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.
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.
Nutritionist gives food and nutritional information and advice.
Social worker helps you manage social functioning and overall well-being, and can assist with housing or transportation needs.
Child life specialist attends to the care and well-being of pediatric patients.
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.
Oncology Nurse attends to you weekly or as needed to provide expert nursing care.
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.
Qing Chen, MSc, DABR, senior medical physicist, lead medical physicist in stereotactic body proton therapy and the CNS/pediatric services, holds a master’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of Detroit Mercy as well as a master’s degree in medical physics from Wayne State University. He held senior staff medical physics positions at Henry Ford Health System, Duke University Medical Center and at Chester County Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania prior to becoming chief physicist at St. Vincent’s Medical Center in Bridgeport, CT. Mr. Chen joined the New York Proton Center in 2018.
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.
Minglei Kang, PhD, lead medical physicist in commissioning, the thoracic service, and in clinical trial registration credentialing, studied accelerator physics at Peking University, Beijing, where he received his PhD with distinction. Dr. Kang then came to the University of Pennsylvania where he received a certificate of medical physics and completed his medical physics residency and a postdoctoral fellowship. Prior to joining the New York Proton Center in 2018, Dr. Kang was an assistant professor and medical physicist at Medstar Georgetown University Hospital Proton Therapy Center in Washington, DC. Dr. Kang is actively involved in a wide range of research interests and in the New York Proton Center’s education programs. He also serves as a mentor to junior physicists, physics residents, physicist assistants, and visiting physicists.
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.
Pingfang Tsai, PhD, DABR, senior medical physicist and lead medical physicist in proton planning, graduated from Chang Gung University in Taiwan and continued her studies at the University of Florida, Gainesville, where she received a master’s degree and PhD in medical physics. Dr. Tsai joined the New York Proton Center in 2019 after working as a medical physicist for over 10 years in Taiwan, New Jersey and Washington, DC. Her research interests include imaging applications in proton therapy, including synthetic CT and motion pattern detection. Dr. Tsai is an instructor in Varian’s proton therapy training course at the New York Proton Center and mentors residents from NYPC’s three partner hospitals. She is a reviewer for the Journal of Applied Clinical Medical Physics.
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.
