John Joseph O'Connell, MD

John Joseph O’Connell, MD is a radiation oncologist working at various locations with the Prisma Health Cancer Institute. He is a distinguished graduate of the United States Military Academy, West Point and served twenty one years on active duty in the U.S. Army as a physician. During his service to the nation, Dr. O’Connell was awarded the Legion of Merit, Bronze Star Medal, Iraq Campaign Medal, Senior Parachutist Badge and the Zimbabwe Parachutist Badge.

Dr. O’Connell earned his medical degree from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. He subsequently did a transitional internship at the Dwight David Eisenhower Army Medical Center, Fort Gordon, GA. He did his residency training in Radiation Oncology at the National Capital Consortium in Bethesda, MD. He subsequently served as the Program Director for that institution’s Radiation Oncology Residency Program from 2008 through 2014.

Dr. O’Connell has a clinical and research interest in improving the effectiveness of radiation treatments while attempting to reduce the side effects to normal tissues. He is currently leading a laboratory investigation of the use of oscillating electric fields sequenced with fractionated radiation treatments in attempt to sensitize the killing of cancer cells by radiation without increasing damage to surrounding normal tissues.