Varian Medical Systems Names Dr. John Adler as Chief of New Clinical Applications

PALO ALTO, Calif., March 8 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Varian Medical Systems (NYSE: VAR) today announced that it has appointed John R. Adler, Jr., M.D., as Vice President and Chief of New Clinical Applications for the company.  Dr. Adler, a renowned neurosurgeon, professor of Neurosurgery and Radiation Oncology at Stanford University, and past CEO, chairman and founder of Accuray, Inc., will be joining Varian to play a key role in guiding the development of Varian's next-generation clinical products and applications for radiosurgery and other new treatments.  

"John Adler brings a unique combination of strengths to the Varian team, including expertise in radiosurgery together with an impressive record of success as a clinical researcher, innovator, and entrepreneur," said Tim Guertin, president and CEO of Varian.  "He is a respected clinician who will have a strong voice in the development of Varian's next-generation surgical products."

"I welcome the opportunity to join Varian where I will have a broad technological platform and management's enthusiastic commitment to continue shaping the still-emerging field of radiosurgery and to enhance clinical offerings for radiotherapy," said Dr. Adler.  "Varian is already among the leaders in radiosurgery and I am convinced that the future will bring even better technology and a broadening array of clinical applications for precision radiation that can attack more and more diseases and help save the lives of untold numbers of patients."

Dr. Adler, who joins Varian effective April 5, will report to Guertin and be a member of the CEO staff.  He will represent Varian at medical meetings and partner with radiation oncologists and surgeons to develop products and clinical approaches that expand the applications for and improve the outcomes of radiosurgery.  His responsibilities include working with the medical community to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of Varian clinical products through best-in-class designs, techniques, and processes.

Varian has installed more than 170 dedicated surgical units and another 1,000 units capable of both radiotherapy and radiosurgery among more than 5,800 installations operating around the world.

Dr. Adler, 55, was the Founder, CEO, Chief Medical Officer, Chairman and Board Member for Accuray (Nasdaq: ARAY), where he served from 1991 until 2009.  He also served as a Professor of Neurosurgery and Radiation Oncology at Stanford University from 1987 through 2010.  In his most recent position at Stanford, Dr. Adler served as the Dorothy and TK Chan Professor of Neurosurgery.  Prior to joining Stanford, Dr. Adler did a neurosurgical residency at  the Brigham & Women's, Children's  and Massachusetts General Hospitals in Boston.  His training included a one year fellowship with Lars Leksell at the Karolinska Institute, the father of radiosurgery.

He serves on the editorial boards of the Neurosurgery, Technology in Cancer Research & Treatment, Journal of Image-Guided Surgery, Chinese Journal of Clinical Oncology,and functions as editor in chief of peerEmed.com.  Dr. Adler  previously served on the editorial boards of Stroke and Journal of Radiosurgery.

Dr. Adler is currently president-emeritus and chairman of the CyberKnife Society, an organization he founded, and a member of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons, the American Association of Neurological Surgeons, the Western Neurosurgical Society, the John W. Hanbery Society, the International Society of Stereotactic Radiosurgery, and the American Society of Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery.

Dr. Adler graduated magna cum laude from Harvard College in 1976 and from Harvard Medical School in 1980.  

Note to editors: High resolution photos are available in the Varian online newsroom.

Varian Medical Systems, Inc., of Palo Alto, California, is the world's leading manufacturer of medical devices and software for treating cancer and other medical conditions with radiotherapy, radiosurgery, proton therapy, and brachytherapy. The company supplies informatics software for managing comprehensive cancer clinics, radiotherapy centers and medical oncology practices. Varian is a premier supplier of tubes and digital detectors for X-ray imaging in medical, scientific, and industrial applications and also supplies X-ray imaging products for cargo screening and industrial inspection. Varian Medical Systems employs approximately 5,000 people who are located at manufacturing sites in North America, Europe, and China and approximately 79 sales and support offices around the world. For more information, visit http://www.varian.com. VMS122

SOURCE Varian Medical Systems, Inc.