Joseph R. Bertino, MD, a Past President of the AACR and a Fellow of the AACR Academy whose research on drug resistance led to lifesaving new treatments for leukemia and lymphoma, died October 11, 2021, at the age of 91.
Born in Port Chester, New York, on August 16, 1930, Bertino earned his medical degree from the State University of New York Downstate Medical School in Brooklyn in 1954. After a fellowship at the University of Washington, he joined the faculty of Yale University School of Medicine in 1961 and served there until 1987. His tenure included serving from 1973 to 1975 as director of the Yale Cancer Center. He then joined Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and worked there until he joined the Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey in 2002. At Rutgers, he was senior adviser to the director of the cancer institute and University Professor of Medicine and Pharmacology at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.
From the early days of his career, Bertino’s research focused on drug resistance, particularly as it pertained to methotrexate, a chemotherapeutic agent for blood cancers and various other malignancies. Bertino and colleagues reported that dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR) gene amplification was an important driver of methotrexate resistance. These seminal findings helped explain why some cancer drugs work, while others fail, and paved the way for new cancer treatment regimens to be introduced into the clinic. Bertino’s research dedicated to hematologic malignancies led to his becoming closely involved with the Lymphoma Research Foundation, where he served as founding chair of the organization’s Scientific Advisory Board. In recent years, his research was dedicated to novel drug development for solid tumors and drug target identification for rare lymphomas.
Bertino was the author or coauthor of more than 400 scientific publications. He served for many years on the editorial boards of Cancer Research and Clinical Cancer Research, and was the founding editor-in-chief of the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
Bertino joined the AACR in 1962 and was a passionate supporter of many AACR initiatives. He served on numerous AACR standing and specialty committees, including the Development Committee, International Affairs Committee, Ad Hoc By-Laws Revisions Committee, Nominating Committee, Clinical Cancer Research Committee, AACR-Women in Cancer Research Charlotte Friend Memorial Lectureship Committee, and Finance and Audit Committee.
Also, Bertino cochaired the 1997 AACR-ASCO Joint Conference, Basic and Clinical Aspects of Lymphoma. He served as both member and chair of the AACR Richard and Hinda Rosenthal Foundation Award Committee, AACR Landon Translational Prize Selection Committee, and AACR Award for Lifetime Achievement in Cancer Research Committee. He also served several terms on the AACR Margaret Foti Award for Leadership and Extraordinary Achievement Committee. He served as a mentor for the Scientist↔Survivor Program in 2000 and the Women in Cancer Research Professional Advancement Session series in 2010. He was also a member of the AACR’s Women in Cancer Research Constituency Group.
From 1976 to 1979, Bertino served on the AACR Board of Directors. He was elected AACR President for the 1995-1996 term. During his presidency, he manifested his usual innovative spirit by initiating the AACR’s fundraising efforts for grants to young investigators, the first being contributed by Amgen for a clinical/translational research fellowship in 1996. He also launched the Education Program at the Annual Meeting, which continues to be a hallmark component of the meeting attended by thousands of researchers.
Among many career accolades, Bertino received the AACR Richard and Hinda Rosenthal Award in 1978, the AACR-Joseph H. Burchenal Memorial Award for Outstanding Achievement in Clinical Cancer Research in 2008, and the AACR Award for Lifetime Achievement in Cancer Research in 2018. He was elected to the inaugural class of Fellows of the AACR Academy in 2013. He also served as president of the American Society for Clinical Oncology (ASCO) in 1975, making him one of the few individuals to have served as President of both AACR and ASCO. He was later named an ASCO Fellow and was recognized with ASCO’s David A. Karnofsky Memorial Award in 1992. He was also named a “Giant of Cancer Care” by OncLive in 2018.
“Dr. Bertino was an early pioneer in the area of translational research. He sought to build bridges between the laboratory and the clinic, benefiting the lives of thousands of patients,” said Margaret Foti, PhD, MD (hc), chief executive officer of the AACR. “His steadfast dedication to the AACR included tireless advocacy for the professional development and career advancement of women in the field. He will be sorely missed.”
Leave your remembrance of Dr. Bertino below
I first met Joe in the mid 1970 when I was at NCI studying under one of his great proteges, Bruce Chabner. I was working on purine metabolism in leukemias and Joe was interested. We became friends and over the next two decades he was always available when I sort his advice as I established medical oncology in Edinburgh. His tremendous knowledge and ability to share this in a gentle and non-patronising way was a great comfort and always reassuring. In later years we served on several ad-boards together and I continued to learn so much from listening to him and observing how he interacted so well with others. I last saw him in New York where we shared an outrageously expensive bottle of wine, (I remember this since I paid!) I miss him.
I am deeply saddened by the passing of Joe Bertino. Joe was my mentor during my postdoctoral years in his lab at Yale. I feel fortunate and honored to have worked with him and learned from him. A true master and a sincere friend to whom I am indebted for the knowledge, the scientific method, the humanity and the professional wisdom in healthcare that he transmitted to me as well as to all his numerous pupils around the world. In all the following years Joe and I have been in touch for science and for friendship between us and our families. His memory will remain indeleble in my heart.
Grazie di tutto Joe,
Enrico
I recall in the early days (1960s), when Tom Hall and I would periodically travel from Boston to New Haven to discuss current research topics with Joe Bertino, Alan Sasrtorelli, Bob Handschuhmacher (who was always better dressed than anyone else), Bill Prusoff and Arnold Welch. Then we would report back to Sidney Farber who sometimes offered to pay for the gasoline. Joe was one of the great innovators: among the first to appreciate the potential role of biochemistry in the design of cancer treatment.
Dr. Bertino is a role model for me as a cancer researcher. I remember he was very excited to hear about our microRNA research in chemoresistance at the AACR meeting in 2005. I have collaborated with Dr. Bertino on the study of p53 tumor suppressor and miR-24. His passion in science and humanity will be remembered forever. He has impacted so many people's scientific career and I am one of them. You will stay in my memory. Rest in peace, Joe.
Joe was an inspiration as my Med School Pharmacology Professor and then as my Division Chief on return to the faculty from DFCI. His support and input throughout my career over the past 50 years has been pivotal to the work we were able to do with the interferons, cytokines, and other immunotherapies--even though this was not his area of focus. It was always a great pleasure to catch up with him at AACR meetings each year. He will be missed by many of us who benefitted from his warm and effusive support.
I am really sad. I have had many mentors in my career, but no one as Joe. He trasferred to me the enthusiasm for research; the simple concept that you do research for advancing knowledge and not just to publish. I might have come from a rather depressed italian university (research wise) when I joined him at Yale in 1980, but I continue to remember those 5 years I spent there with him as a continuously refreshing experience of believing in what you are doing; science as an absolute value, a feeling that noone ever introduced me to before. A unique feeling that is still living in me. Thanks Joe