Dr. Jorge Cortes received his medical degree from the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, Mexico City. In September 2019, he joined Augusta University as the Director of the Georgia Cancer Center in Augusta, Georgia, after being at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center for 27 years, where he was Professor of Medicine and Internist and had many roles in the Department of Leukemia and the Division of Cancer Medicine, including Deputy Department Chair, Chair of AML and CML Sections, Deputy Division Chair for MDACC Network. He was chair of the executive IRB from 2012 to 2019, and Chair of the Executive Committee of the Medical Staff from 2012 to 2015. He held the Jane & John Justin Distinguished Chair in Leukemia Research at MDACC from 2015 to 2019. He now holds the Cecil F. Whitaker Jr., GRA Eminent Scholar Chair in Cancer endowment.
As Director, Dr. Cortes continues the Georgia Cancer Center’s mission of obtaining National Cancer Institute (NCI) designation. He has over 230 grants and contracts where he was principal investigator and has led the approval of 5 drugs currently available for patients with leukemia. Dr. Cortes has authored more than 1,300 peer-review original research manuscripts with numerous other accolades towards his name and practice. Dr. Cortes is a member of the National Academy of Medicine in Mexico and he has received numerous awards including the Service to Mankind Award, The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society in 2007, The Otis W. & Pearl L. Walters Faculty Achievement Award in Clinical Research, MDACC, in 2007, the William Randolph Hearst Foundations Faculty Achievement Award in Education, MDACC, in 2013, Samuel J. Hassenbush III, M.D., Ph.D., Physicians Referral Service Leadership and Institutional Service Award at MD Anderson in 2018, the John Goldman Prize from the International CML Foundation in 2018, and the 2023 Michael J. Keating Outstanding Achievement Award. He has been listed in the Castle Connolly America’s Top Doctor for more than 10 years in a row. He was listed in "A list of highly influential biomedical researchers, 1996-2011" by Boyack et al. Eur J Clin Invest, 2013, and named among the listing of Highly Cited Researchers in 2014 by Thomson Reuters. He was included in the Best Scientist (Medicine) in the World Ranking at 182 in United States and 256 in the world for 2025-2026 by Research.com. Dr Cortes has served as Associate Editor for Blood and serves on the editorial board of multiple medical journals; he served as Vice-Chair of the Publications Committee of the American Society of Hematology and is the inaugural Editor-in-Chief of Blood Global Hematology. Dr Cortes is Chairman of the International Chronic Myeloid Leukemia Foundation, President of the Latin American Leukemia Net, member of the International Steering Committee of the Japanese Society of Medical Oncology, and serves on the Augusta University Faculty Development Committee. He is member of the AACR Hematologic Malignancies Working Group Steering Committee, and the AACR Cancer Centers Alliance where he serves in the Subcommittee on Clinical Research/Clinical Trials and Regulatory Science. Dr. Cortes has previously served in the National Board of Directors of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. He is a member of the European LeukemiaNet panel for CML recommendations since 2006 and he is listed in Georgia 500 Top Individuals in their fields by Georgia Trend Magazine since 2022.