Gioacchino Failla

Gioacchino Failla
Gioacchino Failla (second from right) in a 1937 photograph entitled "Most Famous Cancer Researchers in the World"
Born	Gioacchino Failla (1891-07-19)July 19, 1891 Castelbuono Palermo, Sicily
Died	December 15, 1961(1961-12-15) (aged 70) Downers Grove near Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Nationality	United States
Fields	Physics Health Physics Medical Physics
Institutions	Memorial Hospital (New York City, New York) Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center Argonne National Laboratory
Alma mater	Columbia University Sorbonne
Doctoral advisor	Marie Curie
Known for	Biophysics Radiobiology
Notable awards	Pulitzer Scholarship Leonard Prize Janeway Medal Caldwell Medal Gold Medal of the Radiological Society of North America Ewing Society Medal American Cancer Society Annual National Award Judd Cancer Award

Gioacchino Failla (19 July 1891 – 15 December 1961) was an Italian-born American physicist. A pioneer in both biophysics and radiobiology, he was particularly noted for his work on the role of radiation as a cause of cancer and genetic mutation. He was born in Castelbuono in the Province of Palermo and emigrated with his family to the United States in 1906. After his retirement from Columbia University's Center for Radiological Research in 1960, he was appointed Senior Scientist Emeritus in the Radiological Physics Division of the Argonne National Laboratory in Illinois. He was killed in a car accident near the laboratory at the age of 70.

In the photograph often referred to as the "Most Famous Cancer Researchers in the World," pictured are from left to right:

At the time the photograph was taken, Little headed the Roscoe B. Jackson Laboratory, Bar Harbor, Maine; Allen was professor of anatomy at Yale University Medical School; and Andervont was with the U.S. Public Health Service. Macklin was associate professor of Histology and Embryology at University of Western Ontario, and later served as president of the American Society of Human Genetics. Kreyberg taught at the University of Oslo; Failla was then working at the Cancer Memorial Hospital of New York City; and Coutard was chief of the department of x-ray therapy for cancer at the Radium Institute, University of Paris.