Physician and Leader in Stem Cell Research
Dr. Andrew L. Pecora is the chairman and director of the Cancer Unit at Hackensack University Medical Center. He is also the senior scientist for biomedical research at the Hackensack center and a professor of medicine at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Medical School.
As the co-founder of the Cancer Center, which has grown from 20 to more than 100 staff workers, Dr. Pecora has recruited and retained many of the most highly-respected specialists in the United States. Through his work at the University Medical Center, an adult stem cell transplant program was successfully initiated. Dr. Pecora has been especially active in research dealing with hematology, radiation oncology, and blood and marrow stem cell transplants.
Born and raised in Nutley, Dr. Pecora, a Nutley High School graduate, earned a bachelor’s degree in biology and was graduated Magna Cum Laude from Seton Hall University in 1979. He received his doctorate from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey in 1984. Among his recent citations is an award presented in Florence, Italy for outstanding contributions in research on high dose chemotherapy for breast and ovarian cancer. In 2001, Dr. Pecora was cited for his outstanding advanced cancer research at the annual retreat on Cancer Research in New Jersey.