Sharing a Personal and Professional Life

In the Lab or in the Clinic, These Couples Had More Than Their Work to Sustain Them

A Match Made in Medicine

CHRISTOPHER J. MANLEY, MD

Director, Interventional Pulmonology, Associate Professor, Department of Medicine

KRISTEN J. MANLEY, MD

Division Chief, Hospitalist Service, Associate Professor, Department of Medicine

K risten and Christopher Manley have been married for 10 years. They’ve spent nine of those years working together as physicians at Fox Chase.

“A lot of our patients know both of us,” said Chris. “We share patients both on the floors and in the ICU. I send my patients to the direct referral unit, and often Kristen is on duty and takes care of them.”

“We had a lot of talks about whether we wanted to work together … we felt like this was the right place for both of us … we were right.”

— Kristen J. Manley, MD

The couple met at a mixer just before their internal medicine internships in Chicago began, Kristen at Northwestern University and Chris at Loyola University. They fell in with the same group of friends, and their relationship blossomed. After completing their residencies at the same respective institutions, Chris pursued a pulmonology fellowship at Tufts Medical Center, taking the couple to Boston.

“For the first three years, he was at Tufts, but then he did a second interventional pulmonology fellowship in the Harvard system, so we got to work together for the last year of that fellowship,” said Kristen. It was a preview of their eventual working relationship at Fox Chase.

Because Kristen and Chris have family near Philadelphia, this is where they eventually wanted to settle and raise children — of which they now have three. Therefore, as their fellowships ended, they began investigating hospitals in the Philadelphia area. Both remember Fox Chase standing out.

“When I spent a day on campus, I really just fell in love with the pulmonary group and all the people I interacted with,” said Chris. “It’s a small hospital, but the amount of care and the level of the providers here is incredible. Fox Chase has an intimate, small-town feel to it, but you know your peers are all giants is their respective fields.”

“We had a lot of talks about whether we wanted to work together,” added Kristen. “But in the end, we felt like this was the right place for both of us. I think we were right.”

A Power Couple in Scientific Discovery

JOSE RUSSO, MD, FACP

Former Director, Irma H. Russo, MD, Breast Cancer Research Laboratory

IRMA H. RUSSO, MD

Director of Molecular Endocrinology, Breast Cancer Research Laboratory

When Jose Russo began his career in cancer research at the National University of Cuyo in Mendoza, Argentina, he sparked more than just a career in medicine. While there, he met a woman whose passion for science matched his own. Irma Russo (then Alvarez) was also studying medicine when their paths crossed, and they began not only a life of love and companionship, but a decades-long journey in scientific discovery.

The Russos’ humble nature and dedication to their field extended through their careers to touch the lives of the over 100 cancer researchers they mentored.

Over 30 of those years were spent at Fox Chase Cancer Center, where they pursued their lifelong mission of researching breast cancer, its causes, and potential means of prevention. As a team, they were pioneers in understanding how pregnancy mediates breast cancer prevention.

“They really were perfect for each other and had this really special bond. I remember we would be sitting at the dinner table, and they would be talking about some experiment, which as a kid I didn’t understand. … It was normal in our house because it was something they both loved so much,” said Patricia Russo, DO, Jose and Irma’s daughter.

In 1991, the Russos moved their breast cancer research to Fox Chase Cancer Center. Jose served as chair of the Department of Pathology and director of the Breast Cancer Research Laboratory, where Irma was director of the molecular endocrinology section.

“Jose and Irma were a quiet couple who were always together,” said Joseph Testa, PhD, Chief of Genomic Medicine at Fox Chase and a friend of the two. “They were an incredible fit and had a truly wonderful life together.”

The Russos’ humble nature and dedication to their field extended through their careers to touch the lives of the over 100 cancer researchers they mentored. Patricia described their lab environment as a second home, recalling her time working with her parents there.

Irma died in 2013. In her honor, the Breast Cancer Research Laboratory at Fox Chase was named the Irma H. Russo, MD, Breast Cancer Research Laboratory. Jose continued working until he was physically unable to do so, a week before his death in September 2021.