Advancing Research, Novel Technologies to Deliver Exceptional Cancer Care

In May 2025, RWJBarnabas Health and Rutgers Cancer Institute opened the Jack & Sheryl Morris Cancer Center in New Brunswick, New Jersey. One of 13 freestanding cancer hospitals across the US, and the first in New Jersey, the new facility is intended to combine inpatient and outpatient cancer services with advanced research laboratories within an environment that prioritizes patient-centered care.

At the center’s opening ceremony, CancerNetwork® spoke with Steven K. Libutti, MD, FACS, and Andrew M. Evens, DO, MBA, MSc, about the facility’s history and its potentially innovative technologies that may elevate the quality of care for patients with cancer.

Libutti, who is the William N. Hait Director of Rutgers Cancer Institute and senior vice president of oncology services at RWJBarnabas Health, described the center’s mission to “wrap a blanket” around each patient by providing them with advanced care while meeting their emotional needs to create a “warm feeling” during their treatment. He highlighted how the center’s laboratories may facilitate collaboration between clinicians and researchers, optimizing the level of research and therapy within the facility.

Furthermore, Evens, the deputy director for Clinical Services at Rutgers Cancer Institute, the system director of Medical Oncology and the oncology lead at RWJBarnabas Health Medical Group, and the chief physician officer of the Jack & Sheryl Morris Cancer Center, discussed the center’s various technologies that may improve the quality of care for pediatric and adult patients alike. For example, he spoke about the availability of linear accelerators, artificial intelligence, and machine learning, stating that the “most advanced radiation technology on Earth” was present.

Transcript:

Libutti: We began the planning phase for the Jack & Sheryl Morris Cancer Center about 8 and a half years ago. The whole concept here is to be patient-centered; that is, to “wrap a blanket” around the patient when they first arrive. There’s probably not a more stressful diagnosis to get than a cancer diagnosis. The idea here is to provide exceptional care, but also provide that warm feeling and that patient-centered experience. We’re also committed to cancer research as a National Cancer Institute–designated comprehensive cancer center; there are research laboratories in this building as well as inpatient and outpatient services.

I believe the best cancer research occurs in the setting of exceptional cancer care, and exceptional cancer care needs cancer research to be delivered at the optimal level. This facility is going to enable our researchers and our clinicians to interact with each other in real time, our researchers to see the impact that their discoveries are making on patients, and the patients to actually see the research that’s taking place to develop the next generation of cures for their disease.

Evens: We’re really excited about the technology and the innovation that’s embedded in this building. This is all cancer care under one roof, meaning inpatient, ambulatory, etc. There are only 13 such centers. This is the only one in New Jersey, of course, but only 13 such centers in the entire United States have all the aspects of cancer care under one roof. With that said, even though there are 96 private inpatient beds here for patients, the majority of cancer care is in the outpatient, or what we say, ambulatory setting. Here at the Jack & Sheryl Morris Cancer Center, ambulatory cancer care includes children—pediatrics—as well as adult cancer care.

[The center offers] infusion therapy for immunotherapy or “smart chemotherapy”. [Regarding] surgery, there are 10 state-of-the-art surgical suites with the most innovative possible technology, robots, etc. Of course, when needed, [we have] radiation oncology. There are 4 linear accelerators with the gamut; the most advanced radiation technology on Earth is here. When I say radiation technology, that doesn’t just mean the machinery itself, like an MRI linear accelerator—there are only 100 of those in the world—but also the technology: artificial intelligence and machine learning; you want faster, more accurate reads, whether it’s of the scans. [There is also] super-ultra 3D/4D-targeted radiation for the patient, wherever it’s needed in the body.

Reference

RWJBarnabas Health, Rutgers Cancer Institute celebrate opening of New Jersey’s first and only freestanding cancer hospital. News release. RWJBarnabas Health and Rutgers Cancer Institute. May 13, 2025. Accessed May 19, 2025. https://tinyurl.com/bdf47yr4