MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Richard M. Goldberg, M.D., renowned gastrointestinal cancer expert, has been named the new director of the WVU Cancer Institute.
“I am extremely pleased that Dr. Goldberg will be joining us at West Virginia University,” WVU President Gordon Gee said. “He strengthens both our educational and clinical efforts, which are already recognized as being among the best in the nation. Under his leadership, West Virginia University will take a giant step forward in battling one of the top health threats to West Virginians.”
Dr. Goldberg will be coming to WVU from Ohio State University’s Wexner Medical Center, where he currently serves as the Klotz Family Professor of Cancer Research, the physician‐in‐chief of the James Cancer Hospital, and the associate director of the Ohio State Comprehensive Cancer Center. He also served as the acting division director of the Division of Medical Oncology.
“The cancer burden in West Virginia is high, too high, in fact. As the state’s flagship academic medical center, it is our responsibility to address that burden, and we believe that Dr. Goldberg has the perfect combination of leadership and experience to direct those efforts for us,” Albert Wright, Jr., president and CEO of the West Virginia University Health System, said. “The WVU Cancer Institute is already a leader in high-quality cancer care and research, and we look forward to having Dr. Goldberg build upon and strengthen those efforts.”
“I am honored to come to West Virginia to lead the incredible team of clinicians and researchers at the WVU Cancer Institute,” Goldberg said. “The Institute has already made great strides in the arenas of treatment, prevention, and research, and I hope that together we can accomplish even greater advances in the future.”
Prior to arriving at Ohio State, Goldberg served as the physician‐in‐chief and division chief for Hematology and Oncology at the University of North Carolina, where he was also the Richard M. Goldberg Professor of GI Cancer Research and associate director for clinical research of the Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center.
Goldberg is the co‐chair of the Society for Translational Oncology, participates in the CEO Roundtable on Cancer, and serves or has served on numerous editorial boards. He was the first president of the International Society of Gastrointestinal Oncology.
He has held multiple National Cancer Institute-funded grants, and his research has resulted in more than 300 peer-reviewed publications, including those in the New England Journal of Medicine, the Journal of the American Medical Association, and the Journal of Clinical Oncology with global collaborators. He is also the associate group chair for the Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology, serving on the board of directors, board of trustees, and the Alliance Foundation board of trustees.
Goldberg is a fellow of both the American College of Physicians and the American Society of Clinical Oncology. He has lectured worldwide on GI cancer topics and is well known as a mentor for junior colleagues who now serve in responsible academic leadership roles themselves. He has been consistently honored by Best Doctors.
“I’m proud to welcome Dr. Goldberg to the WVU Cancer Institute. He comes with an impressive history of providing compassionate care to cancer patients, driving innovation in the clinic and the laboratory, and delivering inspiring leadership in some of the most advanced cancer centers in the country,” Clay Marsh, M.D., WVU vice president and executive dean for health sciences, said. “But more importantly, he’s exactly the kind of person we always want to have at this University. He shares our values, and he is motivated by our missions.”
WVU Medicine unites the physicians and scientists of the West Virginia University Health Sciences Center with the hospitals, clinics, and health professionals of the West Virginia University Health System. Together, they are a national leader in patient safety and quality and are unified and driven to provide the most advanced healthcare possible to the people of West Virginia and beyond. WVU Medicine includes the physicians, specialists, and sub-specialists of the West Virginia University School of Medicine; the affiliated schools of the WVU Health Sciences Center; four community hospitals; three critical access hospitals; and a children’s hospital, all anchored by a 645-bed academic medical center that offers tertiary and quaternary care. For more information, visit wvumedicine.org.