Bruce Haffty

I spent the majority of my professional career at Yale School of Medicine in New Haven, Connecticut, where I did my medical school, internship and residency training in radiation oncology, followed by nearly 18 years where I developed my career specializing in breast cancer and head and neck cancers.

When the opportunity arose to come to the Cancer Institute and Robert Wood Johnson Medical School to build the Department of Radiation Oncology here, I enthusiastically embraced the chance to build radiation oncology in a vibrant medical environment with tremendous opportunities in clinical care, research and education.

Since coming to the Cancer Institute in 2005, I have overseen the growth of our Radiation Oncology Program to offer numerous sub-specialties not generally offered in a community setting.  Our department has grown to a total of 14 physician faculty serving practices here at the Institute and RWJUH in New Brunswick, RWJUH Somerset the Cancer Institute in Hamilton and University Hospital in Newark. We have developed Divisions of Physics and Radiation Biology and have New Jersey’s only residency programs in radiation oncology and medical physics.  With a personal expertise in breast cancer, I work closely with colleagues across all disciplines in the Breast Oncology Program and other specialty centers at Rutgers Cancer Institute to educate patients about the treatment options available to them.

I have a special research interest in radiation therapies targeting breast cancer and have been awarded numerous research grants and conduct clinical and translational investigation allowing our team to translate these findings to apply directly to patient therapies. Currently, our team of radiation oncologists, working closely with our surgeons and medical oncologists, are exploring more rapid ways of delivering radiation and investigating novel drugs which may enhance the effects of radiation in breast cancer and other cancers.

I have served in many leadership roles related to research and education in radiation oncology and served as president of the American Board of Radiology, the major certifying organization for the practice of diagnostic radiology, radiation oncology, and medical physics. I also served as president and Chairman of the Board of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO), which is the world’s largest radiation oncology society, and have served as a past president of the American Radium Society, past chairman of the Residency Review Committee in Radiation Oncology, and currently serve on the RSNA Board of Directors, serving as Chairman of the Board from November 2019-November 2020.

I am the author or co-author of more than 400 peer-reviewed publications, multiple book chapters and editorials. Additionally, I served as editor of the comprehensive book entitled Handbook of Radiation Oncology.  Having served on numerous editorial boards, I am presently the deputy editor of the Journal of Clinical Oncology.