Steven K. Libutti, MD, FACS

Steven K. Libutti, MD, FACS, was appointed as Director of Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey and Vice Chancellor for Cancer Programs, Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences in January 2017. In addition to his leadership roles within Rutgers University, Dr. Libutti also serves as Senior Vice President of Oncology Services for RWJBarnabas Health, further strengthening the university’s partnership with the healthcare system. He is also a Professor of Surgery at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and an Affiliated Distinguished Professor in Genetics at the Rutgers School of Arts and Sciences Department of Genetics.

Most recently, Dr. Libutti served as Director for the Montefiore Einstein Center for Cancer Care in New York City and was a Professor and Vice Chairman of the Department of Surgery and Professor in the Department of Genetics at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Montefiore Health System. A surgical oncologist, Dr. Libutti is an internationally known expert in endocrine surgery and the management of neuroendocrine tumors. He is the immediate Past President of the American Association of Endocrine Surgeons. His clinical practice focuses on gastrointestinal malignancies including cancers of the liver and pancreas.

The recipient of funding from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) for the past 20 years, Dr. Libutti is also a researcher whose work focuses on developing novel cancer therapies through an understanding of the tumor microenvironment and blood vessel formation in tumors. He is studying tumor neovascular formation and the interaction between tumor cells, endothelial cells and the components of the tumor microenvironment including fibroblasts and cancer stem cells. His work also focuses on a better understanding of the tumor suppressor genes MEN1 and FILIP1L.

After graduating magna cum laude from Harvard College, Dr. Libutti received his medical degree from the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Columbia University. He remained at Presbyterian Hospital in New York where he completed his residency in surgery, followed by a fellowship at the NCI in surgical oncology and endocrine surgery. He continued at the NCI where he became a tenured Senior Investigator and Chief of the Tumor Angiogenesis Section in the Surgery Branch.  He has published over 280 peer reviewed journal articles, is Editor-in-Chief of the Nature Journal Cancer Gene Therapy, and holds seven U.S. patents. 

Clinical Expertise:
Neuroendocrine tumors, thyroid cancer, parathyroid tumors, pancreatic cancer, liver cancer, gastrointestinal (GI) cancers, minimally invasive surgery, and clinical trials.