Editor’s Note: Every year, the national medical group Castle Connolly compiles a list of the best doctors in America. In the Memphis area, the 2025 Top Doctors list comprises more than 400 physicians representing 60 specialties. Here, we introduce you to one of the caregivers who have been a Top Doc time and again. For a complete list, pick up a copy of our June 2024 issue from your favorite newsstand, or — even better — subscribe.
I wanted to be a doctor in the 10th grade after hearing a family physician describe a day in the life of his practice in Texas,” says Dr. Leonard Harris, a hematologist and medical oncologist with West Cancer Center. “He was a colorful storyteller and inspired me to be curious about people, their problems, and human physiology.”
Harris began his medical career in internal medicine, but “after 10 years I was reviewing clinical trial data for immunotherapies in cancer care,” says. “I was amazed at the progress that had been made,” he says. “At the same time, we thought that my little sister’s colon cancer had returned, but thankfully it was a false alarm. Considering all that, I was hooked. I wanted to devote the rest of my career to cancer treatment.”
Harris grew up in Texas, the son of a Baptist preacher, but the family moved to Georgia when he was a teenager. He earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Georgia and his M.D. from the Medical College of Georgia. During his residency in internal medicine and pediatrics at Vanderbilt, he met his future wife, who was finishing her internship in dietetics, and they began to raise a family in Nashville.
“Vanderbilt was a particularly good place for me to train as a physician,” he says. “I had mentors that pushed me to focus my energies and dig deeply into projects rather than dabble.” He eventually became a chief resident at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. The Harris family moved to Memphis in 2010, and after a three-year fellowship at UTHSC, joined the staff of West Cancer Center in 2023.
“My areas of focus include treating adults with abnormal bleeding/clotting and abnormal bone marrow function. I feel like that is a very broad range of disorders; staying on top of my field requires diligence and humility. These types of medical conditions require coordination of multiple disciplines, and I find detailed conversations with other specialists involved in my patient’s care rewarding.”
“I frequently tell my patients that we may not have a silver bullet for their problem, but today we have lots of ammo.”
— Dr. Leonard “Jeff” Harris
At West, Harris is directly involved in the same kinds of clinical trials that had impressed him years earlier. “Sometimes the best option for my patients is to receive care on a research protocol,” he says. “For example, one Phase III study is for patients who are receiving a suboptimal response to the standard treatment for Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia. We are adding a novel medication taken as a tablet daily to see if the synergy between the two agents will lead to patients living longer and better lives.”
Medical techniques and treatment have advanced at a rapid pace. “The rise of targeted treatment options has been the headline for the past decade,” he says. “We have many more options for the diseases I treat than we had 10 years ago, and 50 novel medications were approved in oncology in 2024 alone.”
Early detection is crucial. “The earlier we detect the problem, the better the outcome typically is. An excellent primary-care provider will save more lives than I ever will. Early detection, expert consultation, and efficient delivery of care are key to good hematologic and oncologic outcomes.”
This is good news when people receive the bad news of a cancer diagnosis. “I frequently tell my patients that we may not have a silver bullet for their problem,” he says, “but today we have lots of ammo.”
