Rutgers Cancer Institute names chief surgical officer

H. Richard Alexander, MD, FACS, has been named chief surgical officer at Rutgers Cancer Institute.

Alexander also will serve as professor of surgery in the division of surgical oncology at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.

“It is my privilege to work at an NCI-designated comprehensive cancer center and an academic medical facility that are committed to conducting cutting-edge research and offering the latest treatment technologies in order to provide the best care possible for patients,” Alexander said in a press release. “By helping to educate those just starting their surgical careers and by working alongside the vast team of dedicated and highly experienced professionals at Rutgers Cancer Institute, Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, I look forward to further enhancing the clinical and academic values of these very strong programs.”

Alexander specializes in developing advanced treatments for peritoneal mesothelioma and peritoneal metastases from gastrointestinal cancers or malignancies of the abdominal cavity.

He previously served as head of surgical oncology in the department of surgery and professor and associate chairman for clinical research at University of Maryland School of Medicine and Greenbaum Cancer Center. He also spent 16 years at the NIH, where he served as chief of the surgical metabolism section, chairman of the gastrointestinal malignancies section and deputy director of the Center for Cancer Research at NCI.