Jonathan W. Simons is an American physician-scientist, medical

oncologist Oncology is a branch of medicine that deals with the study, treatment, diagnosis, and prevention of cancer. A medical professional who practices oncology is an ''oncologist''. The name's etymological origin is the Greek word ὄγκος (''� ...

, and leader in prostate cancer research. In August 2021, Simons was appointed the medical director and Chief Science Officer of the Marcus Foundation. Prior to joining the Marcus Foundation, he served a 14-year tenure as the President and chief executive officer of the Prostate Cancer Foundation. Simons’ laboratories, partly funded by the Prostate Cancer Foundation, at

Johns Hopkins University The Johns Hopkins University (often abbreviated as Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1876 based on the European research institution model, J ...

and

Emory University Emory University is a private university, private research university in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. It was founded in 1836 as Emory College by the Methodist Episcopal Church and named in honor of Methodist bishop John Emory. Its main campu ...

made original contributions to understanding the molecular biology of prostate cancer metastasis and principles of “broken immune tolerance” via T cell based immunotherapy for prostate cancer. The Simons lab invented GM-CSF genetically engineered vaccines for prostate cancer in rodents and humans for these studies, and subsequently Simons’ clinical team took the biotechnology into the world’s first human gene therapy clinical trials for advanced prostate cancer at Johns Hopkins.

Early life and education

Simons was raised in

Ithaca, New York Ithaca () is a city in and the county seat of Tompkins County, New York, United States. Situated on the southern shore of Cayuga Lake in the Finger Lakes region of New York (state), New York, Ithaca is the largest community in the Ithaca metrop ...

. He is the husband, son, and grandson of

cancer survivors A cancer survivor is a person with cancer of any type who is still living. Whether a person becomes a survivor at the time of diagnosis or after completing treatment, whether people who are actively dying are considered survivors, and whether ...

. Simons’ father, David M. Simons, a professor at

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

, was among the first thousand patients cured of relapsed

Hodgkin’s Lymphoma Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) is a type of lymphoma in which cancer originates from a specific type of white blood cell called lymphocytes, where multinucleated Reed–Sternberg cells (RS cells) are present in the lymph nodes. The condition was named a ...

as a part of participation in National Cancer Institute clinical trials. Simons is the grandson of

M.L. Wilson Milburn Lincoln Wilson (October 23, 1885 – November 22, 1969) was an American Undersecretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) under Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman under the New Deal and Fair Deal. His main int ...

, who served as the Under Secretary of Agriculture under President Franklin Roosevelt. A 1976 graduate of Ithaca High School, Simons graduated magna cum laude from

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

with an A.B. in

biochemistry Biochemistry, or biological chemistry, is the study of chemical processes within and relating to living organisms. A sub-discipline of both chemistry and biology, biochemistry may be divided into three fields: structural biology, enzymology, a ...

in 1980. Before entering medical school, Simons had a concentration in the Shakespeare Canon as a

Rotary International Rotary International is one of the largest service organizations in the world. The self-declared mission of Rotary, as stated on its website, is to "provide service to others, promote integrity, and advance world understanding, goodwill, and p ...

Postgraduate Fellow in the Humanities at the

University of Kent The University of Kent (formerly the University of Kent at Canterbury, abbreviated as UKC) is a Collegiate university, collegiate public university, public research university based in Kent, United Kingdom. The university was granted its roya ...

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the county of Kent, England; it was a county borough until 1974. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. The city has a mild oceanic climat ...

, England; subsequently he had a Nuffield Foundation research scholarship in the Department of Biochemistry at the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

in 1981. Simons received an MD degree from the

Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (JHUSOM) is the medical school of Johns Hopkins University, a Private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Established in 1893 following the construction of the Johns Ho ...

in 1985. He completed his residency in internal medicine at

Massachusetts General Hospital Massachusetts General Hospital (Mass General or MGH) is a teaching hospital located in the West End neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. It is the original and largest clinical education and research facility of Harvard Medical School/Harvar ...

and a clinical fellowship in medical oncology at the Johns Hopkins Oncology Center.

Cancer research career

Simons is board-certified in internal medicine and medical oncology. At Johns Hopkins, Simons completed a post-doctoral fellowship under

Bert Vogelstein Bert Vogelstein (born 1949) is director of the Ludwig Center, Clayton Professor of Oncology and Pathology and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator at The Johns Hopkins Medical School and Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center. A pi ...

in human cancer molecular genetics prior to being appointed to the Hopkins medical school faculty in oncology and urology in 1991. On the Hopkins faculty, Simons chaired the Hopkins medical school Curriculum Committee for Oncology from 1990 to 2000. Simons' first independent laboratory research grant was from the Prostate Cancer Foundation (formerly known as CaPCure) in the Foundation’s first year of existence in 1993. Simons was recruited by

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

Governor

Roy Barnes Roy Eugene Barnes (born March 11, 1948)Cook, James F. (2005). ''The Governors of Georgia, 1754-2004, 3rd Edition, Revised and Expanded.'' Macon, GA: Mercer University Press. is an American attorney and politician who served as the 80th governo ...

, and the

Robert W. Woodruff Robert Winship Woodruff (December 6, 1889 – March 7, 1985) was an American businessman who served as the president of The Coca-Cola Company from 1923 until 1955. With a large net worth, he was also a major philanthropist, and many educational ...

Foundation of Atlanta to be the Founding Director of the Winship Cancer Institute at

and Chair of Hematology and Oncology at the Emory Clinic. Simons led the creation of the Georgia State Cancer Plan, Georgia’s tobacco settlement investment in

cancer research Cancer research is research into cancer to identify causes and develop strategies for prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and cure. Cancer research ranges from epidemiology, molecular bioscience to the performance of clinical trials to evaluate ...

and new faculty recruitment programs within the Georgia Cancer Coalition. Simons co-directed with Shuming Nie 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. ...

Center for Cancer Nanotechnology Excellence at Emory and Georgia Institute of Technology. From 2000 to 2006, Simons was a Distinguished Service Professor of Hematology and Oncology at the

Emory University School of Medicine The Emory University School of Medicine is the graduate medical school of Emory University and a component of Emory’s Robert W. Woodruff Health Sciences Center. Emory University School of Medicine traces its origins back to 1915 when the Atl ...

, and Professor of Materials Sciences Engineering at the

Georgia Institute of Technology The Georgia Institute of Technology (commonly referred to as Georgia Tech, GT, and simply Tech or the Institute) is a public university, public research university and Institute of technology (United States), institute of technology in Atlanta, ...

. With

Michael Milken Michael Robert Milken (born July 4, 1946) is an American financier. He is known for his role in the development of the market for High-yield debt, high-yield bonds ("junk bonds"), and his conviction and sentence following a guilty plea on felony ...

, chairman of the board of

FasterCures The Milken Institute is an independent economic think tank based in Santa Monica, California, with offices in Washington, D.C., New York, Miami, London, Abu Dhabi, and Singapore. It publishes research and hosts conferences that apply market-bas ...

, Simons created the strategic plan and served as the interim chief science officer for the launch of the Melanoma Research Alliance. The Melanoma Research Alliance was founded by Debra and Leon Black in 2007. In 2011, Simons was inducted into the Johns Hopkins University Society of Scholars. The society inducts former postdoctoral fellows, postdoctoral degree recipients, house staff and junior or visiting faculty who have served at least a year at Johns Hopkins and thereafter gained marked distinction elsewhere in their fields. Simons received the Johns Hopkins University Distinguished Alumni Award in 2020 from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

Prostate Cancer Foundation

Simons has led the expansion of PCF’s Research Awards globally to over 800 research awards in 22 countries including $590.0 million invested in peer-reviewed funding to 240 teams of scientists working on human genetics, molecular oncology, genomic medicines, molecular imaging, and "precision immunotherapy". In total, funding from the PCF Research Enterprise has propelled 14 FDA approvals in prostate cancer. In 2008, 2011, and 2012, Simons launched new peer-reviewed research programs in the United Kingdom, China, and Ireland. The Prostate Cancer Foundation also increased its support for cancer researchers in Australia, Canada, and Greece through the PCF Hellenic Fund. In 2020, the PCF Global Research Enterprise extended to award investigators in 22 countries. When Simons joined the Prostate Cancer Foundation in 2007, he launched the “PCF 100”, with the goal of securing support for 100 Young Investigators. Each Young Investigator receives a three-year award and total grant amount of $225,000, which is matched dollar-for-dollar by his or her university. PCF has invested more than $70 million to support 314 young investigators since 2007. In 2016, as a part of Vice President Biden's Cancer Moonshot initiative, Simons announced a 5-year, Foundation-Government partnership with the Department of Veterans Affairs for a precision oncology clinical research and care program for every US veteran with prostate cancer in the VA. In 2020, Simons launched the Prostate Cancer Theranostics and Imaging Centre of Excellence (ProsTIC) at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in Melbourne, Australia.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Simons, Jonathan 1958 births Living people Johns Hopkins University alumni American oncologists Ithaca High School (Ithaca, New York) alumni