Megan Daly, MD, Excited by Trajectory of Growth in Radiation Oncology

Less than a year into her new role as chair of the Department of Radiation Oncology, Megan Daly, MD, is focused on continued growth for expanded care.

“It’s a very exciting time in the department,” says Megan Daly, MD, chair of the Department of Radiation Oncology at UC Irvine. She stepped into the leadership role in January 2026, coming to Irvine from UC Davis, where she was associate director of clinical research for the UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center. 

“UC Irvine’s Department of Radiation Oncology is in a period of rapid growth,” says Daly, “so it felt like the perfect time to join.” 

Falling into the Field 

While medical school was always a goal for Daly, specializing in radiation oncology happened by chance. 

“My father is a physician, and I really liked my biology classes in high school, so I was always interested in medical school,” says Daly, who earned her biology degree and later her MD from Stanford University. 

“In medical school, I had no idea what specialty I wanted to do, and I just kind of fell into radiation oncology,” she says, recalling how she had an open elective slot in her third year of medical school. 

“Several friends said ‘rad onc’ was a nice elective, so I enrolled with no thoughts of going into the field.” As it turned out, she really enjoyed the rotation. 

“I had already been somewhat interested in oncology, based on some of my other rotations,” says Daly, “so I ended up deciding to go into radiation oncology, a bit late in the game.” 

She has been practicing ever since, completing her residency at UC Davis and spending the early part of her career as a faculty member there before moving to UC Irvine. “I’ve been in the UC system for my whole post-residency career, working as a lung cancer and lymphoma specialist.” 

Daly’s current research spans the spectrum of lung cancer patients. 

“Some of it has been in the space of treatment strategies for patients with early-stage lung cancer who are not candidates for surgery,” she says. “I also have an interest in how we use radiation to prolong the benefits of certain systemic therapies and to selectively treat limited sites of progressive disease, as well as how we might reduce toxicity from lung radiation.” 

Daly is now working to develop a stronger partnership with the UC Irvine Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, where she is part of the Senior Leadership Council. 

“We have a great thoracic oncology team here at UC Irvine,” says Daly. “I’m hoping to expand the number of radiation oncology faculty with grant funding, open additional investigator-initiated clinical trials and collaborate more with the cancer center on joint clinical trials.”

Fostering Continued Growth 

This spirit of expansion isn’t limited to Daly’s own area of research. 

“Compared to just five years ago, the Department of Radiation Oncology has really grown,” she says. “We’ve expanded from one to four centers, so we have a strong geographic reach around Orange County.” There is a new radiation oncology department in the UCI Health — Irvine hospital and two new satellite centers in Los Alamitos and Fountain Valley. These are in addition to services at the Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center in Orange. 

“We’re on a fast growth trajectory,” she says, “and my goal is to see our clinical service continue to expand, so we can serve a greater number of patients in the Orange County area.” 

Daly is also working to build and strengthen programs in emerging areas of radiation oncology, such as treatment of osteoarthritis with low-dose radiation, and the use of stereotactic body radiation therapy for metastatic disease. 

“We have a lot of very enthusiastic faculty who are doing great work,” she says, pointing to Jeremy Harris, MD, as one example. The associate professor of radiation oncology and vice chair of clinical operations recently received the Dr. Charles A. Coltman Jr. Fellowship for clinical research on a new therapy option for patients with sarcoma, a rare type of cancer that starts in the connective tissue. 

She adds that Charles Limoli, PhD, and Peter Maxim, PhD, are conducting research into FLASH radiotherapy, which uses extremely high-dose-rate radiation and spares significantly more normal tissue than conventional radiation therapy. 

“This is just a small sampling of all the great work our faculty is doing,” she says. 

Always on the Run 

When Daly isn’t working to advance lung cancer therapy, expand new programs and support UC Irvine researchers, she is chasing after her 18-month-old son. 

As a former competitive marathon runner — who qualified for the U.S. Olympic trials on three separate occasions — she’s up to the challenge. She’s also a certified open-water scuba diver and an avid cyclist who has completed many 100-mile “century rides.”

 “I’m on hiatus from all of that now,” she says. “I used to run about 60 to 70 miles a week, but I mostly run for enjoyment now, sometimes taking my son with me in the baby jogger stroller. He keeps me fairly busy!” 

Learn more about radiation oncology and related clinical trials.