RANCHO SANTA FE — The American Radium Society presented its 2026 Gold Medal Award to Rancho Santa Fe resident Dr. Thomas Buchholz, medical director of Scripps Cancer Center, during its annual meeting on May 2 in Newport Beach.
The Gold Medal Award is the organization’s highest honor for a member who has made significant contributions to oncology in clinical practice, science and education, as well as for outstanding service to the society.
Founded in 1916, the American Radium Society is the nation’s oldest medical society devoted to the study and treatment of cancer.
Physician colleagues who nominated Buchholz cited his achievements as a breast cancer radiation oncologist, researcher and scholar, as well as his mentorship and leadership at major cancer centers and clinical research programs.
Since 2018, Buchholz has directed patient care activities at Scripps Cancer Center while maintaining a part-time clinical practice as a Scripps Clinic physician. He also serves as chief scientific officer of Scripps Health, overseeing clinical trials and research studies.
Buchholz has more than 30 years of experience in radiation oncology. Before joining Scripps, he spent two decades at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, where he served in multiple leadership roles, including physician-in-chief, executive vice president, provost and chair of radiation oncology.
He helped develop early techniques now standard for monitoring tumor response to chemotherapy in breast cancer patients and co-founded the first inflammatory breast cancer clinic in Houston, later introducing a similar clinic in San Diego. He began his career with the U.S. Air Force, where he developed brachytherapy and stereotactic radiation programs for the Department of Defense.
His breast cancer research includes approximately 400 peer-reviewed journal articles, nearly 100 editorials and 40 book chapters. He previously served as editor-in-chief of “Breast Diseases: A Yearbook Quarterly” and has been recognized as one of the top 100 international breast cancer lifetime scholars by ScholarGPS. He also co-chaired the Breast Cancer Steering Committee of the National Cancer Institute’s National Clinical Trial Network.
Buchholz has presented frequently at national meetings, including those of the American Society for Radiation Oncology, the American Association for Cancer Research and the American Society of Clinical Oncology. He has mentored residents, fellows and researchers for decades and held teaching roles at the University of Washington School of Medicine and the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio.
He has also served extensively within the American Radium Society, including as president in 2013, and has participated in more than a dozen annual meetings in various roles. Buchholz received the society’s young oncologist essay award in 1991 and is a fellow of the ARS, ASTRO and the American College of Radiology.
Buchholz earned his bachelor’s degree from Bucknell University and his medical degree from Tufts University. He completed his residency and fellowship training at the University of Washington Medical Center and is board-certified by the American Board of Radiology and the National Board of Medical Examiners.