Minesh Mehta, M.D., an expert in radiation oncology, proton therapy and cancer research, has joined the executive leadership of Miami Cancer Institute at Baptist Health South Florida as deputy director and chief of radiation oncology. Dr. Mehta will position Miami Cancer Institute’s proton therapy center—the only one of its kind in South Florida and one of fewer than two dozen of its kind in the U.S.—as the region’s top destination for this leading-edge treatment.

Dr. Mehta comes to Baptist Health from the University of Maryland School of Medicine, where he served as medical director of the Maryland Proton Treatment Center in Baltimore—the area’s first proton treatment center, which he helped to launch. Dr. Mehta was also the University’s associate director of clinical research in the Department of Radiation Oncology. Prior to his time at Maryland, Dr. Mehta held major academic, research and administrative leadership positions at Northwestern University in Chicago, and University of Wisconsin, in Madison, WI.

At the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University in Chicago, Dr. Mehta was co-director of the Radiation Oncology Residency Training Program, mentoring many young physicians who have gone on to become prominent leaders in the field. He has designed and led numerous national and international clinical studies, receiving NIH and NCI grants and winning several honors, many for his research in brain and central nervous system tumors.

“Dr. Mehta is an innovator whose research has led to significant advances in the treatment of cancer,” said Wayne Brackin, Baptist Health executive vice president and chief operating officer. “As Miami Cancer Institute prepares to open the only proton therapy center in South Florida, his broad experience in the area of radiation oncology, including proton therapy, will play a key role in developing our program.”