100 Most Influential People in Healthcare - 2022

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.