New Jersey’s Only NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center Names Director for Phase I Clinical Trials and Investigational Therapeutics

Enhancing its commitment to providing the most advanced treatment options for cancer patients through clinical trials, Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey has named Sanjay Goel, MD, MS as director of its Phase I/Investigational Therapeutics Program. He is also a professor of medicine at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.

Goel will lead the Phase I/Investigational Therapeutics Program, which is a multidisciplinary scientific group designed to develop new methods for the treatment of cancer in collaboration with colleagues across the RWJBarnabas Health system.

Phase I clinical trials explore the safety of a new treatment and establish the most effective method of administration to patients. The Phase I/Investigational Therapeutics Program conducts clinical trials of novel targeted therapy approaches, including genomics-directed protocols and novel immuno-oncology approaches, as well as first-in-human trials of novel compounds. Clinical trial offerings are diverse and include partnerships with academia, industry, and government.

"I am thrilled for the opportunity to join New Jersey’s only NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center to help bring the very best clinical trials to our patients in New Jersey, at both Rutgers Cancer Institute and across the RWJBarnabas Health system,” notes Goel. “I look forward to working with a multidisciplinary team of medical oncologists, nurses, research scientists, data coordinators and social workers to improve the knowledge base and advance the new therapies to treat a disease that impacts so many.”

“Dr. Goel shares the vision of the Rutgers Cancer Institute leadership of a unified, robust and broad-based clinical trials program bringing state-of-the-art treatment to the people of New Jersey,” notes Howard S. Hochster, MD, FACP, associate director for Clinical Research at Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey and director of Oncology Research at RWJBarnabas Health. “Dr. Goel is a leader in the area of new drug development and early phase clinical trials. We know he will continue our strong track record in putting Rutgers Cancer Institute at the forefront of new drug and treatment trials. Through our ongoing research, we are making progress in the diagnosis and treatment of cancers among our patients providing national leadership in clinical research.”

Having received his Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery degrees and completed a rotary internship at Christian Medical College in Vellore, India, Goel completed his residency in internal medicine at the State University of New York Health Sciences Center in Brooklyn, New York, followed by fellowships in hematology-oncology at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center in Denver, Colorado and the Albert Einstein Cancer Center of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Montefiore Medical Center. Dr. Goel was most recently an attending physician at Montefiore Einstein Center for Cancer Care and a professor of medicine at Albert Einstein College of Medicine.

Goel is an active member of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) and the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR). He has earned the ASCO Foundation’s Advanced Clinical Research Award for his unique, patient-oriented approach to colorectal cancer research. He has published a variety of articles in peer reviewed journals with a focus on clinical and translational research, drug development and phase I oncology clinical trials.

About Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey
As New Jersey’s only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center, Rutgers Cancer Institute, together with RWJBarnabas Health, offers the most advanced cancer treatment options including bone marrow transplantation, proton therapy, CAR T-cell therapy and complex surgical procedures. Along with clinical trials and novel therapeutics such as precision medicine and immunotherapy – many of which are not widely available – patients have access to these cutting-edge therapies at Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey in New Brunswick, Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey at University Hospital in Newark, as well as through RWJBarnabas Health facilities. To make a tax-deductible gift to support the Cancer Institute of New Jersey, call 848-932-8013 or visit www.cinj.org/giving.