Alberto Manetta, MD

UC Irvine Professor Emeritus Alberto Manetta passed away peacefully at home on Christmas Eve surrounded by family. He was 78.

BACKGROUND & EDUCATION

Dr. Manetta was a leading Gynecologic Oncologist and former Senior Associate Dean of UC Irvine’s School of Medicine. Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Dr. Manetta earned his B.S. in Biological Sciences at Liceo San Martin University and his M.D. at the University of Buenos Aires School of Medicine. He emigrated to the United States in 1968 and during Residency Training in Obstetrics & Gynecology at Nassau Hospital of State University of New York in Stony Brook he met Nancy Mosard. They were married in 1971, and their children soon followed. Upon completion of Fellowship Training in Gynecologic Oncology at Georgetown University Medical Center, Dr. Manetta joined the Division of Gynecologic Oncology at UC Irvine in 1988.

LEGACY

Dr. Manetta was integral to the mission statement of the university. Discover. Teach. Heal. He predicted fertility-preserving surgery and immunotherapy for cervical cancer, minimally invasive surgery for endometrial cancer, and targeted therapy based on genomic scarring for ovarian cancer long before these therapies were made available to our patients during the 21^st Century

With over 110 peer-reviewed, published scientific manuscripts, Dr. Manetta was awarded a NIH R01 Grant to establish and study “screen & treat” cervical cancer programs in underserved communities in Southern California and Mexico. His laboratory at UC Irvine immortalized two high grade serous ovarian carcinoma cell lines (UCI 101 and UCI 107) which continue to be used to study immune modulation in this disease.

Dr. Manetta trained many of this country’s most accomplished Gynecologic Oncologists, several of whom are Cancer Center Directors, Department Chairs, and Division Directors/Section Chiefs at prestigious academic institutions; others practice their craft in service to the U.S. Military, work in drug development in the pharmaceutical industry, and/or care for the underserved in rural America. Dr. Manetta’s dedication to medical education was recognized nationally with his appointment as President of the APGO-CREOG (Association of Professors of Obstetrics & Gynecology – Council on Resident Education in Obstetrics & Gynecology) in 1994.

As a champion of the socioeconomically disadvantaged, Dr. Manetta founded the PRIME-LC Program in Medical Education for the Latino Community. Launched by UC Irvine in 2004 with an inaugural class of eight students, PRIME-LC was the nation’s first medical education program focused on Latino culture. As Director for PRIME-LC during its first decade, Dr. Manetta worked tirelessly to prepare physicians and public health experts to meet the challenges the Latino community faces. In his words, “As Latinos become the largest population group in California and the largest minority group in the nation, meeting their medical needs takes on even greater importance in terms of overall public health.” In addition to the Medical Degree from UC Irvine’s College of Medicine, PRIME-LC graduates also receive a Master’s Degree from UC Irvine’s School of Social Ecology that emphasizes health care disparities, public health, and/or health care policy. Importantly, PRIME-LC continues to this day and, in accordance with Dr. Manetta’s vision, recruits a diverse student body regardless of ethnic background.

PERSONAL ANECDOTES

I met Dr Manetta at the beginning of my 3^rd year of Medical School at UC Irvine in 1992. He had recently been appointed Senior Associate Dean of UC Irvine’s School of Medicine. Gynecologic Oncology was my very first clinical rotation and in addition to seeing patients in his ambulatory practice and scrubbing on his surgeries, as Class President I had the privilege to continue working with him throughout the academic year. His bedside manner was a master class in Humanity in Medicine and the life-saving cancer operations created lasting impressions, resonating with the art of medicine long after the abdomen was closed. I wrote Dr Manetta a thank you card after my clerkship inquiring if there was research I could participate in. He would mentor me for the next two decades.

Dr. Manetta retired from clinical practice in 2006. I remained in close contact over the years, sharing his table at the Orange County Chapter of the American Cancer Society in 2014 and having him serve as a Keynote Speaker at UC Irvine Professor Emeritus Philip J. DiSaia’s Celebration of Life in 2018. I was with him as he emerged from the operating room after having undergone surgery for pancreatic cancer and I would visit him at the Cancer Center for chemotherapy infusions. He remains one of the most fascinating people I have ever known. An academic surgeon and translational scientist who was not only an accomplished airplane pilot but also a fantastic Santa Claus every winter morning when his children were small.  I fondly recall his epic Halloween parties for the entire School of Medicine and how he would never once miss the opportunity to take all the Gyn Oncology Fellows to dinner every three months during Fellowship.

Upon his passing I was asked what’s the most important lesson Dr. Manetta taught me. “Our time together is relatively brief. We honor those we teach by learning about the people they are, not only as Medical Students, Residents and Fellows passing through. Learning should be enjoyable and teaching the next generation is a privilege, the value of which cannot be estimated.”

Dr. Manetta is survived by his wife of 52 years, Nancy, his son Edward, daughter Kathryn, and his grandchildren Emily and Vincent.

Rest in Peace, Dr. Manetta. WE SALUTE YOU.

Krishnansu S. Tewari, MD, FACOG, FACS, FRSM, Professor
The Philip J. DiSaia, MD Endowed Chair in Gynecologic Oncology
Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, UC Irvine

Robert E. Bristow, MD, MBA, FACOG, FACS, Professor & Chair
The Edward J. Quilligan, MD Administrative Chair
Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, UC Irvine