St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital Appoints James R. Downing, MD, as CEO
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital announced the appointment of James R. Downing, MD, as its new CEO, effective July 15, 2014. Dr. Downing most recently has served as the Deputy Director, Executive Vice President and Scientific Director of the hospital. He succeeds William E. Evans, PharmD, who is retiring from the position after 10 years and returning full-time to his long-standing pharmacogenomics research program at St. Jude.
“Dr. Downing is an exceptional scientist whose visionary approach to the next era of growth and discovery at St. Jude will mirror the legacy established by Danny Thomas more than 50 years ago,” said Terry Burman, Chairman of the St. Jude Board of Governors. “Dr. Downing’s seminal contributions to understanding genetic origins of disease, as both the catalyst and leader of the St. Jude Pediatric Cancer Genome Project initiatives, have laid a foundation for a new period of research and treatment of childhood cancer and other life-threatening diseases.”
New Era of Expansion
Dr. Downing’s primary focus immediately upon assuming the CEO office will be to oversee a new era of clinical, research, and infrastructure expansion throughout the St. Jude global network
“It is my responsibility as the new CEO of St. Jude to ensure that St. Jude remains the global leader in the fight against pediatric cancer and other deadly illnesses, continuing to set the global agenda to achieve our mission to advance cures,” Dr. Downing said.
Dr. Downing outlined his vision for St. Jude’s next generation of clinical and research expansion, which will include:
- Continuing growth in the number of cancer patients treated on the St. Jude campus
- Expanding the institution’s treatment and research program on pediatric solid tumors
- A significant expansion of St. Jude’s International Outreach Program, as well as the global expansion of St. Jude–led treatment studies
- Incorporating an increased level of comprehensive genomic analyses into the clinical workup of every child treated (through the Pediatric Cancer Genomic Project)
- Increasing the number of patients enrolled on the St. Jude LIFE long-term follow-up survivor study, a program that is helping to define the long-term health problems of survivors of pediatric cancer and determine how to effectively manage and ultimately eliminate these medical problems
- Establishing a formalized patient advocacy consortium, in partnership with existing organizations, to better serve the patient-family community, including acceleration of federal and private drug therapy development and approvals
The content in this post has not been reviewed by the American Society of Clinical Oncology, Inc. (ASCO®) and does not necessarily reflect the ideas and opinions of ASCO®.
