President and CEO, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital
James Downing will never be in the predicament faced by Alexander the Great, who is said to have wept because there were no more worlds to conquer. That's because for Downing, owner of a tireless work ethic, in the world of hematopathological research you’re never “done.”
Despite the impressive record of honors and achievements he has earned since joining St. Jude in 1986, Downing remains perpetually excited by the prospect of what remains ahead, unknown and unachieved.
Thus far, his career at St. Jude has been capped by the launch of the Pediatric Cancer Genome Project (PCGP), one of Time magazine’s top 10 medical breakthroughs for 2012, and his appointment last July as the hospital’s sixth president and CEO. He also has served the institution not only as pathology chair, scientific and deputy director and executive vice president, but as a guiding hand for the research efforts that have positioned St. Jude for a world leadership role in the field of cancer genomics.
The ripple effect of the PCGP has produced groundbreaking discoveries impacting future treatments for four types of brain tumors, four subtypes of childhood leukemia, a cancer of the peripheral nervous system, eye tumors and the degenerative disorder known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. Several hundred participants and researchers at St. Jude are involved in the project, which continues to nurture new findings at more than 100 academic institutions around the world that have already accessed the PCGP’s data for use in their own research — contributing their findings back to the shared and growing body of knowledge.
“That’s one of its major strengths: that data lasts forever, and people use it and continue to make discoveries as new tools come out, as other cases get sequenced,” Downing said.
A leader in launching the project, he describes it as a great team effort, with many areas of expertise coming together to generate, analyze, interpret and then follow up data with more direct experimentation. “It was just an amazing effort that pulled people together better than anything I’ve ever seen,” he said.
Like many super-achievers before him, Downing didn’t anticipate the direction of his career path. As a kid growing up in Detroit during its glory days, he wanted to be a professional baseball player, and he recalls taking the bus to Tiger Stadium to watch the Tigers play — and riding his bike everywhere. “I thought it was the best place on Earth to grow up!”
He was studying engineering at the University of Michigan when he “stumbled on” a biology course and really liked it, eventually gravitating into biomedical research. Medical school offered him the opportunity to pursue research while attending classes; he credits his research mentors at Washington University in St. Louis and the University of Florida for his advances into the field of pathology and hematopathology.
“I actually came to St. Jude primarily to work under Chuck Sherr," he said, referring to Charles Sherr, MD, PhD, Chair-Tumor Cell Biology, “who is still one of St. Jude’s most decorated scientists; he taught me a lot.”
His initial impression of St. Jude wasn’t impressive, he admits. Accustomed to larger cities and larger medical complexes, he judged the place to be far too small during his interview visit; yet something about the place and its people prompted him to give it a try for five years — and he never left.
“I wake up every day excited about what I do," he reflected, “and I still go to bed dreaming about what I do and what I have in front of me. It’s a job I’ve loved since day one.”
A dedicated and renowned researcher, Downing acknowledges that taking on executive duties requires switching gears. “It’s a different kind of leadership opportunity with a different focus,” he said. “As part of the interview process, the board asked me to draft a vision for St. Jude for the next five to 10 years — short, three to five pages, bullet points.”
After considerable thought, conversation (and, of course, research), Downing delivered a nine-page manifesto describing his vision for the hospital, which he is conscientiously implementing.
“St. Jude has an opportunity — almost a responsibility – to step up and be the global leader of pediatric oncology, continuing to advance cures for pediatric catastrophic disease,” he said. "We would like to see significant expansion in our international outreach program. We’re in 15 countries right now with 22 different programs and a budget of about $11 million, which we would like to double or triple over the next four to six years, expanding our model across the globe.”
Recruiting a new leader for the program is a current priority.
Among other items on his list:
Increasing the number of cancer patients brought to the St. Jude campus by more than 20 percent over the next four years. Developing new programs in bone marrow failure syndrome, hereditary cancer predisposition and more. Adding new affiliates and doubling the number of children enrolled on St. Jude protocols at collaborating institutions.
Although he still leads the clinical aspect of the PCGP, he expects to downsize his research laboratory presence in order to fill his new role. The support he receives has smoothed the transition, however. “Every individual who works at St. Jude knows they’re part of this mission and they take great pride in working here," he said. "I feel fortunate and almost humbled to be a part of this incredible faculty and staff.”
From a personal perspective, Downing stresses forward momentum rather than past laurels. “I never feel like I’ve done enough. There are papers I need to write, more cases we need to sequence, people we need to recruit. We have a responsibility to not look at what we’ve done, but to keep looking forward to what we can do.”
Time magazine notwithstanding, however, Downing’s proudest accomplishment is his family — three grown children and three grandchildren. He remains an avid biker, riding about 150 miles a week and striving to break the 40K best time he set when he was 35. Odds are he’ll do it.
