April 6, 2005 — Dr. Shirnett Williamson will join the Charlotte Kimelman Cancer Institute as the radiation oncologist. This is the first major announcement of a leadership position for the CKCI, scheduled to open this July.
"We are extremely pleased and proud to have Williamson join our growing cancer care team," said Rodney Miller, President and CEO of the Roy L. Schneider Hospital. "She is an example of how committed we are to attracting the best cancer care team possible to staff the Charlotte Kimelman Cancer Institute."
The Jamaican-born physician made her first public appearance during the second annual Cure for Life Telethon on TV2 last weekend. The telethon raised more than $330,000 for the Charlotte Kimelman Cancer Institute.
"I am very pleased to be back in the Caribbean and very motivated to join the new Charlotte Kimelman Cancer Institute," Williamson said. "I had experienced cancer in my own family, as my grandmother and father died from cancer. This is an opportunity to give back to the Caribbean people, and I look forward to providing compassionate cancer care as well as cancer education and awareness to the community. I am very excited to be in the U.S. Virgin Islands," she said.
Radiation oncologists oversee and direct the care of cancer patients. They are specially trained in the use of high energy x-rays. This technique, also known as radiation therapy, is used to treat more than two-thirds of call cancers.
Williamson, Board-certified in radiation oncology, has been listed for the last four years as a top doctor in the New York metro area by Castle Connolly Medical Ltd. After graduating with two Bachelors of Sciences degrees at McGill University in Montreal, Canada, she attended medical school at Howard University in Washington, D.C. Williamson completed her residency in Radiation Oncology at Thomas Jefferson Hospital in Philadelphia. For nearly nine years, she was a clinical assistant professor of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania working at one of their community hospital satellite offices. Williamson has considerable experience in clinical research, and was the principal investigator for radiation oncology clinical trials at her institution. Very active in her community with cancer education, she was honored by the mayor of Trenton and served as a chapter president for the American Cancer Society in Mercer County, New Jersey.
Williamson will be moving to St. Thomas this month with her husband, Dr. Derrick Grant, and their three children.
