Dr. Alfred Goldson, 57, chief of Radiology and Oncology at Howard University Hospital, dies

Jet, March 1, 2004

Dr. Alfred Goldson, chairman of the Department of Radiation Oncology at Howard University, suffered a heart attack after having been in a coma for 10 days and died at a hospital in Wausau, WI. He was 57.

Dr. Goldson was a pioneer in developing cancer-fighting treatments. He pioneered, in 1975, the now universally utilized radiation seed implantation method to treat prostate cancer at Howard University and at the world-famous Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York. His pioneering of electron beam intraoperative radio-therapy is now an important treatment procedure for many cancers.

At the time of his death, Dr. Goldson was in Rhinelander, WI, to help establish the new Department of Radiation Oncology for the Ministry Medical Group/St. Mary's Hospital, scheduled to open next month.

In 1980, Dr. Goldson became the youngest person appointed by Howard University College of Medicine to a departmental chairmanship.

Dr. Goldson was among the medical team which treated Nation of Islam leader Minister Louis Farrakhan after he was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 1991.

President Clinton appointed Dr. Goldson to the National Cancer Advisory Board in 1994.

A graduate of Hampton University, Dr. Goldson earned a medical degree from Howard University, College of Medicine in 1972. He completed his residency in radiation oncology at Howard University Hospital followed by a fellowship at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.

Dr. Goldson authored articles on radiation oncology and volunteered in bringing cancer treatment to Tanzania, Liberia and Haiti.

He is survived by his wife of 29 years, Amy, two daughters, his mother, a brother and a sister.