Steven Leibel, MD, medical director of the Stanford Cancer Center (Stanford, California), died of a heart attack Feb. 7. He was 61.

Leibel came to Stanford in 2004 as the first medical director of the newly opened cancer center.

Leibel helped develop extremely precise therapies for treating cancers of the prostate and the brain. This work involved sophisticated new techniques in radiotherapy known as 3-D conformal radiation therapy and intensity-modulated radiation therapy.

Richard Hoppe, MD, professor and chair of radiation oncology at Stanford, said the radiation technique Leibel advocated has since become standard care in prostate cancer. “He was one of the most widely respected radiation oncologists in the field,” Hoppe said.

Leibel was president and chair of the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology, and received the society’s gold medal, the highest honor given.

Stanford University Medical Center integrates research, medical education and patient care at its three institutions: Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford Hospital & Clinics and Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital at Stanford.