Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey and RWJBarnabas Health have appointed Niketa C. Shah, MD, as chief of Pediatric Bone Marrow Transplantation and Cellular Therapies at Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey. Dr. Shah will enhance the Pediatric Stem Cell Transplantation and Cellular Therapies Program, which in collaboration with The Bristol-Myers Squibb Children’s Hospital at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, offers children, adolescents and young adults both allogeneic and autologous transplants for cancers and benign diseases in children. Learn more.

Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey and RWJBarnabas Health have appointed Adrienne Phillips, MD, MPH, as director of Cell Therapy and Bone Marrow Transplants Northern Regions. Dr. Phillips joins the Blood and Marrow Transplant and Cellular Therapies Program at Rutgers Cancer Institute and will lead the cell therapy program in the Northern regions which includes Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center, Newark Beth Israel Medical Center, Clara Maass Medical Center, Trinitas Regional Medical Center, RWJUH Rahway, and Jersey City Medical Center. Phillips specializes in treating HTLV-related adult T-cell leukemia lymphoma (ATLL), which disproportionally impacts Latino and Caribbean Americans. Learn more.  

September marks a list of cancers that are commonly highlighted for increased awareness including childhood cancer, gynecologic cancers, prostate cancer, blood cancers, and thyroid cancer. The month also provides an opportunity to focus on sickle cell disease awareness and Hispanic heritage. Experts from Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey together with RWJBarnabas Health share information on a variety of these topics. Visit our September awareness page.

Many students, parents and school staff are eagerly looking forward to the new school year. It is important to be reminded of ways to protect children’s overall health and wellness. Peter Cole, MD, chief of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey, director of Hematology, Oncology and Cellular Therapies at Bristol-Myers Squibb Children’s Hospital and professor of pediatrics at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, shares the importance of reinforcing everyday precautions, keeping up-to date with vaccinations and monitoring your child’s health as students begin returning to the classroom. Learn more.

Researchers at Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey and  Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, together with other collaborating groups, have discovered the first lipid vascular ‘ZIP code’ in the lungs. Prior to these latest findings, all vascular ZIP codes have been proteins. Their discovery uncovers a previously unrecognized lipid network of ZIP codes in blood vessels, which may lead to improved diagnostics and treatments for patients with severe human respiratory diseases such lung cancer. The work was recently published in the scientific journal PNAS. Learn more.