2022 Most Influential in Healthcare Dr. James Downing

Downing has worked at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital for more than 30 years. In 2014, he was tapped to lead the hospital through a new period of clinical, research and infrastructure growth. He is overseeing a six-year plan to fund $12.9 billion of capital projects at St. Jude, in a bid to step up its fight against childhood cancer. With the funding, he aims to address the discrepancy in global cancer survival rates: 80% of children in the U.S. survive, compared with about 20% worldwide. “We want to change the outlook for children with cancer across the globe,” Downing told Modern Healthcare in 2021. Downing is a genome sequencing pioneer, whose lab work focuses on improving cancer treatments.