New Brunswick, February 4, 2021 – Expanding its team of highly specialized professionals in the treatment of routine, rare and complex cancers of the female reproductive system, Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey and Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital (RWJUH), a RWJBarnabas Health facility, have named James K. Aikins, Jr., MD, FACOG, FACS chief of gynecologic oncology at Rutgers Cancer Institute and chief of gynecologic oncology services at RWJUH, New Jersey’s largest academic medical center. He will also serve as Program Director for the Gynecologic Oncology Fellowship Program at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.
Dr. Aikins was most recently on faculty at MD Anderson Cooper Cancer Center, where he served as program director of the fellowship program in the Division of Gynecologic Oncology and associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Cooper Medical School of Rowan University. He currently serves as a visiting professor at Cape Coast Teaching Hospital in the OB/GYN Department (University of Cape Coast School of Medical Sciences) in Cape Coast, Ghana, West Africa.
Aikins will lead Rutgers Cancer Institute’s multidisciplinary Gynecologic Oncology Program which offers advanced treatment options including minimally invasive surgical techniques, clinical trials, precision medicine, and immunotherapy. These comprehensive services are also offered at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Somerset, in addition to Saint Peter's University Hospital in New Brunswick.
With a special interest in global women’s health issues, Aikins is the founder of International Healthcare Volunteers (IHCV), a non-profit organization whose mission is to provide sustainable programs and medical services to underserved women and their families living in Ghana, West Africa, and provide continuing medical education for health professionals, including students at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. Aikins’ previous research includes fertility preservation in gynecologic cancers, vulvectomy (surgery to remove some or all of the outer genitals) related to sexual function, papillary serous carcinoma of the uterus and endometrial cancer. He also conducts global health research in the area of cervical cancer screening in low-resource communities.
“As New Jersey’s only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center, it is our mission to provide the most advanced, world-class cancer care to our patients,” notes H. Richard Alexander, Jr., MD, FACS, chief surgical officer and chief of the Division of Surgical Oncology at Rutgers Cancer Institute and regional director of surgery for Monmouth Medical Center, an RWJBarnabas Health facility. “Dr. Aikins’ vast knowledge and experience make him a key asset to further enhance the clinical expertise of the gynecologic oncology program.”
“I am delighted with the successful recruitment of Dr. Aikins to our Rutgers faculty. He is a highly experienced gynecologic oncologist, and committed teacher and researcher, who is nationally known and well respected. He also is a strong advocate for addressing the needs of under-resourced and diverse communities in New Jersey and throughout the world,” said Mark V. Sauer, MD, MS, professor and chair of the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences and senior associate dean for women’s health at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. “Foremost, he is an empathic and genuinely caring physician who embodies the best qualities of professionalism. I look forward to many years of collaborative work with Dr. Aikins and am confident that he will enhance our department’s mission to provide our community with the best of cancer care.”
“It is a privilege to have devoted my career to women’s health and I am committed to providing exceptional and compassionate care for my patients,” notes Aikins, who also has a faculty appointment as an associate professor of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive sciences at the medical school. “I am excited to work alongside a team of professionals at an NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center in the heart of New Jersey who are dedicated to a team approach in the diagnosis and treatment of gynecologic cancers.”
Having received his undergraduate degree at the University of Pennsylvania and medical degree from the Medical College of Pennsylvania, Aikins completed a general surgery internship at St. Agnes Hospital in Baltimore and an obstetrics/gynecology residency at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, training at Cooper University Hospital. He also completed gynecologic oncology fellowship at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. He is a fellow of the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology, American College of Surgeons, and the Ghana College of Physicians and Surgeons. He is also a member of numerous gynecologic oncology professional societies and committees in the United States and internationally. Aikins has published a variety of articles in peer reviewed journals as well as book chapters and presents regularly at regional, national and international meetings. He has been a Top Doctor in New Jersey for the past ten years.
About Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey
As New Jersey’s only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center, Rutgers Cancer Institute, together with RWJBarnabas Health, offers the most advanced cancer treatment options including bone marrow transplantation, proton therapy, CAR T-cell therapy and complex surgical procedures. Along with clinical trials and novel therapeutics such as precision medicine and immunotherapy – many of which are not widely available – patients have access to these cutting-edge therapies at Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey in New Brunswick, Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey at University Hospital in Newark, as well as through RWJBarnabas Health facilities. To make a tax-deductible gift to support the Cancer Institute of New Jersey, call 848-932-8013 or visit www.cinj.org/giving.
About Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital
Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital (RWJUH) New Brunswick, an RWJBarnabas Health Facility, is a 600-bed academic medical center that serves as the principal teaching hospital of Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and the flagship Cancer Hospital of Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey. Its Centers of Excellence include cardiovascular care from minimally invasive heart surgery to transplantation, cancer care, stroke care, neuroscience, orthopedics, bariatric surgery and women’s and children’s care including The Bristol-Myers Squibb Children’s Hospital at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital (www.bmsch.org). A Level 1 Trauma Center and the first designated Pediatric Trauma Center in the state, RWJUH’s New Brunswick campus serves as a national resource in its ground-breaking approaches to emergency preparedness.
RWJUH has been named among the best places to work in health care by Modern Healthcare magazine and received the Equity Care of Award as Top Hospital for Healthcare Diversity and Inclusion from the American Hospital Association. RWJUH Brunswick has earned significant national recognition for clinical quality and patient safety, including the prestigious Magnet® Award for Nursing Excellence and “Most Wired” designation by Hospitals and Health Networks Magazine. The American College of Surgeons’ Commission on Cancer has rated RWJUH New Brunswick among the nation’s best comprehensive cancer centers. For more Information visit us online at www.rwjbh.org/newbrunswick
About RUTGERS ROBERT WOOD JOHNSON MEDICAL SCHOOL
As one of the nation’s leading comprehensive medical schools, Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School is dedicated to the pursuit of excellence in education, research, health care delivery, and the promotion of community health. Part of Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School encompasses 20 basic science and clinical departments, and hosts centers and institutes including the Cardiovascular Institute, the Child Health Institute of New Jersey, the Institute for Neurological Therapeutics, and the Women's Health Institute. The medical school has been recognized by U.S. News & World Report as among the top 100 medical schools in the nation and No. 1 in the state for research and primary care.
Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, an RWJBarnabas Health facility and the medical school's principal affiliate, comprise one of the nation's premier academic medical centers. Clinical services are provided by more than 500 faculty physicians in 200+ specialties and subspecialties as part of Rutgers Health, the clinical arm of Rutgers University.
The medical school maintains educational programs at the undergraduate, graduate and postgraduate levels on its campuses in New Brunswick and Piscataway, and provides continuing education courses for health care professionals and community education programs. To learn more about Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, visit rwjms.rutgers.edu. Find us online at www.Facebook.com/RWJMedicalSchool and www.twitter.com/RWJMS.
###
For journalists – contact:
Krista Didzbalis
Media Relations Assistant
908-812-6114
krista.didzbalis@rutgers.edu
For patient appointments/inquiries – contact:
844-CANCERNJ (844-226-2376)