Joseph Contessa was named chair of radiation oncology for Rutgers Cancer Institute, Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, and Rutgers New Jersey Medical School. He will also serve as associate director for translational research at Rutgers Cancer Institute.
Contessa joins Rutgers from Yale University, where he was professor of therapeutic radiology, co-leader of the Yale Cancer Center Radiobiology and Genome Integrity Research Program, and vice chair for basic science research in therapeutic radiology.
Contessa succeeds Bruce Haffty, who recently chose to step down from the position he has held since 2005. Haffty will continue to serve as the system director of radiation oncology for RWJBarnabas Health and Rutgers Cancer Institute and will see patients at the Jack & Sheryl Morris Cancer Center.
Contessa’s research spans over 20 grants in which he has served as principal investigator or co-investigator.
Contessa is a fellow of the American Society of Clinical Investigation and a recipient of the Harrington Discovery Scholar-Innovator Award, among numerous other honors recognizing his innovative contributions.
He serves as chair of the NIH Drug Discovery and Molecular Pharmacology Study Section, and is a member of the NCI Head and Neck Cancer Steering Committee.
