Joseph R. Bertino
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Joseph Rocco Bertino (August 16, 1930 – October 11, 2021) was an American researcher in the cancer pharmacology program at
Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey The Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey (CINJ) is a cancer treatment and research institution that is a part of Rutgers University and located in New Brunswick, New Jersey. CINJ is one of only 56 Comprehensive Cancer Centers in the nation des ...
and professor of medicine and pharmacology at the
Robert Wood Johnson Medical School Robert Wood Johnson Medical School is a medical school of Rutgers University. It is one of the two graduate medical schools of Rutgers Health, together with New Jersey Medical School, and is closely aligned with Robert Wood Johnson University ...
in New Jersey. His research focused on the treatment of
lymphoma Lymphoma is a group of blood and lymph tumors that develop from lymphocytes (a type of white blood cell). The name typically refers to just the cancerous versions rather than all such tumours. Signs and symptoms may include enlarged lymph node ...
.


Early life and education

Joseph Rocco Bertino was born in
Port Chester, New York Port Chester is a administrative divisions of New York#Village, village in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and the largest part of the town of Rye (town), New York, Rye in Westchester County, New York, Westchester County by populati ...
on August 16, 1930, as the youngest son of Joseph and Mamie Bertino. His parents immigrated from Italy shortly before World War I. After graduating from medical school at SUNY Downstate College of Medicine in 1954, Bertino did a
USPHS The United States Public Health Service (USPHS or PHS) is a collection of agencies of the Department of Health and Human Services which manages public health, containing nine out of the department's twelve operating divisions. The assistant se ...
fellowship in hematology and oncology at the
University of Washington School of Medicine The University of Washington School of Medicine is the medical school of the University of Washington, a public research university in Seattle, Washington. According to ''U.S. News & World Report''s 2022 Best Graduate School rankings, University ...
. In 1958, he moved to Seattle to work with Clement A. Finch and Frank M. Huennekens. Bertino had four children with his wife, Mary, who died in 2011. He died on October 11, 2021, at the age of 91. Bertino was the grandfather of American singer
Niia Niia Bertino (born July 11, 1988), known professionally as Niia, is an American singer, pianist, and songwriter. Early life Niia was born in Needham, Massachusetts, and was trained by her mother in classical piano and began singing and perfor ...
.


Career

From 1973 to 1975, Bertino was the director of the
Yale Cancer Center Yale Cancer Center (YCC) was founded in 1974 as a result of an act of Congress in 1971, which declared the nation's "war on cancer". It is one of a network of 56 Comprehensive Cancer Centers designated by the National Cancer Institute (NCI). Cur ...
, until he was made an
American Cancer Society The American Cancer Society (ACS) is a nationwide non-profit organization dedicated to eliminating cancer. The ACS publishes the journals ''Cancer'', '' CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians'' and '' Cancer Cytopathology''. History The society w ...
Research Professor. He remained at Yale until 1987. Following this, he was the chair of the Molecular Pharmacology and Therapeutics Program at
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK or MSKCC) is a cancer treatment and research institution in Manhattan in New York City. MSKCC is one of 72 National Cancer Institute– designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers. Its main campus is ...
until 2002, when he moved to the
Cancer Institute of New Jersey The Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey (CINJ) is a cancer treatment and research institution that is a part of Rutgers University and located in New Brunswick, New Jersey. CINJ is one of only 56 Comprehensive Cancer Centers in the nation desi ...
. Some of Bertino's notable scientific accomplishments are research into
methotrexate Methotrexate, formerly known as amethopterin, is a chemotherapy agent and immunosuppressive drug, immune-system suppressant. It is used to treat cancer, autoimmune diseases, and ectopic pregnancy, ectopic pregnancies. Types of cancers it is u ...
and resistance to cancer treatments, including that use of methotrexate leads to an increase in
dihydrofolate reductase Dihydrofolate reductase, or DHFR, is an enzyme that reduces dihydrofolic acid to tetrahydrofolic acid, using NADPH as an electron donor, which can be converted to the kinds of tetrahydrofolate cofactors used in one-carbon transfer chemistry. ...
. He is a founding editor of the
Journal of Clinical Oncology The ''Journal of Clinical Oncology'' is a peer-reviewed medical journal published 3 times a month by ASCO Publications. It covers research on all aspects of clinical oncology. The journal was established in 1983 and the editor-in-chief is Jonat ...
.


Awards

* 1975 President of the American Society for Clinical Oncology * 1976-1979 Member, AACR Board of Directors * 1978 AACR–Richard and Hinda Rosenthal Award * 1992 David A. Karnofsky Memorial Award (American Society of Clinical Oncology) * 1995-1996 President of the
American Association for Cancer Research The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) is the world's oldest and largest professional association related to cancer research. Based in Philadelphia, the AACR focuses on all aspects of cancer research, including Basic research, basic, ...
* 2004 Freundlich Leadership Award (
Lymphoma Research Foundation Lymphoma is a group of blood and lymph tumors that develop from lymphocytes (a type of white blood cell). The name typically refers to just the cancerous versions rather than all such tumours. Signs and symptoms may include enlarged lymph node ...
) * 2006 Key to the Cure Award (Lymphoma Research Foundation) * 2007 Bob Pinedo Cancer Care Prize for Contributions to Improvements in Cancer Care * 2007 ASCO Statesman Award * 2008 John Ultman Award for Contributions to Lymphoma Research * 2008 AACR–Joseph H. Burchenal Memorial Award * 2011 Jeffrey A. Gottlieb Memorial Award (
MD Anderson Cancer Center The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center (colloquially MD Anderson Cancer Center) is a comprehensive cancer center and autonomous university of the University of Texas System in Houston, Texas. It is the largest cancer center in the wo ...
) * 2013 Elected fellow of the AACR Academy * 2018 AACR Award for Lifetime Achievement in Cancer Research


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bertino, Joseph R. 1930 births 2021 deaths Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center faculty Yale University faculty Fellows of the AACR Academy Rutgers University faculty SUNY Downstate Medical Center alumni People from Port Chester, New York