William C. “Bill” Wood, MD, a leader and mentor in the field of breast cancer, passed away in August 2024. A pioneer in surgical oncology, Dr. Wood was recognized nationally and internationally for his outstanding contributions to breast cancer therapy. Prior to his retirement in 2009, he served as the Joseph Brown Whitehead Professor and chair of the Department of Surgery at Emory University. He chaired the Breast Cancer Committee of the ECOG-ACRIN Cancer Research Group (then the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group) from 1993-1997.

“Bill was much loved and will be missed dearly,” said Kathy D. Miller, MD, another former chair of the Breast Cancer Committee and principal investigator for ECOG-ACRIN at Indiana University and the IU Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center. “I could always count on him offering wisdom just as discussions were starting to go off the rails.”

Dr. Wood began his career in Boston, graduating from Harvard Medical School. He then completed a surgical residency at the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and a surgical oncology fellowship at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). After finishing his training, he joined the staff at MGH, eventually becoming chief of surgical oncology and medical director of the cancer center. He was recruited to Emory University in 1991, where he remained for the rest of his career.

Dr. Wood was influential in the design and meta-analysis of conceptually driven clinical trials. His work has paved the way for the modern management of breast cancer today, from the identification and proper management of HER2+ breast cancer (Cancer and Leukemia Group B [CALGB] 8541) to the utilization of genomic assays to guide systemic therapy (TAILORx). He served in leadership roles with the 1990 US NIH Consensus Development Conference on Management of Early Breast Cancer, the NIH Breast Cancer Committee of the CALGB, the Breast Cancer Intergroup Committee, and the National Cancer Institute’s Breast Cancer Steering Committee.

Outside of work, Dr. Wood was a devoted husband and father; he was a Bible teacher and servant leader who spent much of his retirement working to advance surgical care in Africa as academic dean of the Pan African Academy of Christian Surgeons.

He will be missed by his colleagues and friends at ECOG-ACRIN, but his legacy will continue to have an impact on the work of the Breast Cancer Committee and the field at large.

Related:

Obituary by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution