Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey Physicians Named Among 'Tops' in State

New Brunswick, N.J., September 22, 2015 – More than a dozen physicians at Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey have been named as a ‘Top Doctor’ by Inside Jersey magazine.

Each year, Inside Jersey releases a list of the state’s top physicians in conjunction with Castle Connolly Medical Ltd., which publishes America’s Top Doctors. Based on peer nominations, attributes such as board certification, clinical skills, training, years in practice, achievements and other criteria are reviewed and assessed by a physician-directed research team.

Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey physicians on this year’s list are also faculty members at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and practice at the Cancer Institute’s Flagship Hospital Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital. Those named to the 2015 list are:

• Joseph Aisner, MD, Co-Director, Lung Cancer/Thoracic Oncology Program; specialty: lung cancer
• David A. August, MD, Section Chief, Gastrointestinal Surgical Oncology; specialty: gastrointestinal malignancies
• Joel K. Braver, MD, medical director, radiation oncology RWJ Somerset, radiation oncologist; specialty: prostate, breast and lung cancers
• Robert S. DiPaola, MD, Director; specialty: prostate cancer
• Richard Drachtman, MD, Interim Chief, Pediatric Hematology/Oncology; specialty: pediatric cancers and blood disorders
• Molly Gabel, MD, Chief, Clinical Radiation Oncology; specialty: gynecologic, breast and prostate cancers and brachytherapy
• Darlene G. Gibbon, MD, Chief, Gynecologic Oncology; specialty: gynecologic cancers
• Bruce G. Haffty, MD, Chair, Radiation Oncology; specialty: breast cancer
• Howard L. Kaufman, MD, FACS, Associate Director for Clinical Science and Chief Surgical Officer; specialty: melanoma and immunotherapy
• Pauline Lerma, MD, medical oncologist; specialty: breast cancer and solid tumors
• Margaret Masterson, MD, Medical Director, LITE Program; pediatric hematology and oncology
• Michael G. McKenna, MD, radiation oncologist; specialty: prostate IMRT, breast cancer, and head and neck cancers
• Lorna Rodriguez, MD, PhD, Director, Precision Medicine; specialty: gynecologic cancers
• Roger Strair, MD, PhD, Chief, Hematologic Malignancies/Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation; specialty: leukemia and lymphoma
• Deborah L. Toppmeyer, MD, Chief Medical Officer and Director, Stacy Goldstein Breast Cancer Center; specialty: breast cancer
• Robert E. Weiss, MD, urologic oncologist; specialty: urologic cancers

“As a National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center, it is part of our mission to bring the strongest scientific discoveries to patients as rapidly as possible. We rely on our expert physicians, some of which are recognized here, to help carry out this mission to outsmart cancer with science,” notes Rutgers Cancer Institute Director Robert S. DiPaola, MD.

A full listing of ‘Top Doctors’ can be found at: http://www.castleconnolly.com/doctors/index.cfm?source=ijtd. Full profiles of Rutgers Cancer Institute doctors named to the list can also be found at http://www.cinj.org/physician/index.php.