Walther Supportive Oncology Program at Indiana University School of Medicine has named James Cleary as director, where he will join the faculty in July to lead the program and will hold the Walther Senior Chair in Supportive Oncology. He will also be a professor of medicine.
An Australian-trained medical oncologist and palliative care physician, Cleary, who has been in the United States for 24 years, is recognized globally for his expertise in palliative care medicine and cancer pain.
He is currently a professor of medicine at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health in Madison, Wisconsin. He also is a palliative care physician with the UW Health palliative care program, which he started in 1996.
In 2011, he stepped down as medical director of the clinical program to commit more of his efforts to improving global palliative care. He has been director of the Pain and Policy Studies Group, a World Health Organization Collaborating Center for Pain Policy & Palliative Care at the UW Carbone Cancer Center, for the past seven years.
He earned his medical degree from the University of Adelaide in South Australia, and he completed his medical oncology fellowship (Fellow of the Australasian College of Physicians) at the Royal Adelaide Hospital. He was a founding fellow of the Australasian Chapter of Palliative Medicine through his oncology training and laboratory work in opioid pharmacogenetics.
Cleary’s research has been extensively supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health/National Cancer Institute, Livestrong, the Open Society Institute and others.
IU School of Medicine recently received a $14 million gift from the Walther Cancer Foundation to create a supportive oncology program that goes beyond standard therapies such as surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation and seeks to care for a patient’s overall physical, mental, and spiritual well-being. The program is named the Walther Supportive Oncology Program in recognition of the foundation’s generosity.
