2025-2026 MCW Radiation Oncology Annual Report - Flipbook - Page 4
2025-2026 Medical College of Wisconsin, Radia琀椀on Oncology Annual Report
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Dr. Colleen Lawton retired from MCW following nearly 40 years of service, effective
Jan. 9, 2024. Dr. Lawton excelled in her undergraduate studies and graduated Summa
Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from Marquette University in
1979. She completed medical school and residency in Radiation Oncology at MCW and
joined the Department of Radiation Oncology Faculty in 1987. A decade later in 1997,
having made highly impactful contributions across all missions of MCW, Dr. Lawton
became the 33rd woman promoted to Professor and was awarded tenure in 2002. Her
first peer reviewed manuscript entitled Extended field radiation for prostate carcinoma
with para-aortic lymph node metastasis was published in 1986 and the associated
platform presentation was awarded the 1985 American Radium Society Resident Essay
Award. This was the first of many publications pertaining to the treatment of prostate
cancer and foreshadowed Dr. Lawton’s major contributions defining the current role of radiation therapy in
the treatment of prostate cancer and other GU malignancies.
Early in her career, Dr. Lawton also accepted a major challenge to join a distinguished multidisciplinary team
to help develop a world class bone marrow transplant program at MCW. Her initial work related to T-Cell
depleted allogeneic bone marrow transplantation (BMT) incorporated an innovative fractionated TBI regimen.
This became the standard for unrelated allogeneic transplantation as highlighted in landmark publications in
the New England Journal of Medicine, Blood, and other high impact journals.
In collaboration with mentor John Molder, the team also developed a rat model of BMT related renal injury
that was used to identify off-label use of ACE inhibitors to mitigate this injury. The ACE inhibitor story remains
a focus of our radiobiology section and other laboratories across the world that continue to investigate the
use of ACE inhibitors as a model compound for the mitigation of other normal tissue radiation injury.
Dr. Lawton published over 220 full length peer reviewed manuscripts, nearly 150 abstracts, numerous book
chapters, invited reviews, and letters to the editor. Complimenting her clinical contributions, Dr. Lawton
demonstrated a commitment to service. She served the Department as the MCW Residency Program Director
from 1990-2014 and as Department Vice Chair from 2011 until her retirement. She served on multiple
important committees and held leadership roles within ASTRO, RTOG/NRG, AAWR, RSNA, ACR, ABR and ARS.
She served as the 54th overall and 4th women president of ASTRO from 2011-12. Most recently, Dr. Lawton
co-chaired the Development Committee that established the Radiation Oncology Institute (ROI). She was
awarded the ASTRO Gold medal in 2021 for significant and sustained service and her meaningful scientific
contributions to Radiation Oncology.
This incomplete summary of Dr. Lawton’s accomplishments is not the whole story. Dr. Lawton has mentored
countless medical students, residents, and faculty, serving as a role model, particularly for women pursuing an
academic career in the field of Radiation Oncology and academic medicine in general. Further, she was central
to establishing a culture of caring in our department, always ready to help those who might be struggling, yet
still challenging each of us to do better and to do the right thing, at the right time, and for the right reason. We
are grateful for her many years of valuable service and collaboration, and sincerely wish Dr. Lawton, her
husband Pat, their children, grandchildren, and her extended family our very best wishes in retirement.
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