Having served as Professor of Radiation Oncology, Pediatrics, Neurosurgery, and Radiologic Science, as well as Director of the Department of Radiation Oncology and Molecular Radiation Sciences at Johns Hopkins from 1994 – 2000, DR. MOODY WHARAM’s seminal contributions to pediatric radiation oncology fundamentally shaped the modern management of childhood cancers.
Dr. Wharam specialized in the treatment of children with cancer, and played a major role in delivering and developing better cures for children with cancers.
Dr. Wharam always went to great lengths to assure the appropriate care for all of his patients of all ages, including intensive multidisciplinary discussions, visits to the radiology reading rooms multiple times to review a single case, and detailed, meaningful physical examinations for patients. His personality provided calm direction and gentle honesty to parents struggling with the realities of their child’s disease
Having embodied the Johns Hopkins tripartite mission of research, teaching, and patient care, Dr. Wharam was a physician whom today’s clinicians can only aspire to emulate.
Throughout his career, Dr. Wharam carried himself with the highest level of class, grace, and humility – and it is without reservation that Dr. Theodore DeWeese, as Dean of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, suggested Dr. Moody D. Wharam, Jr., as the best possible namesake for the Professor of Pediatric Radiation Oncology, to honor his legacy in perpetuity and to thus immortalize the highest standard of excellence within this critical field of scientific and clinical endeavor.
Held by Matthew Ladra
MATTHEW LADRA, M.D., M.P.H., leads the dedicated pediatric team for the Johns Hopkins Proton Therapy Center and is the Director of pediatric radiation oncology for the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center, a clinical collaboration with Children’s National Medical Center, where Dr. Ladra serves as faculty in the department of pediatric oncology. He is also an assistant professor of radiation oncology and molecular radiation sciences at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.
Dr. Ladra earned both his medical degree and Masters in Public Health at Tulane University. He completed a residency in radiation oncology at the University of Washington Medical Center, followed by a 2-year fellowship in pediatric proton therapy at Massachusetts General Hospital. Dr. Ladra also completed a year-long research fellowship in conjunction with St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, studying and treating pediatric leukemia in Morocco. Prior to joining Johns Hopkins, Dr. Ladra served as the Director of pediatric radiation oncology at the Provision Center for Proton Therapy in Tennessee.
Dr. Ladra is one of a handful of radiation oncologists in the world whose research and clinical efforts focus exclusively on pediatric patients. He is frequently invited to speak on pediatric radiation oncology topics internationally and across the U.S. and has published extensively on the subject through original research book chapters and review articles. Dr. Ladra’s research efforts focus mainly on pediatric rhabdomyosarcoma treatment, early phase clinical trials involving radiation and non-chemotherapeutic agents, and reducing neurocognitive toxicity for pediatric brain tumor patients.
Under Dr. Ladra’s leadership children with cancer have access to the highest level of care from specialists dedicated to caring for children. Dr. Ladra is focused on creating a unique care continuum centered on pediatric oncology patients and their families. Through his work he is bringing together national and international leaders in academic research and clinical medicine to collaborate on the goal of advancing pediatric oncology treatment.