Blaire Benavides, Charles Gawad M.D., Ph.D. and Rebecca Rogers
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital is honored to have three honorees from the hospital in the Memphis Business Journal’s 2015 Top 40 under 40. Blaire Benavides, Charles Gawad, M.D., Ph.D., and Rebecca Rogers were selected because they exemplify the journal’s criteria for career accomplishments and dedication to the Memphis community.
Blaire Benavides, St. Jude International Outreach Program (IOP) director of operations, has implemented strategies to improve assessment methods at 24 partner sites around the world, which improves the quality of patient care. The IOP program aims to improve survival rates of children with cancer and other life-threatening diseases worldwide. Benavides leads projects to create strong global networks and share St. Jude knowledge, technology and organizational skills with partner sites.
Charles Gawad, M.D., Ph.D., joined the St. Jude Department of Oncology earlier this year. Gawad has developed technological and computational tools to advance understanding of the origins of childhood leukemia at the genomic level. His work has contributed to the development of several St. Jude protocols, and his research with single-cell genomics will pave the way for more effective diagnostics testing and treatments.
Rebecca Rogers, the evening shift supervisor in the St. Jude Department of Pathology, leads a team of 12 who provide laboratory services for patients afterhours. The evening shift team is cross-trained in different sections of the laboratory such as hematology, chemistry, blood bank and microbiology. Rogers participated in the 2012 St. Jude Select program, a program to develop employee leadership skills. Rogers is a member of the National Nominations Committee the American Society for Clinical Laboratory Sciences (ASCLS), and has served as president of the organization’s Memphis and Tennessee chapters. She currently serves as the chair and primary instructor for the ASCLS Leadership Academy for 2015-16.
Each of the winners are featured in a special edition of the Memphis Business Journal, printed on November 13, 2015.
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital is leading the way the world understands, treats and cures childhood cancer and other life-threatening diseases. It is the only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center devoted solely to children. Treatments developed at St. Jude have helped push the overall childhood cancer survival rate from 20% to 80% since the hospital opened more than 50 years ago. St. Jude shares the discoveries it makes, and every child saved at St. Jude means doctors and scientists worldwide can use that knowledge to save thousands more children. To learn more, visit stjude.org or follow St. Jude on social media at @stjuderesearch.