Eric D Whitman, MD

Dr. Whitman is the medical director of Atlantic Health System's oncology service line, where he provides physician leadership to improve quality, expand the depth and breadth of services and improve efficiencies in oncology services at all Atlantic Health System campuses. He is a board-certified general surgeon, fellowship-trained in surgical research and surgical oncology. He is credentialed for chemotherapy, immunotherapy and gene therapy administration. Dr. Whitman also specializes in endocrine surgery, principally involving the thyroid and parathyroid glands. He is a certified physician investigator and is widely published, as well as an accomplished speaker known internationally for his melanoma clinical and research work.

He is the founding director of the Atlantic Melanoma Center, a clinical and research center of excellence. Each year, the Atlantic Melanoma Center treats more than 400 newly diagnosed patients with malignant melanoma or other advanced skin cancers. The Center participates in multiple national and international clinical research trials for advanced melanoma involving a variety of novel treatment agents. The Center also initiates its own clinical research, leading to publications and presentations around the world.

Dr. Whitman is actively involved in cancer research. He serves as the Principal Investigator of the Atlantic Health Cancer Consortium Community Oncology Research Program, one of only 32 NCORP community oncology programs recognized by the National Cancer Institute. He is also an investigator on numerous other early and late stage clinical trials focused on novel therapies for melanoma, advanced skin cancers and other solid tumor cancers. He also helps to lead the Breakthrough Oncology Accelerator, a novel partnership between Atlantic Health System, Origin Commercial Ventures and the Translational Genomics Research Institute or TGen dedicated to speeding access to novel breakthrough technologies and treatments for patients with cancer.

Past medical leadership positions for Atlantic Health System include Interim Chief Research Officer of Atlantic Health System, medical director of the Atlantic Center for Research, and medical director of the cancer center and administrative director of surgical services at Mountainside Hospital. He also was a faculty member at Washington University of St. Louis School of Medicine and later, while in private practice, founded the Melanoma Center of St. Louis. Before that, he served as a senior staff fellow at the National Cancer Institute of the National Institutes of Health.He attended Haverford College and received his medical degree from Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine and was a general surgery resident at Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, where he was named a George Harrell Surgical Scholar and awarded the Medasonic Award for Excellence in Scientific Research by the Society for Vascular Technology. He is affiliated with Atlantic Medical Group, and is a participating provider of Atlantic Accountable Care Organization.