Ethiopian visitors observe latest LINAC techniques

This October, the Department of Radiation Oncology at the Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University, with the support of Winship and the Office of Global Strategy and Initiatives, hosted two distinguished visitors -- Dr. Wondemagegnehu Tigeneh, Chief of Radiation Oncology, and Miressa Mijena, Chief of Medical Physics -- from Addis Ababa University’s Tikur Anbessa (Black Lion) Hospital in Ethiopia.

In 2018, Black Lion Hospital will open their first linear accelerator (LINAC), a machine used to provide radiation treatments for patients with cancer. The hospital diagnoses between 60,000 and 150,000 people per year with some form of the disease. Currently, they have two cobalt machines in a country of about 102 million people. The new linear accelerator will vastly expand their ability to provide effective care.

Dr. Tigeneh and Mijena visited Emory in order to observe U.S. medical practices and the latest techniques for using the linear accelerator.

Deborah Watkins Bruner, Robert W. Woodruff Professor of Nursing in the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing, professor of radiation oncology in the School of Medicine, and associate director for mentorship, education, and training at Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University, and Tian Liu, associate professor of radiation oncology and director of medical physics in the department of radiation oncology in the School of Medicine, arranged this visit.