the Katherine Dexter McCormick and Stanley McCormick Memorial Professor and chair of the department of radiation oncology.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Le, Quynh-thu Living people Year of birth missing (living people) People from Huế California Institute of Technology alumni University of California, San Francisco alumni Stanford University School of Medicine faculty Fellows of the American College of Radiology Members of the National Academy of Medicine 21st-century Vietnamese physicians Vietnamese emigrants to the United States 21st-century Vietnamese women physicians Vietnamese refugees Women oncologists Expatriate academics in the United States Vietnamese Buddhists