Allen Movahed, PhD – Medical Physicist

While much of what Dr. Allen Movahed does at CTCA at Southwestern Regional Medical Center is behind the scenes, he is an integral member of our care team. As a medical physicist, Dr. Movahed is responsible for ensuring that patients who undergo radiation therapy receive the proper dosage of radiation. He makes sure that the highly advanced, technological equipment used in the Radiation Oncology Department, such as the TomoTherapy® HI-ART Systems®, are functioning properly each day.

Dr. Movahed, who speaks five languages, received clinical post doctorate training in medical radiation therapy physics at the University of Oklahoma in 2004. Prior to that, he earned a master’s of science degree in medical physics from Anna University in Madras, India and a doctorate of philosophy degree in medical physics from the Cancer Institute of Madras at the University of Madras, respectively. While at the Cancer Institute of Madras, Dr. Movahed was involved in pioneering work on bone scanning application for treating patients with breast cancer.

He has more than 18 years of experience in the fields of medical physics, including nuclear medicine, radiology, radiation protection and radiation oncology. Dr. Movahed has gone through extensive training in the application of key radiation therapies offered at CTCA, including IMRT, TomoTherapy® and TheraSphere®. He also holds a certificate in radiation safety.

Before joining CTCA, Dr. Movahed served on the faculty and taught medical physics to graduate students and radiology residents at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center and at medical science universities in Tehran, Iran. He helped many students prepare for careers in radiology and nuclear medicine. At the University of Oklahoma’s hospital, he also worked as medical physicist in the Radiation Oncology Department, excelling in Gamma Knife® and High-Dose Rate (HDR) brachytherapy treatments.

Dr. Movahed is accomplished in the private sector, as well, having worked for GAMMEX rmi, under close collaboration with the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He excelled in implementing creative ideas for measuring tools that allowed for improved functioning and delivery of radiation treatment.

He has presented his work at conferences and meetings for the International Organization for Medical Physics, the American Association of Physicists in Medicine and the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology. In addition, he has been published in the Journal of Nuclear Medicine and the Journal of Applied Clinical Medical Physics.

Dr. Movahed says he is extremely proud to be a part of CTCA. He feels that because CTCA is taking everything into consideration in caring for patients, from providing traditional medical treatments to complementary therapies such as nutrition and naturopathy, patients are receiving superior care.

He says, “Few cancer centers nationwide treat the whole person. The fact that we offer our patients the entire package—to help them heal physically and physiologically—impressed me and led me to join CTCA.”

Dr. Movahed says he is especially proud of his wife and grateful for all of the inspiration she has given him.

He is a member of the American Association of Physicists in Medicine and an associate member of the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology.