Saint Peter’s to honor Robert J. Zullo, M.D., for his decades of service

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NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J.:Saint Peter’s Healthcare System will honor Robert J. Zullo, M.D., at its charitable foundation’s annual spring gala for his nearly 60 years of service to Saint Peter’s, its healing mission, and the broader community needs of New Brunswick.
The 2011 Gala will take place at 6 p.m., April 9, at The Heldrich in New Brunswick.
“In keeping with the theme of all the best that Saint Peter’s has to offer, we are privileged to honor Robert J. Zullo, M.D., with the healthcare system’s Bishop’s Award, the highest honor that we confer,’’ said Ronald C. Rak, president and chief executive officer of Saint Peter’s Healthcare System. “Dr. Zullo, a daily presence on our campus, is known to virtually everyone who walks our halls, both for his length of service and for his devotion to the betterment of Saint Peter’s and the City of New Brunswick.’’ 
Zullo, 85,  was born and raised in Port Reading. He graduated from Woodbridge High School in 1942 at the age of 16, six months after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. He joined the Navy one year later, transferring to U.S. Naval Hospital, Great Lakes, Il., in 1944. He entered Harvard Medical School later in that year under the GI Bill.
Following were an internship at U.S. Naval Hospital, Long Beach, Calif.; a residency medicine program at Metropolitan Hospital in New York City on Welfare Island, now known as Roosevelt Island; a fellowship in pathology at the University of Rochester, N.Y., and a stint at Memorial Center for Cancer and Allied Diseases, now known as Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. Zullo next was called to active duty with the U.S. Navy during the Korean War. He later entered private practice in New Brunswick in 1955.
Zullo has served the direct medical needs of New Brunswick-area residents ever since, with occasional breaks to work in the pharmaceutical industry or as a university professor.
Zullo was chief of occupational medicine at Johnson & Johnson, McNeil Pharmaceutical Division, in Fort Washington, Pa., from 1981 to 1985, and he was corporate medical director for occupational medicine at Merck & Co. Worldwide from 1985 to 1996. He was responsible for the introduction of breast screenings, complete physical exams and no-smoking programs at all Merck sites, and he remains an outspoken anti-smoking crusader.
In addition, Zullo taught at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey from 1998 to 2000. He also is an emeritus staff member at Saint Peter’s University Hospital and at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, also in New Brunswick.
About Saint Peter’s Healthcare System
Saint Peter’s Healthcare System Inc., parent company of the Saint Peter’s healthcare delivery system, is comprised of Saint Peter’s University Hospital, a 478-bed acute-care teaching hospital; Saint Peter’s Foundation, the fundraising arm of the hospital; and Saint Peter’s Health and Management Services Corporation, which oversees the system’s outpatient facilities. These include the CARES Surgicenter; New Brunswick Cardiac Cath Lab; Community Care Services, Inc.; the Margaret McLaughlin McCarrick Care Center, Inc., a residential skilled nursing facility in Somerset; and Saint Peter’s Adult Day Center in Monroe Township. Saint Peter’s Healthcare System is sponsored by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Metuchen.
For more information about Saint Peter’s Healthcare System, please visit www.saintpetersuh.com or call 732-745-8600.