The St. Jude executive leadership team sets institutional priorities and ensures alignment with the organization’s strategic direction. Their oversight spans research, clinical care, operations and global engagement, all in support of the mission.
Together, executive leaders guide daily decisions while maintaining focus on long-term goals, accountability and impact. Their stewardship helps ensure St. Jude remains focused on serving patients and families.
If not St. Jude, then who?
James R. Downing, MD
President & CEO
James R. Downing, MD
President
Chief Executive Officer
James R. Downing, MD, is leading a $12.9 billion commitment to accelerate progress in the research and treatment of pediatric cancer and other catastrophic diseases. This strategy includes expanding St. Jude clinical care and scientific programs in Memphis and around the globe; adding 2,300 jobs; providing $2.3 billion in new construction, renovation and capital needs; and opening new areas of 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.
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.
Executive leadership
Robyn Diaz, JD
Executive Vice President
Chief Legal Officer
Maria Megdal
Executive Vice President
Chief Administrative Officer
Ellis J. Neufeld, MD, PhD
Executive Vice President
Clinical Director
Physician-in-Chief
Charles W.M. Roberts, MD
Executive Vice President
Director, Comprehensive Cancer Center
Carlos Rodriguez-Galindo, MD
Executive Vice President
Director, St. Jude Global
Co-Associate Director, Outreach, Comprehensive Cancer Center
J. Paul Taylor, MD, PhD
Executive Vice President
Scientific Director
Director, Pediatric Translational Neuroscience Initiative
Leadership
M. Madan Babu, PhD, FRSC
Chief Data Scientist
Senior Vice President, Data Science
Dana Bottenfield
Senior Vice President, Human Resources
Christopher Calabrese, PhD
Senior Vice President
Deputy Director of the Scientific Director's Office
Shari Capers
Senior Vice President, Strategic Planning & Decision Support
Amador Centeno
Senior Vice President, Campus Operations
Catherine Corbin, AIA
Senior Vice President, Strategic Innovation & Design
Chief Business Innovation Officer
Sarah Currie, RNC, MSN, NEA-BC
Senior Vice President, Nursing Administration
Chief Nursing Executive
Elizabeth Fox, MD, MS
Senior Vice President, Clinical Trials Research
Associate Director for Clinical Research, Comprehensive Cancer Center
Terrence Geiger, MD, PhD
Senior Vice President
Deputy Director, Academic & Biomedical Operations
Colette Hendricks
Senior Vice President, Clinical Operations
James M. Hoffman, PharmD, MS
Senior Vice President, Quality and Safety
Virgil Holder
Vice President
Chief of Staff
Lisa Jordan, MS, MBA
Senior Vice President, Technology Development & Industry Engagement
Keith Perry, MBA
Senior Vice President, Information Services
Chief Information Officer
Diane Roberts
Vice President, Strategic Communication, Education & Outreach
Brandon Triplett, MD
Deputy Clinical Director
Executive committee
Aseem Z. Ansari
Chair, Chemical Biology & Therapeutics
R. J. Ulrich Endowed Chair
Greg Armstrong, MD, MSCE
Chair, Department of Epidemiology and Cancer Control
Co-Leader, Cancer Control & Survivorship Program
M. Madan Babu, PhD, FRSC, FMedSci, FRS
Chief Data Scientist and Senior Vice President for Data Science
Suzanne J. Baker, PhD
Deputy Director, St. Jude Comprehensive Cancer Center
Shari Capers
Senior Vice President, Strategic Planning & Decision Support
Hongbo Chi, PhD
Co-Director, Center of Excellence for Pediatric Immuno-Oncology (CEPIO)
Associate Director, Basic Science, Comprehensive Cancer CenterCatherine Corbin, AIA
Catherine Corbin, AIA
Senior Vice President and Chief Business Innovation Officer
John D. Crispino, PhD, MBA
Director, Division of Experimental Hematology
Sarah Currie, RNC, MSN, NEA-BC
Senior Vice President
Chief Nursing Executive
Andrew M. Davidoff, MD
Chair, Surgery Department
Director, Surgical Research
Robyn Diaz, JD
Executive Vice President and Chief Legal Officer
James R. Downing, MD
President and Chief Executive Officer
Michael Dyer, PhD
Chair, Developmental Neurobiology Department
Co-Leader, Developmental Biology & Solid Tumor Program
David W. Ellison, MD, PhD, FRCP, FRCPath, FRCPCH
Chair, Pathology Department
Director, Neuropathology
Sara M. Federico, MD
Director, Solid Tumor Division
Richard S. Finkel, MD
Director, Center for Experimental Neurotherapeutics
Terri H. Finkel
Consulting Physician, Pediatric Medicine Department
Elizabeth Fox, MD, MS
Senior Vice President, Clinical Trials Research
Associate Director for Clinical Research, Comprehensive Cancer Center
Amar Gajjar, MD
Chair, Department of Pediatric Medicine
Terrence L. Geiger, MD, PhD
Senior Vice President and Deputy Director for Academic and Biomedical Operations
Stephen Gottschalk, MD
Chair, Department of Bone Marrow Transplantation & Cellular Therapy
Douglas R. Green, PhD
Co-Leader, Cancer Biology Program
Elizabeth Hillman, PhD
Chair, Department of Imaging Sciences
James M. Hoffman, PharmD, MS
Senior Vice President, Quality and Safety
Virgil Holder
Vice President, Chief of Staff
Melissa M. Hudson, MD
Director, Cancer Survivorship Division
Associate Director, Population Sciences
Charalampos Kalodimos, PhD
Chair, Structural Biology Department
Thirumala-Devi Kanneganti, PhD
Vice-Chair, Immunology Department
Director, Center of Excellence for Innate Immunity and Inflammation
Richard W. Kriwacki, PhD
Co-Leader, Cancer Biology Program
Kevin R. Krull, PhD
Chair, Psychology and Biobehavioral Sciences
Peter J. McKinnon, PhD
Vice-Chair, Department of Cell & Molecular Biology
Director, Center for Pediatric Neurological Disease Research
Thomas E. Merchant, DO, PhD
Chair, Radiation Oncology Department
Motomi Mori, PhD, MBA
Chair, Biostatistics
Endowed Chair in Biostatistics
Charles G. Mullighan, MBBS (Hons), MSc, MD
Co-Leader, Hematological Malignancies Program
Medical Director, St. Jude Biorepository
Kirsten K. Ness, PT, PhD, FAPTA
PI, Human Performance Lab
Co-Leader, Cancer Control and Survivorship Program
Ellis J. Neufeld, MD, PhD
Executive Vice President
Clinical Director
Physician-in-Chief
Paul A. Northcott, PhD
Director, Center of Excellence in Neuro-Oncology Sciences (CENOS)
Endowed Chair, Molecular Neuro-Oncology
Alberto Pappo, MD
Co-Leader, Developmental Biology & Solid Tumor Program
Julie Park, MD
Chair, Department of Oncology
Associate Director Comprehensive Cancer Center, Translational Research
Keith Perry, MBA
Senior Vice President
Chief Information Officer
Shondra Pruett-Miller, PhD
Vice President, Cancer Center Shared Resources
Director, Center for Advanced Genome Engineering
Ching-Hon Pui, MD
Co-Leader, Hematological Malignancies Program
Director, China Region, St. Jude Global
Octavio Ramilo, MD
Chair, Department of Infectious Diseases
Charles W. M. Roberts, MD, PhD
Executive Vice President
Director, Comprehensive Cancer Center
Giles W. Robinson, MD
Director, Division of Neuro-Oncology
Co-Leader, Cancer Center Neurobiology and Brain Tumor Program
Carlos Rodriguez-Galindo, MD
Executive Vice President
Chair, Department of Global Pediatric Medicine
Director, St. Jude Global
Co-Associate Director, Outreach, Comprehensive Cancer Center
P. David Rogers, PharmD, PhD, FCCP
Chair, Department of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences
Martine F. Roussel, PhD
Member, Tumor Cell Biology
Charles J. Sherr, MD, PhD
Chair, Tumor Cell Biology Department
Georgios Skiniotis, PhD
Director, Center of Excellence for Structural Cell Biology
Endowed Chair in Structural Cell Biology
Andrew D. Smith, MD, PhD
Chair, Department of Radiology
J. Paul Taylor, MD, PhD
Executive Vice President
Scientific Director
Chair, Cell & Molecular Biology Department
Director, Pediatric Translational Neuroscience Initiative
Victor J. Torres, PhD
Chair, Host-Microbe Interactions
Steven M. Varga, PhD
Dean, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences
Mitchell J. Weiss, MD, PhD
Chair, Hematology Department
Jiyang Yu, PhD
Interim Chair, Department of Computational Biology
More to discover
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Legacy of Leadership
Guided by mission, shaped by generations of leadership. Review the history of CEOs/Directors of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.
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ALSAC/St. Jude Boards of Directors and Governors
The ALSAC/St. Jude Boards of Directors and Governors serve without compensation and provide governance and strategic oversight for both ALSAC and St. Jude.
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Our purpose
St. Jude exists to solve problems that others often cannot or will not solve – pursuing cures and prevention for the most serious diseases children face, and ensuring that discoveries reach children everywhere, not only those treated in Memphis.
