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What I do

I help women with ovarian and other gynecological cancers. I am a clinician, professor and researcher, directing ovarian cancer research at City of Hope. I am working to find a cure.

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Why I do it

I want to be that person who can help people feel safe and calm in the midst of something scary – just like the doctors who gave my parents so much relief long ago when they were anxious about my brother’s health.

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My Big Career Moment

During my gynecology rotation, I met women with advanced cancer who were isolated and in so much pain. It just broke my heart. I made a point to spend time with them every day, and I realized: I have to cure this disease.

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Curiosity is Embedded in this Doctor’s DNA

26/04/2021 06:00am | 2977 views

By Kim Perez

From sneaking under curtains as a child exploring a hospital, to directing life-saving research at one of the most prestigious cancer centers in the world, Dr. Lorna Rodriguez-Rodriguez has never stopped following her curiosity. 

This intrepid spirit has been evident since her earliest days. 

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About the mentor

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Lorna Rodriguez-Rodriguez

Vice Chair of Faculty Development in the Department of Surgery, and Professor in the Division of Gynecologic Oncology, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences
City of Hope

For more than 30 years, Lorna Rodriguez-Rodriguez, M.D., Ph.D., has been a standout in gynecological oncology. Specializing in ovarian cancer, she has served as clinician, instructor and researcher at several of America's leading medical institutions.

The much-honored Dr. Rodriguez-Rodriguez earned her medical degree at University of Puerto Rico Medical School and continued her training at Rutgers Medical School, University of Michigan Medical School and University of Rochester Medical School. She's held positions at Rochester, Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, among others. Consistently rated one of America's Top Doctors, Dr. Rodriguez-Rodriguez spent two decades leading the Gynecologic Oncology Department at Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey.

A noted researcher, Dr. Rodriguez-Rodriguez is eagerly continuing her ovarian cancer investigations at City of Hope, which she calls “the perfect environment” that's home to “many amazing scientists and clinicians (with) similar goals about making discoveries to cure cancer.” She also has studied the importance of racial and ethnic differences in clinical outcomes following the treatment of ovarian cancer, and on psychological interventions in treatment of gynecological cancers.