The clinical community now accepts the 'hadron therapy,' and medically-dedicated accelerator facilities are built at medical centers around the world. As a physicist Dr. Chu made important contributions in the highly interdisciplinary field of emerging radiation medicine. He directed the pioneering research in physics, biology and clinical use of the accelerated particles; he published reports on how to construct the hospital-based medical accelerators; and he worked with the private sector in constructing hospital-based medical accelerator facilities around the world.

From 1980 until 1993 when the Bevalac was closed, Dr. Chu directed the Bevalac biomedical group to provide effective particle beams for cancer treatment and radiation biology. Dr. Chu designed many scientific devices to deliver clinical beams accurately and safely. Recognizing his contribution, the Federal Laboratory Consortium in 2000 awarded to Dr. Chu its coveted FLC-2000 Award for Excellence in Technology Transfer. He also received two R&D-100 Awards for hadron therapy technology development (1987 and 1992). The R&D-100 Awards are given to 100 most important inventions of the world in the year.

Dr. Chu is a founding member of the Particle Therapy Cooperative Group, which is an international society of scientists, physicians, biologists, and other technical personnel who are interested in the development and dissemination of hadron therapy. Dr. Chu is a one of the most prominent hadron therapy scientists in the world, and his advice is sought out by almost every new construction of medical accelerator facilities.

There is another front in treating cancer using epithermal neutrons, called boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT). Compared with the neutron beams produced at the nuclear reactors, accelerator-based neutron source will provide clinically much superior neutron radiation for the treatment of glioblastoma multiforme and other human cancer. Dr. Chu is directing a project at LBNL to develop an accelerator-based neutron source to be used for BNCT clinical trial in collaboration with physicians from the UC San Francisco.

Dr. Chu also directs a DOE Initiative for Proliferation Prevention (IPP) project to engage more than 100 cold-war weapons scientists in Russia in development of peaceful technology.