TUCSON, Ariz. (Diya TV) — Dr. Rachna Shroff, a University of Arizona oncologist who led clinical research into bile duct and other gastrointestinal cancers, has died, the university announced Monday.
Shroff served as the Cancer Center’s associate director of clinical investigations and chief of hematology and oncology at the College of Medicine–Tucson. She also held its inaugural John F. and Valli S. Duval Endowed Professorship for Gastrointestinal Oncology.
Her research focused on cholangiocarcinoma, or bile duct cancer, and included clinical trials examining treatments for pancreatic and other hepatobiliary cancers. She also expanded clinical trial access across Southern Arizona.
Shroff returned to Tucson in 2018 after working at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. She earned her undergraduate degree at Brown University and medical degree at Thomas Jefferson University.
Her interest in oncology began as a Tucson high school student, when a research fellowship brought her into a University of Arizona laboratory.
In September, while facing her own life-limiting cancer, Shroff helped establish an endowed Conquer Cancer Young Investigator Award in biliary cancers.
More than six hundred donors contributed to the campaign, which surpassed its $1.35 million goal. The endowment will support early-career researchers studying bile duct cancer.
Shroff had received a Conquer Cancer Young Investigator Award early in her career and credited that support with helping launch her research.
She is survived by her husband, Dr. Puneet Shroff; their children, Simran and Sachin; her parents, Devendar Trivedi and Dr. Amita Trivedi; and her sister, Neema Sahni.
