West Orange Man Beats Childhood Cancer, Enters Medical Field

WEST ORANGE, NJ — West Orange High School alum Joseph Ippolito doesn’t remember most of his acute treatment for stage four neuroblastoma. After all, he was only 5-months-old at the time. But the medical student does remember what came afterward: years of chemotherapy, surgeries and doctor visits.

Now, after triumphing against childhood cancer, Ippolito has embarked on a new quest… to dedicate his life to performing miracles for others.

According to his alma mater, Ippolito grew up in West Orange and attended St. Cloud Elementary, Roosevelt Middle School and West Orange High School. After graduating from WOHS in 2007, he attended Rutgers University in New Brunswick, where he majored in cell biology and neuroscience. He graduated in 2017 from Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, and is currently a third-year orthopedic surgery resident at University Hospital in Newark.

It wasn’t long after entering medical school that Ippolito began his quest to make a difference for those in need, West Orange school administrators said.

In Ippolito's first year of medical school, he helped to found the now-annual ice hockey fundraiser, pitting the medical and dental schools against each other to help raise money for several charities.

Ippolito’s penchant for hockey dates back to his old days at WOHS, where he played on the varsity and travel teams. While also cracking the books, Ippolito got involved in several school clubs that centered on politics and volunteerism.

"Volunteering was something I was involved in early with my family, including collecting items for and helping distribute food and clothing at homeless shelters and food pantries," Ippolito said.

The future doctor recently wed his high school sweetheart, Alli Boettinger, a 2009 alumna of WOHS and a board-certified behavior analyst who works for We Care Autism Services. But although his future is both busy and hopeful, Ippolito doesn’t forget his childhood struggle with cancer and the promises he made himself all those years ago.

“Spending time around my doctors, who were some of my heroes along with my parents, I wanted to do something to give back for my good fortune,” Ippolito said. “As I fell in love with math and science, this became more of a reality.”

Ippolito will get his shot after he completes his residency and some additional fellowship training in the field of orthopedic oncology, where he will work with children and adults with bone and soft tissue cancer.

“After that, where I end up will depend on what jobs are out there, but I would love to stay in the area if the opportunity presents itself,” Ippolito said.

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