Martina Murphy, M.D., a nationally recognized medical educator, has been named senior leader for professional development at the UF Health Cancer Institute. In this role, she will use her extensive experience leading educational initiatives to help support faculty and staff in their pursuits of leadership in the field of cancer research and care.
Murphy, who is the senior associate dean for graduate medical education and designated institutional official in the UF College of Medicine, will lead professional development and mentorship activities for cancer researchers across the institute’s four research programs.
The role will emphasize newly hired faculty and staff, early-stage investigators and mid-career faculty support, identifying and using institutional resources and linking with the institute’s Cancer Training and Education Program to ensure continuous support.
“Dr. Murphy brings decades of curriculum and professional development experience and expertise to our mission at the UF Health Cancer Institute,” said Thomas George, M.D., FACP, FASCO, the institute’s interim director. “She will further accelerate our progress against cancer by supporting one of our single most important Uniquely UF assets: our scientific and clinical cancer experts and leaders.”
Dietmar Siemann, Ph.D., associate director for education and training, said: “Dr. Murphy will further catalyze our work training the next generation and preparing the cancer workforce of tomorrow. We’re looking forward to the experience and dedication she’ll bring to our programs for learners across the continuum.”
A professor in the UF Division of Hematology & Oncology, Murphy is a gynecologic oncologist with a deep commitment to women’s health, mentorship, workforce and professional development, and effective health care communication. She’s a quadruple Gator, having completed her medical degree, internship, residency and fellowship at UF. In her current role in the College of Medicine, she oversees one of the largest GME enterprises in the country and leads initiatives focused on trainee support, faculty development and curriculum innovation.
“I have spent my career at the intersection of clinical medicine, education and institutional leadership, and what I have come to understand is that the conditions that allow people to do their best work do not happen by accident,” Murphy said. “They have to be built intentionally. Taking on this role means I get to do that work at the scale of the entire Cancer Institute, for a faculty community I already know and care about. That is genuinely exciting to me.”
As the Cancer Institute continues its upward trajectory as a National Cancer Institute-designated cancer center and pursues comprehensive designation over the next decade, the work is more essential than ever.
“Strong faculty development is not just good for individual careers; it’s part of what gets us there,” Murphy said. “The faculty who will carry this institution through that transformation are here right now, building their careers right now, and I want to make sure they have what they need to succeed.”
Murphy frequently speaks on topics such as professional identity formation and communication in medicine, and she has held national leadership roles through the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) and the American Society of Hematology (ASH). She has won numerous awards for her dedication to education, including the UF College of Medicine Exemplary Teacher Award and the Gold Humanism Society Leonard Tow Award. In 2024, she became the first educator to be named both the Phase 1 Teacher of the Year and, as its director, have the UF Hematology & Oncology Fellowship recognized as the UF GME Program of the Year.
Murphy said her central goal is to be intentional about structuring offerings and opportunities that help all faculty succeed, not just during the early-career launching period, but through mid-career and into senior career stages.
Learning from program leaders and faculty about what they need to succeed, she will develop or augment programs that are tailored to the goals of faculty in each research program. Most of all, she wants faculty to know that she’s here to help them build the career they came to UF to build.
“My door is open, and I am committed to making the Cancer Institute a place where people not only make great discoveries and take excellent care of cancer patients, but where they are successful in becoming the leaders and mentors the next generation needs,” Murphy said.
“I am committed to making the Cancer Institute a place where people not only make great discoveries and take excellent care of cancer patients, but where they are successful in becoming the leaders and mentors the next generation needs.” — Martina Murphy, M.D.
