James Downing

President and Chief Executive Officer

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital

James R. Downing, M.D., is president and chief executive officer of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. He is leading a $12.9 billion commitment to accelerate progress in the research and treatment of pediatric cancer and other catastrophic diseases by expanding St. Jude clinical care and scientific programs in Memphis and around the globe. Dr. Downing’s laboratory work focuses on understanding the genetic basis of cancer and using that information to improve treatments. He was instrumental in launching the Pediatric Cancer Genome Project, an ambitious sequencing effort to discover why childhood cancer arises, spreads and resists treatment. This landmark project has ushered in a decade of discoveries that continues to benefit children. Beyond research, Dr. Downing has been a driving force to take St. Jude to the world. He has championed an expansive program to raise pediatric cancer survival rates internationally. This is being accomplished in part through a global alliance of health care providers who work to ensure children everywhere have access to quality care. A native of Detroit, Dr. Downing earned his undergraduate and medical degrees at the University of Michigan. He joined St. Jude in 1986 after training in anatomic pathology at Washington University in St. Louis and completing a fellowship in hematopathology at the University of Florida in Gainesville. Dr. Downing has received numerous honors, including election to the National Academy of Medicine, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the AACR Academy Class of 2022. He has also received the Society of Memorial Sloan Kettering Prize, the E. Donnall Thomas Lecture and Prize from the American Society of Hematology and the Pediatric Oncology Award from the American Society of Clinical Oncology. Under Dr. Downing’s tenure, St. Jude has been highly rated for its organizational culture by Glassdoor and Fortune magazine. The institution has received numerous accolades as a top workplace for millennials, a best workplace for diversity and a destination workplace for women.