Following an extensive national search, Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey and RWJBarnabas Health appointed Dr. Matthew Matasar chief of blood disorders at New Jersey’s leading cancer center and the only one in the state designated as a Comprehensive Cancer Center by the National Cancer Institute.
In his new role, Matasar will oversee the sections of Hematologic Malignancies, Transplant and Cell Therapy, and Benign Hematology. He also will serve as professor of medicine at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. He will join the cancer center in November.
Matasar comes from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, where, for the past 14 years, he has held numerous leadership positions, including section head for Aggressive B-cell Lymphoma. He also served as the inaugural director of the MSKCC Bergen Cancer Center site in New Jersey.
In his new role as chief of blood disorders at Rutgers Cancer Institute, Matasar will lead the enhancement of multidisciplinary clinical services, including programmatic growth of the bone marrow transplant and cellular therapy programs across the health system. His research alignment will be with the Clinical Investigations and Precision Therapeutics Program, and he will lead clinical research activities within the division and collaborate with colleagues across RWJBarnabas Health on increasing access to clinical trials.
“Dr. Matasar is among the nation’s most experienced clinicians and researchers in routine, rare and complex hematologic malignancies, with extensive expertise in treating these types of cancers with clinical trials, immunotherapy and other cellular therapies,” Rutgers Cancer Institute Director Dr. Steven Libutti, senior vice president of oncology services at RWJBarnabas Health, said. “His vast leadership accomplishments complement our wide-ranging scope as an NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center, and we look forward to Dr. Matasar implementing his vision, which will further elevate the stature of our Hematologic Malignancies and Cellular Therapy Programs, nationwide.”
“I am thrilled for the opportunity to join New Jersey’s only NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center to help continue to build on a strong foundation of excellence in stem cell transplantation and cellular therapy research, clinical practice and clinical trials for our patients at both Rutgers Cancer Institute and across RWJBarnabas Health,” Matasar noted. “I am so excited to help guide the growth of our program, which stands on the pillars of clinical excellence, discovery and innovation, education, health equity and community engagement. The care of patients facing a diagnosis of a blood disorder is evolving at breathtaking speed, and I am confident that our growing team will continue to lead in driving this change so as to do the very best for our patients and our community.”
