Each Summer [since 1974] the Board Members of the Melvyn H. Motolinsky Research Foundation carefully selects a recipient to receive the Distinguished Service Award, honoring his/her work in Hematology and related fields of medicine. The honoree is acknowledged at an Annual Dinner in New Brunswick.
2017 Honoree
On October 23, 2017, the the Melvyn H Motolinsky Foundation honored Joseph A. Barone, Pharm.D., FCCP, Dean and Professor II, Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy with the 2017 Distinguished Service Award.
BIO: Joseph A. Barone, Pharm.D., is Professor II and Dean of the School of Pharmacy. He served as Chair of the Department of Pharmacy Practice and Administration for 24 years, before taking on the role of Acting Dean in October 2011, and was appointed the ninth Dean of the School of Pharmacy in September 2013. Dr. Barone is currently on the State of New Jersey Health Planning Board and formerly Chaired the Executive Committee of the New Jersey Medical Emergency Disaster Prevention and Response Expert Panel (MEDPREP). Dr. Barone is also the founder of the Rutgers Pharmaceutical Industry Fellowship Program (started in 1984) which has now been operating for over 28 years, graduating over 700 post-doctoral fellows.
A Fellow of the American College of Clinical Pharmacy, Dr. Barone recently received the 2012 Educator of the Year Award from the Research and Development Council of New Jersey. Dr. Barone also received the 1990Hospital Pharmacist of the Year award from the New Jersey Society of Hospital Pharmacists, and the 2003 Education Award from the American College of Clinical Pharmacy. He is past Chair of the Section of Teachers of Pharmacy Practice of the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy. The author of numerous publications, Dr. Barone is also a reviewer for the American College of Clinical Pharmacy Annual Meetings as well as a reviewer for The American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education and the Journal of Pharmacy Practice. His many research, clinical, and continuing education presentations include geriatric pharmacology, drug bioavailability, and disease state outcomes.
Dr. Barone currently serves as Co-Chair of the Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committee at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital. In addition, he has served as a member of the Academic Research Fellowships Committee of the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy and as an Exam Item Writer/Reviewer for the Board of Pharmaceutical Specialties.
Past Recipients of the Distinguished Service Award
2016 Honoree:
Bruce Haffty, MD, MS
Chair, Radiation Oncology
Chief of Staff, Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey
When the opportunity arose to come to the Cancer Institute of New Jersey and Robert Wood Johnson Medical School to build the Department of Radiation Oncology, he enthusiastically embraced the chance to build radiation oncology in a vibrant medical environment with tremendous opportunities in clinical care, research and education… [Read Full Bio]
2015 honoree: 
Monday October 26th, 2015, the Melvyn H Motolinsky Foundation gathered at The Frog and the Peach in New Brunswick, where we proudly honored Roger Strair, MD, PhD — Cancer Institute of New Jersey — as the recipient of the 2015 Distinguished Service Award. Dr. Strair gave a wonderful presentation on the amazing and vital advances that have been made in the search for a cure for blood disorders, in particular AML (acute myelogenous leukemia).
This is the reason this Foundation exists…
This is the reason the dedicated Board Members donate their time and efforts to its cause. We can promise you 2016 is set to be another incredible year. And we need your help. Every dollar contributes directly to the support of critical research and new findings that is saving lives. Thank you for your kind interest and donation to our cause. Have a blessed Holiday season ahead!
Roger Strair, MD, PhD is the chief of Hematologic Malignancies/Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation at Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey, as well as a professor of medicine at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.
Dr. Roger Strair has been a physician and researcher at the Cancer Institute of New Jersey for 18 years. For all of this time he has focused his efforts on the care of patients with hematologic (blood-derived) malignancies such as leukemia, lymphoma, multiple myeloma, myelodysplasia and related disorders. He has also been a founding member of the Cancer Institute’s Hematopoietic/Bone Marrow Transplant Program. Dr. Strair works with a specialized group of medical oncologists, nurse practitioners, bone marrow transplant coordinators, nurse clinicians and laboratory research scientists, who are engaged in novel research. Supported by the Institute, individual research grants, and funds donated by fund raising activities such as the Century for the Cure bicycle ride and the Two Guys Golf Event, early phase laboratory and clinical studies designed to ease the burden of cancer are underway. [Full Bio].
Robert S. DiPaola, MD Director – Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey
2014 Honoree – Robert S. DiPaola, MD
November 3rd, 2014 the MHM Foundation honored Robert S. DiPaola, MD — Director of the Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey — as the recipient of the 2014 Distinguished Service Award.
As Cancer Center Director, Dr. DiPaola is responsible for research activities and administrative oversight of a National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center, and led the successful renewal of NCI designation in 2011. Dr. DiPaola has held multiple local and national positions including the founding Director and Program leader of the Prostate Cancer Center at the Cancer Institute of New Jersey (1996-2008); National Chairman of the Genitourinary Committee of the Eastern Oncology Cooperative Group (2004-2011); Chief of Medical Oncology at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School (2006-Current); and was appointed as Director of the Cancer Institute of New Jersey in 2008, after a national search. [Full Bio].
In 2013 the Foundation honored Arnold B. Rabson, MD. (pictured left): Professor of Molecular Genetics, Microbiology and Immunology, Pathology and Laboratory Medicine and Pediatrics at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School; Director of the Rutgers Child Health Institute of New Jersey.
| 2017 | Joseph A. Barone, Pharm.D., FCCP | Dean and Professor II, Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy, Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey |
| 2016 | Bruce Haffty, MD, MS | Interim Director of the Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey; Professor and Chair of Radiation Oncology at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and Rutgers New Jersey Medical School |
| 2015 | Roger Strair, MD, PhD | Chief of Hematologic Malignancies/Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation, Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey |
| 2014 | Robert S. Dipaola, MD | Director of the Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey |
| 2013 | Arnold B. Rabson, MD | Professor of Molecular Genetics, Microbiology and Immunology, Pathology and Laboratory Medicine and Pediatrics at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School; Director of the Rutgers Child Health Institute of New Jersey |
| 2012 | Norman Reitman, MD | Cardiologist; Former President, Melvyn H Motolinsky Research Foundation |
| 2011 | Stephen K. Jones | President and CEO of Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital and Robert Wood Johnson Health System |
| 2010 | Michael J. Nissenblatt, MD | Central Jersey Oncology Center |
| 2009 | Parvin Saidi, MD | In Memory of Dr. Parvin Saidi |
| 2008 | Senator Joe Vitale | New Jersey State Senate |
| 2007 | Wise Young, MD, PhD | Professor of Neuroscience, Founding Director, W.M. Keck Center for Collaborative Neuroscience, Rutgers |
| 2006 | Richard McCormick, MD | President, Rutgers University |
| 2005 | John L. Colaizzi, PhD | President of the Rutgers University Foundation; Dean of the School of Pharmacy |
| 2004 | Yetta B. Motolinsky | Co-Founder of the Melvyn H. Motolinsky Research Foundation (Melvyn’s Mother) |
| 2003 | Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, MD | President, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation |
| 2002 | Clifton Lacy, MD | Commissioner, New Jersey State Department of Health and Senior Services |
| 2001 | Jack Borrus | Officer and Director of the Melvyn H. Motolinsky Research Foundation and Director, Child Health Institute of UMDNJ |
| 2000 | Parvin Saidi, MD | Professor of Medicine and Chief, Division of Hematology |
| 1999 | William N. Hait, MD, PhD | Director, The Cancer Institute of New Jersey |
| 1998 | Harold L. Paz, MD | Dean, UMDNJ- Robert Wood Johnson Medical School |
| 1997 | Robert E. Campbell | Vice Chairman, Board of Directors, Johnson & Johnson |
| 1996 | Alan J. Spotnitz, MD | Professor of Clinical Surgery and Chief, Cardiac Surgery, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School |
| 1995 | Rabbi Yacov R. Hisenrath | Rabbi Emeritus – Highland Park Conservative Temple; President, Roosevelt Hospital, Middlesex |
| 1994 | Harvey A. Holzberg | President, Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital |
| 1993 | Norman Edelman, MD | Dean, UMDNJ- Robert Wood Johnson Medical School |
| 1992 | John B. Kostis, MD | Chair, Department of Medicine, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School |
| 1991 | Roger Clair Duvoisin | William Dow Lovett Professor of Neurology, UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School |
| 1990 | Richard E. Reynolds | Executive VP, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation |
| 1989 | William R. Walsh, Jr. | Vice President and Treasurer, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation |
| 1988 | Victor Parsonnet, MD | Director of Surgery, Beth Israel Medical Center |
| 1987 | David Mechanic, MD | Director, Institute for Health, Health Care Policy & Aging Research |
| 1986 | David E. Rogers, MD | President, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation |
| 1985 | Ralph W. Voorhees | Senior Vice President, Paine Weber, Jackson & Curtis Investment Company |
| 1984 | Arno Penzias, MD | Vice President of Research, AT&T Bell Labs |
| 1983 | Willet F. Whitmore, Jr., MD | Chief of Urologic Service, Memorial Hospital and Professor of Surgery (Urology), Cornell Medical College |
| 1982 | Denton Cooley, MD | Surgeon in Chief, Texas Health Institute; Clinical Professor of Surgery, University of Texas Medical School in Houston |
| 1981 | Norman Reitman, MD | President, Melvyn H. Motolinsky Research Foundation |
| 1980 | Gustav O. Lienhard | Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Robert Wood Johnson Foundation |
| 1979 | Stanley Bergen, Jr., MD | President of the College of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey |
| 1978 | Robert A. Good, MD | President and Director of Sloan Kettering Institute |
| 1977 | Parin Saidi, MD | Chief, Division of Hematology and Oncology, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School |
| 1976 | Martin Kosmin, MD | Associate Professor, Division of Hematology, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School |
| 1975 | Philip Levine, MD | Director Emeritus of Research, Ortho Pharmaceutical Corp. |
| 1974 | J. Oliver Lampen, MD | Director of the Waksman Institute of Microbiology |