Melissa Mascaro MD

Primary Care Sports Medicine Specialist in New Jersey

Melissa Mascaro, MD, is a primary care and sports medicine specialist at Family and Sport Medicine Institute of NJ in Summit and Montclair, New Jersey. 

Dr. Mascaro completed her fellowship training in primary care sports medicine at the University of Connecticut under the direction of Thomas Trojian, MD, Giselle Aerni, MD, Robert Arcerio, MD, Tom DeBeridino, Michael Joyce, MD, and the late Jeff Anderson, MD. She served as a team physician, assisting with the University of Connecticut athletics coverage for the UConn Huskies National Championship Women's Basketball Team and Men's Basketball Team. She has also covered various events, including MMA Fighting, freestyle ski jump competitions, Lake Placid Ironman, NYC Marathon, the 2013 Boston Marathon, Big East Soccer Tournaments, and many other events. 

For her residency training in family medicine, Dr. Mascaro studied at Hackensack Mountainside Family Medicine, where she served as academic chief resident. Before graduating from St. Matthew's University School of Medicine, she received a Bachelor of Science in Exercise Physiology from West Virginia University. Dr. Mascaro is a former full-scholarship Division 1 gymnast from West Virginia University, where she was co-captain of her NCAA team.

Dr. Mascaro has worked in private practice locally, helping to develop primary care sports medicine in the community. She has been named Top Doctor 2022 and 2023 by NJ Monthly as well as Castle Connolly.

She believes patients deserve individualized, flexible care designed to fit their schedules. Sometimes, this means virtual visits, prolonged visits, email and phone access, annual physicals, or comprehensive wellness and evaluation plans for the athletic season. With this in mind, she has entered private practice to focus on helping her patients meet their goal of achieving competitive excellence.

Her team coverage experience includes Olympic, Professional, Collegiate, High school and Recreational. She works with NJ/NY Gotham FC Soccer, Seton Hall University Athletics, New Jersey City University, Montclair State University, and Stevens Institute of Technology Athletics, among others. She is currently Medical Director of SHU Health Services. Dr. Mascaro has assisted with coverage of Rutgers Women gymnastics and is a consultant physician for USA gymnastics. She covers events such as the Kellogg's Tour of Olympic Gymnasts, P & G Championships, AT & T American Cup, and other qualifying competitions. She works with multiple local gyms to provide preventative and management of chronic injuries to recreational and elite athletes alike.

She is a certified ringside physician for USA Boxing and covers Golden Gloves and Diamond Glove events.

She is a Clinical Assistant Professor at Seton Hall University and St. George's School of Medicine. She has recently published book chapters and articles in peer-reviewed journals, presented research, and given instructional lectures at sports medicine meetings nationally and internationally. Most recently, she was part of a team to publish & "Gymnastics Concussion Return to Play" in November 2019.

Dr. Mascaro's research interests include the health of female athletes and injury prevention in adolescent athletes. As a student, she spent time at the Center for Disease Control in Atlanta, working on policy and legislature for "Exercise is Medicine."

Dr. Mascaro performs diagnostic and therapeutic ultrasound guided injections and manages the conservative nonoperative treatment of sports medicine injuries. She is a certified hyperbaric physician and former Medical Director for Restorix Health. She is a member of the American Academy of Family Physicians, American Medical Society for Sports Medicine,  American College of Sports Medicine, and American Institute of Ultrasound Medicine.