Rutgers Cancer Institute Physicians Named Tops by 'Newsweek'

New Brunswick, N.J., July 28, 2015 – Several physicians at Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey have been named as a ‘Top Cancer Doctor’ by Newsweek magazine. Newsweek just released the list of the nation’s top physicians for cancer care 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, administrative posts, achievements and other criteria are reviewed and assessed by a physician-led research team assembled by Castle Connolly. According to Castle Connolly, nearly 100,000 nominations are received each year for the honor. In New Jersey alone, 40 Top Cancer Doctors were named to the national list – nine are from the Cancer Institute of New Jersey.

“With New Jersey having one of the highest rates of cancer incidence in the nation, it is imperative that Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey – the state’s only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center – continue to provide the highest quality of patient care, while engaging state-of-the-art science for the benefit of patients. Through options such as clinical trials, precision medicine, other research efforts, and utilizing the latest surgical and radiation technologies, our university-based physicians continue to make progress and win the fight against cancer. It is an honor that our peers, both regionally and nationally, recognize our efforts,” said Rutgers Cancer Institute Director Robert S. DiPaola, MD.

Cancer Institute 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
• Robert S. DiPaola, MD, Director; specialty: prostate cancer
• Richard Drachtman, MD, Section Chief, Pediatric Hematology/Oncology; specialty: pediatric cancers and blood disorders
• 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

• Roger Strair, MD, PhD, Chief, Hematologic Malignancies and Blood and Marrow Transplantation; specialty: leukemia and lymphoma
• Deborah L. Toppmeyer, MD, Chief Medical Officer, and Director Stacy Goldstein Breast Cancer Center and the LIFE Center; specialty: breast cancer
• Robert E. Weiss, MD, urologic oncologist; specialty: urologic cancers

A full listing of ‘Top Doctors’ can be found at:http://www.newsweek.com/top-cancer-doctors-2015?page=59&group=state. Full profiles of Cancer Institute doctors named to the list can also be found at http://www.cinj.org/physician/index.php.