Martin A. Martino, MD, a 1993 Rutgers College class president, has been long known by his colleagues to be actively involved in patient care, translational research and education, and mentoring future health care professionals, and now the entire nation knows him for it as well.
Martino is one of 15 recipients of the 2007 Young Physician Leadership Award, an award that recognizes outstanding service, commitment and dedication to medicine.
"It is truly an honor to be chosen among such a vast community of medical professionals, yet a humbling experience at the same time," Martino said.
As a current gynecologic oncologist, cancer surgeon, clinical researcher, and director of minimally invasive surgery in gynecologic oncology at Lehigh Valley Hospital in Allentown Pa., Martino has rapidly risen through the ranks of medical leadership at his current age of 35. He is an assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the Penn State College of Medicine and a member of the Penn State Cancer Institute.
Recently Martino coordinated a community cancer education conference at Cedar Crest College - a local women's college - where he educated students, patients, and the general public about the importance of getting vaccinated against the human papillomavirus that causes cervical cancer.
"If we can prevent one future case of cancer from developing, then we have made a difference in someone's life," he said.
Besides reputation in the operating room, Martino's involvement in the community cuts deep into various prominent and recognized organizations. He is an active member in the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology where he has served as past junior chair of the New Jersey section. In addition, he serves as a volunteer on the board of the local chapter of the American Cancer Society and is a candidate member of the Society of Gynecologic Oncology as well as a member of the American Society of Clinical Oncology
His former mentor and current Chair of Gynecology, Obstetrics and Reproductive Services at Robert Wood Johnson School of Medicine and University Hospital, Dr. Anthony Vintzileos said Martino "has always shown promise to be an outstanding physician and leader in the field during his residency years." He also said "[Martino] was among a few residents I had known in my career to have an innate sense of compassion for his patients that combined very well with his caring bedside manners."
Amid his current success, Martino continues to give back to Rutgers where he has given volunteer lectures in science and medicine as well as mentors many former and present Rutgers students.
He reflects back very well on his education at Rutgers and realizes how his involvement here primed him for success in the field he currently works in. While at Rutgers, he was a member of the Cap and Skull Society, Class President, and a member of the Men's Division I golf team.
Throughout this time he successfully completed majors in both Biology and Political Science/History and delivered the commencement address at the Rutgers College Graduation in 1993. He remains an active member of the Rutgers Alumni Association where he is on the Board of Directors and a proud member of the Loyal Sons/Daughter's of Rutgers.
"It is hard to describe what a tremendous and positive impact Rutgers has left upon me," Martino said. "It was here where I learned how to take on various leadership roles positions as a student. It was here where I was given the basic foundation for understanding about science and medicine, and for that I am very thankful to the many professors and mentors who have taught me along the way."
In the fall of this year, Martino said he hoping to collaborate with Rutgers to bring a Health Care Education Conference to New Brunswick that will focus on issues that present significant health risks to women, such as HPV and cervical cancer.
Martino said that he is working with Professor Joan Bennett, Vice President for Academic Affairs and head of the Rutgers Office to Advance Women in Science and Dorothy Kozlowski NPC, who is the Director of the Willets Student Health Center at Rutgers to put together a health fair which will end in an educational evening conference to address specific community concerns and student and parent issues surrounding HPV.
Martino graduated with high honors from Hahnemann School of Medicine - currently Drexel School of Medicine - after which he completed his residency at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in Gynecology and Obstetrics. He further went on to complete a Galloway Fellowship in Gynecologic Oncology at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center as well as a Gynecologic Oncology Fellowship at the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center, Florida's only NCI Comprehensive Cancer Center.
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