Victoria A. Forte, MD, will lead the longest consecutive nationally accredited cancer care program on Staten Island
August 17, 2021 – Victoria A. Forte, MD, has come home. The Staten Island native has been named Richmond University Medical Center’s new Cancer Service Line Director, as well as Director of Hematology-Oncology, and Program Director for the hospital’s hematology-oncology fellowship program. She is board certified in internal medicine, hematology and medical oncology. Her specialties include the multi-disciplinary care of breast cancer, novel therapies, clinical trials, translational research, and personalized medicine.
“I look forward to enhancing and expanding cancer care services at RUMC,” Dr. Forte said. “The mission and vision is to continue providing high quality, comprehensive and personalized care to the community, and instituting a robust cancer research program here on Staten Island where I grew up.”
Prior to joining RUMC, Dr. Forte served in the same roles at New York City Health and Hospitals/Kings County Hospital and was fundamental in the success of their Cancer Center and Breast Center of Excellence. Prior to her tenure at Kings County, she served as Medical Director at Puma Biotechnology where she was pivotal in the clinical development and FDA approval of a novel HER2 targeted therapy in breast cancer. In addition, she was a member of the faculty at Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn.
“We could not have asked for a more dedicated and patient-focused leader to head up our oncology department,” RUMC President and Chief Executive Officer, Daniel J. Messina, PhD, FACHE, said. “The most advanced cancer treatments and therapies are provided every day, right here on Staten Island, in our hospital and outpatient specialty centers. Now having a Staten Islander at the helm, someone who understands our community and our patients from a grass-roots level, adds an important dynamic when it comes to providing compassionate, patient-centered, individualized care.”
Dr. Forte completed her hematology-oncology fellowship at the University of Southern California (USC) in Los Angeles. There she was awarded the Broad Stem Cell Clinical Scholars Grant. She was mentored by and published several papers with Debu Tripathy, MD, a world renowned breast oncologist and Chair of Breast Oncology at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. Prior to her time at USC, Dr. Forte was an internal medicine resident at SUNY-Downstate in Brooklyn where she rotated through Kings County Hospital, the Brooklyn VA Hospital, and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. At Sloan, she conducted several research projects in immunology and brain metastases. She has also been published in numerous peer reviewed journals.
The oncology program at Richmond University Medical Center has been nationally accredited by the American College of Surgeons’ Commission on Cancer for over 80 consecutive years, making it the longest nationally accredited cancer care program on Staten Island. In addition to services at the hospital in West Brighton, RUMC has a dedicated Center for Cancer Care at 1000 South Avenue that opened in 2018. The center has received national accreditation by the American College of Radiology (ACR) for its Positron Emission Tomography (PET) services, and the American College of Radiation Oncology (ACRO) for providing a continuous, exceptional standard of patient care across all forms of radiation therapy. RUMC also has a specialized Breast and Women’s Center, located at 1161 Victory Blvd. A state-of-the-art “wellness” center, services include routine mammograms, biopsies, surgical procedures, and personalized breast cancer treatment. The center, which also opened in 2018, has quadruple accreditation by the ACR in the specialty areas of mammography, breast ultrasound, stereotactic breast biopsy, and ultrasound guided biopsy.
###
Richmond University Medical Center (RUMC), is a not-for-profit healthcare provider serving the ethnically diverse community of Staten Island and its neighbors. We provide premier-quality patient care through a full spectrum of emergent, acute, primary, behavioral health and educational services. We do this in an environment that promotes the highest satisfaction among patients, families, physicians and staff. For more information call 1-718-818-1234 or visit www.rumcsi.org. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter.
