Moody Wharam Jr., Professor Emeritus of Radiation Oncology and Molecular Radiation Sciences and former Willard and Lillian Hackerman Professor of Radiation Oncology at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center, died on Aug. 10 at age 77.

Dr. Wharam specialized in the treatment of children with cancer and, in his more than 40 years at Johns Hopkins, ushered in many firsts. From 1980 to 1990, he served as the first chairman of the radiation oncology committee of the Pediatric Oncology Group, a National Cancer Institute collaborative that studied childhood cancers.

Dr. Wharam had the unique distinction and honor of being named to four study groups appointed by the National Cancer Institute to investigate common childhood cancers. His work led to dramatic increases in pediatric cancer survival rates.
“For literally thousands of our own pediatric oncology patients and in nationally and internationally impactful clinical trials in childhood cancers, Dr. Moody Wharam served for decades as a rock of unswerving clinical excellence, caring and progress,” says Curt Civin, M.D., associate dean for research at the University of Maryland School of Medicine and former director of pediatric oncology at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center. “He played a major role in delivering and developing better cures for children with cancers.”

At a time when few were willing to take on the challenge, Dr. Wharam led research to scale back treatment for many childhood cancers to prevent toxicities that caused second cancers decades later, damage to growing bones and organs, and impairments to learning and other cognitive brain functions.

Dr. Wharam co-lead a groundbreaking study of treatment reduction in Hodgkin’s lymphoma, which led to refinements in therapy. He also developed the standard of care for rhabdomyosarcoma, a childhood cancer of the connective tissue that attaches muscles to bones, combining chemotherapy and radiation therapy, a treatment so effective it remains the standard today.

In the early 1990s, years before advanced radiosurgery equipment had been developed, Dr. Wharam innovated a way to deliver radiation very precisely to preserve vision for a toddler diagnosed with cancer in both eyes.

“Dr. Wharam was the consummate Hopkins physician and clinical researcher. He believed that a focus on improving the lives of children with cancer requires absolute attention to detail, a drive to understand what and how to improve care through research and a kind, compassionate and caring touch with children and their parents. He was a master of each of these. In fact, children diagnosed with sarcomas, to this day, still directly benefit from his life’s work,” says Theodore DeWeese, director of radiation oncology and molecular radiation sciences, who was recruited to Johns Hopkins by Dr. Wharam. “My life and the lives of so many other former trainees has been made so much richer and better because of our relationship with Moody Wharam.”

Rad Oncology Homepage