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Please join us in congratulating Dr. Hung-Jui (Ray) Tan! Dr. Tan’s journey to this milestone started right here in our community.


After graduating with distinction from the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics, Dr. Tan received his BA in Chemistry and BS in Economics at Trinity College at Duke University. He went on to complete his medical degree at The University of Michigan Medical School, where he stayed for urology residency.  He next pursued urologic oncology fellowship at UCLA, where he also obtained a master’s degree at the Fielding School of Public Health. He joined UNC in July 2016 in the rank of Assistant Professor.

Since joining the faculty, Dr. Tan has built up a busy practice in urologic oncology and an exceptionally productive interdisciplinary research program, all while contributing substantially to our education and quality improvement missions.  The compassionate, patient-centered care that directly informs his research has been consistently recognized by his patients with the Carolina Care Excellence Award as well as by his peers nationally, with Best Doctors and Top Doctors recognition.  His nationally known research program focuses on cancer care quality, risk communication, and medical decision-making.  The transformative impact of this work has been recognized with the Early Career Investigators Award from the American Urological Association and the Young Urologic Oncologists Paper of the Year Award, as two examples among many highly prestigious local and national honors and awards.

One of the few urologists to obtain a first-author publication in the Journal of the American Medical Association, he is an innovative investigator who has demonstrated an extraordinary ability to answer important questions with novel methods and to cross disciplines to lead effective teams. Since his appointment to the faculty, Dr. Tan has built a robust program of multidisciplinary research that combines advances in clinical informatics, health communication, and implementation science to improve the decision-making process for physicians and patients. Dr. Tan’s Mentored Research Scholar Grant from the American Cancer Society entitled, “Designing visual tools to enhance cancer surgeon decision-making,” aims to elevate the visual design of health information technology, so it more effectively communicates data to surgeons. Ultimately, this research will enable more effective translation of empiric risk data into real-world decision-making. He also serves as Co-Principal Investigator for GRADE-SRM (Genomic Risk Assessment and Decisional Evaluation for Small Renal Masses), the #1 accruing trial at UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center in 2020 and was recently awarded an Idea Development Award from the Department of Defense for his study, “Personalizing kidney cancer communication to support patient-centered decision-making.”  In this effort, Dr. Tan is leading a multidisciplinary team of faculty experts from across the university, spanning the Schools of Nursing and Journalism, as well as the School of Medicine.  Through these projects, Dr. Tan and his collaborators hope to bring greater clarity to how patients perceive risk and to foster a better decision-making experience for patients through tailored communication.

Since 2021, he has served as Physician Service Leader of our inpatient service, regularly meeting with our inpatient nurse manager and quality coach to review performance data and lead quality improvement efforts. Under his leadership, UNC was the first program outside of the state of Michigan to join the internationally recognized Michigan Urologic Surgery Improvement Collaborative (MUSIC), improving the quality of the MRI fusion prostate biopsy program at UNC.  Nationally, he serves as a member of the American Urological Association Data Committee, and was appointed to serve on the American College of Radiology’s Advisory Committee for the Prostate MR Image Quality Improvement Collaborative.

In the course of his outstanding clinical care and research, Dr. Tan is an exemplary educator.  Reflecting his stature in the eyes of our learners, Dr. Tan received Attending of the Year recognition in 2021 from our residents, a highly coveted honor with stiff competition.  He coordinated our medical student and resident research activities in the Department since 2018 and led our Department through a successful application to establish a fellowship with the Society of Urologic Oncology.  He serves as Director of this fellowship, successfully recruiting nationally sought-after candidates from leading institutions around the country.

As all who have the pleasure of working with Dr. Tan could attest, notwithstanding his many prestigious accomplishments, awards, and recognitions, he remains an exceptionally authentic, humble, and kind servant leader.  We are grateful to have him on our faculty and look forward to his continued leadership in the years to come!

 

Dr. Tan Awarded 2021 Urology Attending of the Year award

Dr. Tan and Residents/Fellows

 

Below are some representative quotes from external references’ evaluation of Dr. Tan’s qualifications for promotion to Associate Professor with tenure:

  • “Dr. Tan has a national reputation as a leader in clinical urologic oncology. His research focus is centered on improving decision making and survivorship in urologic malignancies. He has several first and senior author publications in this area which have advanced the field and I expect he will have more as he continues the work supported by these grants. Importantly, he has a documented track record of “team science.” He clearly has a national reputation in the field that continues to grow.

  • “Dr. Tan is an absolute star in our field and could not be more deserving of this promotion! He has a stellar reputation as a superb individual who is a dedicated surgical educator and second-to-none, internationally renowned academician in the comparative effectiveness and surgical quality research space.”

  • “Dr. Tan is the prototypical example of a surgeon scientist. His clinical scholarship has already led to important advances in the clinical care of patients with urologic cancers. Moreover, he has also succeeded in developing an active surgical practice and has spearheaded the creation of a urologic oncology fellowship program.”

  • “Notably, many of Dr. Tan’s publications are in conjunction with researchers across disciplines and across organizations. This strongly demonstrates his commitment and passion for team science, an important criterion for this promotions committee.”