Here for You Every Step of the Way

Our physicians are assisted by an immensely capable clinical and patient support team. During your treatment, your team will include different types of staff members who will all focus on helping you feel comfortable, informed and safe.

Patient Support Team

Meet the team members who will support you before and during your proton therapy treatment.

  • Intake Coordinator gathers your medical records and insurance information.
  • Patient Navigator ensures the continuity of your care throughout treatment.
  • Financial Counselor manages all financial and insurance issues.
  • Dietitian-Nutritionist provides food and nutritional information and advice to maximize your health and manage treatment side-effects.
  • Social Worker helps you manage overall well-being, reduce stress, and can assist with local housing or transportation needs.
  • Child Life Specialist attends to the care and well-being of pediatric patients, helping to reduce anxiety about treatment for children and their families.

Clinical Support Team

  • Dosimetrists help physicians and physicists customize your treatment by digitally developing the specific plan needed.
  • Medical Physicists specialize in applying physics to medical care. They map out the exact shape and intensity of the proton beam to provide the specialized therapy you need. They also oversee quality assurance.
  • Nurse Navigator is the primary point of contact for educating and preparing you for your simulation appointment and guiding you through your first day at the center.
  • Oncology Nurse attends to you weekly or as needed to provide expert nursing care and address any questions or concerns you may have about your treatment.
  • Radiation Oncologist is a specialized physician who works with the physicists and dosimetrists to create and supervise a treatment plan to deliver the most effective, precise therapy for your specific needs. You will meet with the radiation oncologist weekly while under treatment.
  • Radiation Therapists work with your entire team to understand your specific care plan. They will deliver your treatment daily and help monitor your condition.

Medical Physicists

Our highly trained, experienced medical physicists work closely with the dosimetry team to review and optimize the delivery of your proton beam therapy.

Qing Chen, MSc, DABR, is a senior medical physicist and lead physicist for quality assurance as well as stereotactic body proton therapy services. He holds master’s degrees in electrical engineering and medical physics, and has extensive expertise in advanced proton therapy, clinical physics leadership, and patient-focused care. Prior to joining the New York Proton Center in 2018, he worked across multiple academic and clinical institutions, where he developed and led complex clinical physics programs, implemented advanced treatment techniques, and collaborated closely with multidisciplinary teams. He brings this broad academic and clinical leadership experience to the New York Proton Center, strengthening the delivery of high-quality, innovative proton therapy for both adult and pediatric patients.

Dong Han, MS, PhD, holds a master’s degree in physics from Fudan University and a master’s degree in astrophysics and planetary science from the University of Colorado at Boulder. He earned his PhD in medical physics at Virginia Commonwealth University and completed a residency in therapeutic medical physics at Johns Hopkins University. He worked as a medical physicist at the National Proton Center, Johns Hopkins University, and the Maryland Proton Center prior to joining the New York Proton Center in 2022. Dr. Han specializes in robust proton treatment planning and CT imaging, especially dual-energy CT (DECT). He received the Farrington Daniels Award from the American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM) in 2017 for an outstanding paper on radiation therapy dosimetry published in Medical Physics. His work was also highlighted in Medical Physics as Editor’s Pick in 2016, 2019 and 2022.

Allison Haertter, MS, medical physicist, earned a Bachelor of Science degree in applied physics from West Virginia Wesleyan College and a master’s degree in medical physics from the University of Pennsylvania. Ms. Haertter joined the New York Proton Center in 2023 following a residency in therapeutic medical physics at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, where she was a chief resident. In addition to her treatment planning responsibilities, Ms. Haertter is involved in research focused on optimizing patient care through the study of new techniques and processes.

Haibo Lin, PhD, DABR, Director of Medical Physics, holds a bachelor’s degree in applied physics from Xinjiang University, Urumqi, China and a PhD in solid state physics from Nankai University, Tianjin, China. He received a second PhD, in optical imaging physics, from the University of Missouri, where he concurrently studied for a master’s degree in medical physics. Following his medical physics residency at the University of Pennsylvania, Dr. Lin remained at Penn as a medical physicist and adjunct assistant professor. He was recruited to the New York Proton Center in 2018. Dr. Lin has wide research interests in proton therapy and continuously contributes peer-reviewed publications, conference abstracts and book chapters. He is associate editor of the Journal of Applied Clinical Medical Physics and reviewer for multiple major scientific journals in medical physics and radiation oncology.

M Ronny Rahman, PhD, medical physicist, received a Bachelor of Science in Applied Physics from New York University, and a PhD in Biomedical Engineering and Medical Physics from Dartmouth College. He completed the Therapeutic Physics residency at UT Southwestern Medical Center. His research interests and contributions include FLASH radiotherapy, motion management, optical imaging in radiotherapy, risk assessment, patient safety, and re-irradiation. Dr. Rahman joined the New York Proton Center in 2024.

Jacob Rembish, PhD, received a Bachelor of Science degree in radiological health engineering from Texas A&M University and a PhD in radiological sciences from the University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio. He completed his medical physics residency at NYU Langone Health, where he served as a chief resident. His research interests include the development of clinical programing scripts as well as the evaluation of various treatment planning techniques. Dr. Rembish joined the New York Proton Center in 2023.

Shouyi “Alex” Wei, Ph.D, medical physicist, earned his Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering with a focus on Medical Physics from Stony Brook University. He subsequently completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the New York Proton Center, where he returned in 2024 following a medical physics residency at Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey. Dr. Wei’s research interests encompass proton pencil beam scanning treatment planning, as well as emerging treatment modalities like FLASH and spatially fractionated radiotherapy.

Lee Xu, MS, medical physicist received his Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry from New York University and master’s degree in medical physics from Columbia University. He joined the New York Proton Center in 2021 following a residency in medical physics at the University of Pennsylvania. At the New York Proton Center, he is leading the development of a treatment planning protocol for proton lattice spatially fractionated lattice radiotherapy to treat large tumors with reduced toxicity. Mr. Xu is also the Physics Education Coordinator, mentoring physics residents from several academic medical centers during their proton rotations. His research interests include treatment planning, arts in medicine, and medical/physics education.

Francis Yu, MS, DABR, is a senior medical physicist, lead medical physicist in the gastrointestinal (GI) service, and the New York Proton Center’s radiation safety officer. He received a bachelor’s degree in physics from Shanghai Jiaotong University and a master’s degree in medical physics from Wayne State University. His professional experience includes medical physicist positions at New York Presbyterian Hospital Queens, JFK Medical Center/Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami, and Chief Medical Physicist and radiation safety officer at Holy Redeemer Hospital in Philadelphia. Mr. Yu joined the New York Proton Center in 2018 and established its radiation safety program.

Anna Zhai, MS, senior planning medical physicist, holds a Bachelor of Medicine degree in anesthesiology from Xinjiang Medical University, China, and a master’s degree in medical physics from the University of Missouri. She joined the New York Proton Center in 2018 following more than seven years as a proton planning medical physicist at The Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia. Ms. Zhai has been continuously involved in presenting the proton therapy planning training and education course to internal and visiting medical dosimetrists, medical physicists and physicians at Penn and the New York Proton Center. She helped establish institutional proton planning protocols at the New York Proton Center.

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