History

NYU’s Division of Medical Oncology originated in September 1979, with the recruitment of Dr. Franco Muggia from the Cancer Therapy Evaluation Program of the National Cancer Institute to be the new division’s director.

In developing the division’s research and clinical programs and in building its fellowship training program, Dr. Muggia worked closely with the Director of the Hematology Division, the late Dr. Robert Silber; the then Chair of the Department of Medicine, Dr. Saul Farber; and the Director of the Rita J. and Stanley H. Kaplan Comprehensive Cancer Center, Dr. Vittorio Defendi. The program’s first fellows were James C. Wernz and Michael H. Green, both of whom went on to have illustrious careers.

Faculty recruitment was also auspicious and prompt. Dr. Ronald Blum was recruited from Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and Drs. James Speyer and Robert Spiegel, from the National Cancer Institute. They were joined by Drs. Wernz and Green, and an accomplished subsequent trainee of the NYU residency and fellowship program, Dr. Howard Hochster.

Repesenting a major commitment to clinical research, these recruitments put the division on the path to becoming a significant participant in local, national, and international clinical trials. In 2001 the Oncology faculty joined the NYU Cancer Institute, directed by Steven Burakoff, M.D.