Jay Steven Loeffler

Jay Steven Loeffler (December 27, 1955 – June 22, 2023) was an American physician at Massachusetts General Hospital, where he served as chair of the Department of Radiation Oncology since 2000. He was the Herman and Joan Suit Professor of Radiation Oncology and professor of neurosurgery at Harvard Medical School.

Education and training Born in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, Loeffler attended The Hill School in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, Williams College, and the Alpert Medical School at Brown University. After medical school, he trained at the former Harvard Joint Center for Radiation Therapy in Boston serving as Chief Resident. He worked in the Laboratory of Radiobiology under John B. Little at the Harvard School of Public Health.

Research Loeffler has spent his career in the clinical investigation of specialized radiation delivery technologies such as stereotactic radiation and proton therapy. His work helped develop the use of stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS), now the mainstay treatment for benign and malignant intracranial tumors. This pivotal research paved the way for the eventual development of stereotactic ablative radiotherapy (SABR), also known as stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT), which is now widely used for malignancies throughout the body.

Awards Loeffler is a Fellow or the American College of Radiology, American Society for Radiation Oncology, and American Association of the Advancement of Science. He is a Member of the National Academy of Medicine. He received the Jacob Fabrikant Award for Lifetime Achievement in the field of stereotactic radiosurgery.