The UAB Department of Radiation Oncology is pleased to announce the promotion of three faculty members in the areas of medical physics, radiation oncology, and radiobiology, effective Oct. 1, 2024.

Please join us in congratulating Carlos E. Cardenas, Ph.D., and Adam Kole M.D., Ph.D., on promotions to associate professor, non-tenure, and to Lewis Z. Shi, M.D., Ph.D., on promotion to professor and tenure. We thank these faculty members for their passion, commitment and distinct contributions to our department, patients, and the UAB medical community.

Carlos E. Cardenas, Ph.D. — Promoted to Associate Professor, non-tenure

Cardenas is Director of Automated Treatment Planning for the UAB Department of Radiation Oncology and Director of Artificial Intelligence Research and Development at the Marnix E. Heersink Institute for Biomedical Innovation in the UAB Heersink School of Medicine. Cardenas is a medical physicist whose laboratory conducts foundational research in AI-driven radiotherapy treatment planning. He serves on several national and international task groups focused on automation for treatment planning including the American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM), The European Society for Radiotherapy and Oncology (ESTRO), and NRG. Cardenas holds a doctorate degree from the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, where he previously served as assistant professor before joining the UAB Department of Radiation Oncology faculty in 2021.

Adam Kole, M.D., Ph.D. — Promoted to Associate Professor, non-tenure

Kole is a radiation oncologist and serves as Medical Director of Proton Therapy in the UAB Department of Radiation Oncology. He is also an associate scientist in the O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center at UAB. His research interests focus on the use of proton radiotherapy and the treatment of thoracic malignancies such as lung cancer. Kole earned his medical and doctorate degrees from the University of North Carolina and completed his radiation oncology residency at Yale-New Haven Hospital before joining the UAB Department of Radiation Oncology faculty in 2018.

Lewis Z. Shi, M.D., Ph.D. — Promoted to Professor, tenured

Shi is the Director of Radiobiology of the UAB Department of Radiation Oncology Division of Radiation Biology and holds the distinction of Koikos-Petelos-Jones-Bragg ROAR Endowed Professor for Cancer Research at UAB. He is also a scientist in the O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center and the Center for Clinical and Translational Science (CCTS). His research program investigates the interaction of T-cell metabolism and radiotherapy, resistance to immunotherapies, and fundamental mechanisms underlying the role of the immune system in cancer therapies. He is a prior winner of the UAB Heersink School of Medicine’s Featured Discovery, which celebrates important research from Heersink School of Medicine faculty members. Shi previously held faculty appointments at Case Western Reserve University and the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center prior to joining the UAB Department of Radiation Oncology faculty in 2018.