Long Bio

Jeff Sharman, MD, is a medical oncologist, clinical investigator, and author whose career has spanned one of the most transformative periods in the history of cancer treatment. Based in Eugene, Oregon, he has spent more than two decades caring for patients with blood cancers while helping lead research that has reshaped the treatment of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), the most common leukemia in adults.

As a physician and researcher, Dr. Sharman has worked at the intersection of scientific discovery and patient care. Throughout his career, he has participated in the development of therapies that helped move CLL from an era dominated by chemotherapy to one defined by targeted treatments that attack the disease with unprecedented precision. These advances have dramatically improved outcomes for patients and transformed what was once considered an invariably progressive illness into a disease that many individuals can successfully manage for years.

Dr. Sharman serves as Medical Director of Hematology Research for the US Oncology Research Network, one of the largest community-based cancer research organizations in the world. Over the course of his career, he has helped lead clinical trials evaluating many of the therapies that now form the foundation of modern CLL treatment. Yet the most meaningful lessons have come not from laboratories or conference halls, but from the thousands of patients and families who have entrusted him with their care.

Those experiences inspired him to write Ghosts in the Blood: The Extraordinary History of Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia. More than a history of a disease, the book tells the story of the physicians, scientists, patients, and visionaries whose efforts transformed our understanding of leukemia and helped usher in the era of precision medicine. Drawing on years of research and firsthand experience, Dr. Sharman chronicles a centuries-long journey that stretches from the earliest observations of blood disorders to the development of modern targeted therapies.

As an author and speaker, Dr. Sharman is passionate about making complex medical science accessible to broad audiences. Through his writing, public speaking, and educational initiatives such as CLL Unlocked, he seeks to illuminate the discoveries that shape modern medicine and to help patients better understand the diseases they face. His work reflects a conviction that scientific progress is ultimately a human story—one built on curiosity, perseverance, collaboration, and hope.