Jame Abraham, MD, FACP, is Acting Chair of the Taussig Cancer Institute and Chair of the Department of Hematology and Medical Oncology at Cleveland Clinic. He is also a professor of medicine at Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine.
From 2013 to 2019, Dr. Abraham served as director of the Cleveland Clinic Breast Oncology Program, and co-Director of the Cleveland Clinic Comprehensive Breast Cancer Program, until he was promoted to Department Chairman. He has more than 17 years of experience of treating complicated breast cancer diagnoses, from early-stage to metastatic, and leading novel clinical trials.
Dr. Abraham is a member of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) Breast Cancer Committee, which sets treatment guidelines for breast cancer management across the United States. He is Vice Chair of the Research Strategy Committee of NRG Oncology, one of the largest cancer research groups in the world, funded by the National Cancer Institute. Dr. Abraham is also a member of the Breast Committee Working Group for NRG Oncology. He is the Vice Chair of the Research Review Committee for the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project (NSABP) and a member of the Scientific Advisory Board for NSABP.
Dr. Abraham completed his residency at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine, followed by a Medical Oncology Fellowship from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and Hematology Fellowship from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Dr. Abraham earned his medical degree from Calicut Medical College, Kerala, India.
At the NCI, Dr. Abraham was the study chair of several early-phase clinical trials that included novel treatments for breast cancer such as Ixabepilone, which was approved by the FDA in 2007. During his fellowship, Dr. Abraham edited the first edition of the Bethesda Handbook of Oncology (Lippincott Williams and Wilkins). Now in its 5th edition, it is one of the best-selling oncology textbooks in the world. It is considered the standard textbook by many universities and hospitals across the world.
After finishing fellowship, Dr. Abraham joined West Virginia University (WVU) in 2001 as an Assistant Professor. In 2005, he was appointed Chief of Hematology/Oncology and was later appointed as the first Bonnie Wells Wilson Distinguished Professor of Breast Cancer Research, and Professor of Medicine of WVU. While at WVU, Dr. Abraham established the first comprehensive breast cancer program in the state of West Virginia in 2002. He received several awards from WVU for patient care and teaching, including Attending of the Year and Teacher of the Year. His outstanding work in patient care was recognized by the Excellence in Clinical Medicine award from the Dean of the School of Medicine in 2010. He received an award from the President of India, Her Excellency Mrs. Pratibha Patil for his contribution to cancer care in 2010.
Dr. Abraham leads several national and local clinical trials to find better treatment options for early-stage, metastatic, triple-negative and her-2 positive breast cancer patients. He has more than 200 papers and presentations at national meetings.
In 2017, he received the Teacher of the Year award from the Cleveland Clinic Taussig Cancer Institute medical oncology fellows and was nominated for the Distinguished Staff Teacher of the Year Award by the Cleveland Clinic Internal Medicine Residents. He has been selected by Cleveland Magazine and Newsweek as a top oncologist locally and nationally, respectively.
Dr. Abraham’s primary focus and passion is taking care of patients with breast cancer.