Dr. Mujahid Rizvi, the medical director of Asante cancer centers in Medford and Grants Pass, has been named the first Heimann Medical Chair of Oncology.

The Asante Foundation announced Rizvi’s appointment in April. It is the health system’s first endowed chair, the hospital said in a release.

Rizvi will oversee programs that treat inpatients — at Rogue Regional Medical Center in Medford — and outpatients at both the Mary and Dick Heimann Cancer Center in Medford and the Helen K. Spears Cancer Center in Grants Pass, the release said. Outpatient care makes up the vast majority of cancer care that Asante provides.

Rizvi will also manage provider education — which at Asante includes a lecture series with experts from places such as Portland, Seattle and San Francisco — and physician recruitment, the release said.

Recruitment is a struggle in Southern Oregon.

“It’s hard to get people to move here,” Rizvi said in an interview, “and so building new cancer centers, building the infrastructure and then having programs available, having the latest treatments available — that all kind of helps us recruit to bring the best talent to the area.”

In addition, he will focus on engaging donors and community members, the release said. Cancer infrastructure — technology, machinery, training, certifications — is expensive, Rizvi said.

“All of that has costs,” he said, “and having the community behind us, having donors willing to support us is helpful, because that helps fund some of those costs.”

As medical director of both cancer centers, Rizvi was doing much of this work already. The chair is a recognition of that work and a way to better define the position, he said.

The $1 million for the chair endowment came out of a $5 million donation for cancer care, including the Heimann Cancer Center, from Mary and Dick Heimann in 2021.

Mary Heimann said in an interview, “I was thrilled and my family was thrilled that he was chosen because his credentials are amazing.”

Her husband, Dick Heimann, died of cancer in September.

“I’m sad that my husband isn’t here,” Mary Heimann said. “He would have been very, very proud that Dr. Rizvi got the position because he’s a leader. He’s already made a difference in his position at the hospital.”

Rizvi said his goal is to “build a cancer program that Mary Heimann and the Heimann family and our community can be proud of.”

Originally from England and Pakistan, Rizvi moved to the Rogue Valley almost 17 years ago after finishing oncology training in Chicago. He joined Asante in 2016 as medical director of oncology. He is also the president of Hematology Oncology Associates and a practicing physician with the corporation.

Rizvi’s father was a physician, as are both of his siblings. “I’m the youngest, so I kind of followed them into it,” he said.

When he was 8, his aunt was diagnosed with breast cancer. Still in early middle age, she died when Rizvi was 13.

He watched his aunt’s treatment, her journey through the disease. The experience led him to oncology.

“I felt that I should help cancer patients,” he said.

The gratitude of the patients and their families reminds him why he chose this line of work.

“I feel lucky every day that I’m able to do what I do,” he said.