The Leaders of RWJBarnabas Health Cancer Treatment

Steven K. Libutti, MD, FACS
Senior Vice President of Oncology Services for RWJBarnabas Health

Steven K. Libutti, MD, FACS was appointed as Director of Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey and Vice Chancellor for Cancer Programs, Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences in January 2017. In addition to his leadership roles within Rutgers University, Dr. Libutti also serves as Senior Vice President of Oncology Services for RWJBarnabas Health, further strengthening the university’s partnership with the health care system. He is also a Professor of Surgery at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.

Most recently, Dr. Libutti served as Director for the Montefiore Einstein Center for Cancer Care in New York City and was a Professor and Vice Chairman of the Department of Surgery and Professor in the Department of Genetics at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Montefiore Health System. A surgical oncologist, Dr. Libutti is an internationally known expert in endocrine surgery and the management of neuroendocrine tumors. He is the immediate Past President of the American Association of Endocrine Surgeons. His clinical practice focuses on gastrointestinal malignancies including cancers of the liver and pancreas.

The recipient of funding from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) for the past 20 years, Dr. Libutti is also a researcher whose work focuses on developing novel cancer therapies through an understanding of the tumor microenvironment and blood vessel formation in tumors. He is studying tumor neovascular formation and the interaction between tumor cells, endothelial cells and the components of the tumor microenvironment including fibroblasts and cancer stem cells. His work also focuses on a better understanding of the tumor suppressor genes MEN1 and FILIP1L.

After graduating magna cum laude from Harvard College, Dr. Libutti received his medical degree from the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Columbia University. He remained at Presbyterian Hospital in New York where he completed his residency in surgery, followed by a fellowship at the NCI in surgical oncology and endocrine surgery. He continued at the NCI where he became a tenured Senior Investigator and Chief of the Tumor Angiogenesis Section in the Surgery Branch. He has published over 280 peer reviewed journal articles, is Editor-in-Chief of the Nature Journal Cancer Gene Therapy, and holds seven U.S. patents.

Susan Solometo
System Vice President for Strategy and Operations, Oncology Services at RWJBarnabas Health

Susan Solometo is the System Vice President for Strategy and Operations for Oncology Services at RWJBarnabas Health. She joined the health system in August of 2017. Susan is a health care executive with more than twenty-five years of experience in physician practice management, hospital operations, service line strategy and network development.

Since 2011, she held the position of Vice President, Clinical Services at Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, New York where she focused on expanding and improving services in various surgical specialties and hospital departments across the Bronx network of hospitals. Susan is a passionate advocate for patients and families. While at Montefiore, she led the development of a large multidisciplinary ambulatory and surgical facility designed around the ideal patient experience. Some of her prior positions include: Chief Administrative Officer, Cardiovascular Services at Penn Medicine in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Vice President, Allegheny Health Network, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Susan earned her Bachelor of Science in Medical Technology from Temple University and completed a Master of Business Administration from LaSalle University. She lives with her husband in the Philadelphia area and has two adult children. Her hobbies include real estate investment and development.

Bryan Soltes
System Vice President for Network Development, Oncology Services at RWJBarnabas Health

Bryan Soltes is the System Vice President for Network Development, Oncology Services at RWJBarnabas Health. He joined the health system in December of 2017. Bryan is a health care executive with 17 years of experience in the tri-state area health care market including 15 years of experience in oncology. Bryan helped create the largest provider of cancer services in the northeast region and one of the largest in the US. Since 2012, he held the position of Vice President – Marketing & Business Development at Regional Cancer Care Associates (RCCA) in Hackensack, NJ where he spearheaded marketing campaigns, business relationships, physician recruitment, business development, value-based contracts and clinical integration. As a cancer survivor, he conducts business with a focus on patients and has been involved with many patient satisfaction improvement projects. Some of his prior positions include: Vice President – Marketing & Business Development at the John Theurer Cancer Center at Hackensack University Medical Center, Health Systems Manager at Amgen Inc. and Institutional Healthcare Representative at Pfizer Inc. He earned his Bachelor of Science degree at the University of Delaware and lives with his wife and three daughters in northwestern NJ.