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Joe B. Putnam, Jr., MD (he/him/his)

Medical Director
Baptist MD Anderson Cancer Center
Jacksonville, Florida, United States

Joe B. Putnam, Jr., M. D., F. A. C. S.; Medical Director, Baptist MD Anderson Cancer Center, Jacksonville, FL

Dr. Putnam (Bill) completed his Thoracic Surgery residency at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. He joined the faculty of the Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in 1988 and served as Deputy Chairman from 1995 – 2004. During Operation Desert Storm, Dr. Putnam served as Head, Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Naval Hospital San Diego. He retired as Captain (O-6), Medical Corps, United States Naval Reserve. As Chair of the Thoracic Committee of the NCI-funded American College of Surgeons Oncology Group from 2001 – 2011, he facilitated various national trials in thoracic surgical oncology. In 2004, he was appointed Professor and Chairman of the Department of Thoracic Surgery at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Professor of Biomedical Informatics, Ingram Professor of Cancer Research, and Program Director for the ACGME-approved residency program in Thoracic Surgery.

In October, 2015 Dr. Putnam was appointed the Medical Director of the Baptist MD Anderson Cancer Center in Jacksonville, Florida - the third partner member of the MD Anderson Cancer Network®, the institution’s international program to elevate the quality of cancer care in communities throughout the United States and the world.

Dr. Putnam serves as Chair of the American Board of Thoracic Surgery (2019 – 2022). As a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons, he represented the Southern Thoracic Surgical Association to the Board of Governors (2 terms), and the ACS Fellowship to the Commission on Cancer (2 terms). He has published over 175 peer-reviewed articles in professional journals, edited or co-edited 3 books, 41 book chapters, and 45 invited articles, and is a member of various national and international thoracic surgery and oncology organizations.

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