George W. Sledge Jr MD

George Sledge is a group of patients George Sledge, Jr., MD, will never forget. Many of them have been dead for decades, yet they continue to inspire the work he does today. It’s a rare oncologist, he says, who doesn’t remember his patient’s name, because it is such a personal business “where all the grief, anxiety, concern, the fears, the family issues, the psychosocial issues are thrust in your face on a regular basis and become an important part of your life.” George Sledge went into medicine to help people, and those he wanted to help most, he realized early in his training, were cancer patients. He has devoted his professional life to understanding the biology of cancer and working to improve treatments specifically for breast cancer. A former president of the American Society for Clinical Oncology, Sledge was recruited from Indiana University School of Medicine to succeed former Oncology Division Chief Ronald Levy, MD.

He received his medical degree at Tulane University, did his residency in internal medicine at St. Louis University and did a fellowship in medical oncology at the University of Texas-San Antonio. He is a noted leader in cancer research, the author of more than 250 scientific publications, and the recipient of numerous awards. Today Sledge is the head of a Division renowned for having found cures for lymphoma and Hodgkin’s disease. As Chief, he is capitalizing on existing strengths in the Division and building new areas of excellence, recruiting faculty, and expanding the programs in urologic and breast cancers.