Jorge Cortes, MD
Director and Cecil F. Whitaker Jr., GRA Eminent Scholar Chair in Cancer
Jorge Cortes, MD
Director and Cecil F. Whitaker Jr., GRA Eminent Scholar Chair in Cancer
Jorge Cortes serves as the director for the Georgia Cancer Center and Cecil F. Whitaker Jr., GRA Eminent Scholar Chair in Cancer after spending 27 years at MD Anderson Cancer Center as Deputy Chair Department of Leukemia, Chair of AML and CML Sections, and Leukemia Fellowship Program Director. He was also the Deputy Division Head for the Cancer Network. From 2012 to 2019, he was chair of the executive IRB at MD Anderson, and Chair of the Executive Committee of the Medical Staff from 2012 to 2015.
Dr. Cortes has over 230 grants and research contracts where he was principal investigator and led the approval of five leukemia drugs. He has published more than 1300 manuscripts and has received multiple awards including the John Kenny Award from The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society 2006, The Otis W. & Pearl L. Walters Faculty Achievement Award in Clinical Research, MDACC in 2007, the William Randolph Hearst Foundations Faculty Achievement Award in Education, MDACC in 2013, and the John Goldman Prize from the International CML Foundation in 2018.
A member of the National Academy of Medicine in Mexico, and Dr. Cortes has served as Associate Editor for Blood and as member of the National Board of Directors of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. He is Co-Founder and Co-Director of the International CML Foundation and Vice Chair of the Publications Committee for the American Society of Hematology. Dr. Cortes is President of the Latin American Leukemia Net, member of the National CML Society Medical Advisory Board, member of the International Steering Committee of the Japanese Society of Medical Oncology, and serves on the Augusta University Faculty Development Committee. He is a member of the European LeukemiaNet panel for CML recommendations since 2006 and he is listed in Georgia 500 Top Individuals in their fields by Georgia Trend Magazine, 2022 and 2023. He serves on the Boards of the Augusta Symphony, the Greater Augusta Arts Council, and the Cancer Support Services.
In 2023, Dr. Cortes was ranked 137 among the Top Scientists in the World and 91 in the US by Research.com.