I am honored to serve Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey as the Associate Director for Clinical Research and Director, Gastrointestinal (GI) Oncology. I am also very enthusiastic about my role as Director of Oncology Research for RWJBarnabas Health. I share the vision of the Rutgers Cancer Institute leadership of a unified, robust and broad-based clinical trials program. It is my goal to bring the very best clinical trials to our patients here in the Garden State, at both Rutgers Cancer Institute and across the many hospitals of RWJBarnabas Health.
After graduating from the Yale School of Medicine, I completed an internship, residency and fellowship in Hematology-Oncology at Bellevue Hospital and NYU Medical Center. These experiences taught me that the key to success in medicine is to be patient focused and put the patient’s needs first - values that I continue to hold and practice every day. I am certified in Internal Medicine by the American Board of Internal Medicine, and by the Hematology and Oncology Boards. Since 1986, I was on the NYU faculty in medical oncology, rising to full professor before moving to the Yale Cancer Center in 2010, where I was the Associate Director for Clinical Research and head of GI Oncology until joining Rutgers Cancer Institute.
My clinical expertise and research interests are dedicated to early drug development and clinical pharmacology, focused on tumors of the gastrointestinal tract. I have led numerous clinical trials and have been at the forefront of clinical research in GI Oncology and have been instrumental in the approval of eight new drugs for the treatment of colon cancer. I have authored more than 150 peer-reviewed articles on cancer therapy, new drug development and clinical trials and have presented many of these study results at national meetings. I have had two R01 funded research projects on cancer pharmacodynamics and was recently awarded a Lead Academic Participating Site Grant to support NCI sponsored clinical trials. I also have been very involved with the NCI National Clinical Trials Network (NCTN) and have chaired ten phase 2 and phase 3 studies in the NCI cooperative groups. Since 2013, I have chaired the GI Cancer Committee for SWOG (formerly, Southwestern Oncology Group), one of the four NCTN cooperative groups. Together with my SWOG and NCTN colleagues, we strive to design and conduct the studies that set standards of care for pioneering new treatments in cancer care.
Other professional activities include reviewing scientific publications and grant applications in my capacity as Associate Editor for the Journal of the National Cancer Institute and Journal of GI Oncology. I also regularly review manuscripts for Journal of Clinical Oncology, Cancer, British Medical Journal and Lancet. I review grants for the NCI and the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas. I am also a Medical Director of the Chemotherapy Foundation. In my free time, I am an avid marathon runner and century cyclist.
Rutgers Cancer Institute has a rich history of conducting innovative and groundbreaking cancer research, and, together with RWJBarnabas Health, we offer unparalleled knowledge, clinical care and resources for cancer patients and their families close to home. I feel privileged to work alongside the many expert cancer providers and compassionate staff. Our overall mission is to deliver outstanding cancer care and to achieve the best outcomes for our patients in New Jersey and beyond. My vision is to bring the very best in treatment via clinical trials and clinical research to the people of New Jersey and to make us a treatment destination venue for patients around the world.
Honors:
Fullbright Scholar (Brussels, Belgium), 1985-6
Best Doctor, New York Magazine or Connecticut Magazine, 1997-2017
America’s Top Doctors, 2003-2017
Top Oncology Doctors in US, 2005-2017
Grant reviewer for NCI and Cancer and Prevention Research Institute of Texas
Chair, New York Cancer Society, 2004-2006
President, International Society of Clinical Oncology, 2017-2019
GI Cancers, colon cancer, pancreatic cancer, biliary cancers, neuroendocrine tumors
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