In Memoriam

Jerome Carl Landry, MD, MBA, was an expert and pioneer in the field of radiation oncology and the treatment of patients with gastrointestinal (GI) tumors. A longtime investigator with the ECOG-ACRIN Cancer Research Group (ECOG-ACRIN), he was the first person to use and develop image-guided and advanced therapeutic techniques. These practices now define modern radiation treatments that continue to improve outcomes for patients.

Dr. Landry was known internationally and published extensively on intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) for gastrointestinal tumors and soft tissue sarcomas, providing on-site IMRT training in more than 40 radiation oncology centers in the US and abroad. His work has been highlighted at numerous medical and academic conferences.

After overcoming neurologic complications from polio as a child, Dr. Landry went on to graduate magna cum laude from Xavier University in New Orleans. He earned his medical degree from Harvard Medical School and joined Emory University in 1983 as a resident in internal medicine prior to returning to Harvard for his residency training in radiation therapy at Massachusetts General Hospital, where he served as chief resident in his final year. In 1987, he returned to Emory and joined a small group of colleagues to form what is now known as the Winship Cancer Institute. In addition, he developed radiation oncology services at Grady Memorial Hospital and served there as medical director until 2016.

After three decades of service, in 2018, Emory established an endowed professorship, Jerome Landry, MD, Chair of Cancer Biology.

Anuradha (Bapsi) Chakravarthy, MD (Vanderbilt University) honored Dr. Landry’s life and career at the General Session of the Fall 2022 ECOG-ACRIN Group Meeting in October. Dr. Chakravarthy, who chairs the ECOG-ACRIN Radiation Oncology Committee, described him not only as an excellent clinical investigator, but a funny, kind person who helped them improve their work.

“Landry was a leader in the field of GI oncology and led national clinical trials,” says Suresh Ramalingam, MD, executive director of the Winship Cancer Institute at Emory University, and a deputy chair of ECOG-ACRIN. “He leaves a long-lasting legacy in the field and at Winship.”

Read the Emory University memorial here.