Elizabeth Fox, M.D., named senior vice president of clinical trials research at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital

St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital announced today that Elizabeth Fox, M.D., has been named senior vice president of clinical trials research.

In this role, Fox will oversee clinical trials research administration and strategy at St. Jude. She will also serve as the associate director for clinical research in the St. Jude Comprehensive Cancer Center. She will begin in January 2020.

Fox comes to St. Jude from Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, where since 2010 she has served as director of developmental therapeutics in oncology as well as professor of pediatrics. She is an expert in the integration of clinical and pre-clinical pharmacology in clinical trials design for childhood cancer. An expert on rare tumors, including liver tumors and neuroendocrine tumors, she has a keen understanding of the critical role of targeted therapies for improving outcomes and decreasing late effects in childhood cancer.

St. Jude develops more clinical research trials for pediatric cancer than any other children’s hospital and has more than 160 clinical trials in various stages. This long history of scientific advancement through clinical research has helped St. Jude contribute to raising the overall cure rates for pediatric cancers from less than 20% to greater than 80% today. St. Jude is the first and only institution solely focused on pediatric cancer to be designated by the National Cancer Institute as a Comprehensive Cancer Center.

"We are thrilled that Dr. Fox is bringing her experience with early phase clinical trials to St. Jude during this exciting time of growth in our history," said Charles Roberts, M.D., Ph.D., executive vice president and director of the St. Jude Comprehensive Cancer Center. "Dr. Fox has a deep commitment to collaborative and cooperative group mentorship—something we need as we strive to increase survival rates for children around the world."

Fox said: “I am very excited to join the clinical research team at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital at a time of growth and implementation of innovative therapies for cancer and catastrophic diseases in children. I look forward to working together with the clinicians and research teams at St Jude to improve the outcomes for children at St. Jude, nationally and internationally.”

In addition to her role at CHOP, Fox is vice chair of the National Cancer Institute’s Children’s Oncology Group Developmental Therapeutics Committee and the Pediatric Early Phase Clinical Trial Network. She is also principal investigator of the Alex’s Lemonade Stand Center of Excellence in Clinical Pharmacology and Drug Development at CHOP. She has numerous memberships in national and international professional and scientific societies, including the International Society for Paediatric Oncology, the American Association for Cancer Research and the American Society of Clinical Oncology.

"Dr. Fox is ideally positioned to facilitate expansion of our collaborative endeavors in clinical trials research to further accelerate progress in finding cures for catastrophic illnesses in children," said James R. Downing, MD,  president and CEO of St. Jude. "She will lead a growing team of physicians and scientists working together to achieve breakthroughs in research and treatment."

Fox earned a medical degree at the Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine. She completed internship and residency at the University of Rochester Golisano Children’s Hospital and fellowship training at the Pediatric Oncology Branch of the Intramural Program of the National Cancer Institute. She also holds a master’s degree in clinical research from Duke University College of Medicine, with an emphasis on statistics, research and database management. She received a bachelor’s degree in medical lab science from Northeastern University.