Jay Steven Loeffler (born December 27, 1955 - died June 22, 2023) was an American physician at Massachusetts General Hospital where he served as Chair of the Department of Radiation Oncology since 2000. He was the Herman and Joan Suit Professor of Radiation Oncology and Professor of Neurosurgery at

Harvard Medical School Harvard Medical School (HMS) is the graduate medical school of Harvard University and is located in the Longwood Medical Area of Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1782, HMS is one of the oldest medical schools in the United States and is consi ...

Education and training

Born in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, Loeffler attended

The Hill School The Hill School (commonly known as The Hill) is a coeducational preparatory boarding school located on a campus in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, about northwest of Philadelphia. The Hill is part of the Ten Schools Admissions Organization (TSAO). ...

in Pottstown, Pennsylvania,

Williams College Williams College is a private liberal arts college in Williamstown, Massachusetts. It was established as a men's college in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim Williams, a colonist from the Province of Massachusetts Bay who was kill ...

, and the

Alpert Medical School The Warren Alpert Medical School (formerly known as Brown Medical School, previously known as Brown University School of Medicine) is the medical school of Brown University, located in Providence, Rhode Island. Originally established in 1811, ...

at Brown University. After medical school, he trained at the former Harvard Joint Center for Radiation Therapy in Boston serving as Chief Resident. He worked in the Laboratory of Radiobiology under John B. Little at the Harvard School of Public Health. He was an attending physician at the Brigham and Women's Hospital and

Dana–Farber Cancer Institute Dana–Farber Cancer Institute is a comprehensive cancer treatment and research institution in Boston, Massachusetts. Dana–Farber is the founding member of Dana–Farber/Harvard Cancer Center, Harvard's Comprehensive Cancer Center designated by ...

specializing in neuro-oncology and was the founding director of the Brain Tumor Center. In 1996, he was recruited to the Massachusetts General Hospital to be the director of the

Francis Burr Francis Hardon Burr (September 15, 1886 – December 5, 1910) was an American football player. He was a first-team All-American guard in 1906 and captain of the 1908 Harvard Crimson football team. After he died of typhoid fever in 1910, the ...

Proton Therapy Center before assuming the role as department chair.

Research

Loeffler has spent his career in the clinical investigation of specialized radiation delivery technologies such as stereotactic radiation and proton therapy. He is an author of over 400 publications, co-editor of nine books and holds funding from the

National Cancer Institute The National Cancer Institute (NCI) coordinates the United States National Cancer Program and is part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), which is one of eleven agencies that are part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. ...

in proton therapy. His h-index according to Google Scholar is 101 with 37,323 citations (as of November 11, 2019). His work helped develop the use of stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS), now the mainstay treatment for benign and malignant intracranial tumors. This pivotal research paved the way for the eventual development of stereotactic ablative radiotherapy (SABR), also known as stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT), which is now widely used for malignancies throughout the body.

Awards

Loeffler is a Fellow or the American College of Radiology, American Society for Radiation Oncology, and American Association of the Advancement of Science. He is a Member of the

National Academy of Medicine The National Academy of Medicine (NAM), formerly called the Institute of Medicine (IoM) until 2015, is an American nonprofit, non-governmental organization. The National Academy of Medicine is a part of the National Academies of Sciences, Eng ...

. He received the Jacob Fabrikant Award for Lifetime Achievement in the field of stereotactic radiosurgery.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Loeffler, Jay Steven Harvard Medical School faculty American oncologists Williams College alumni The Hill School alumni 1955 births Living people Alpert Medical School alumni Members of the National Academy of Medicine