Dr. Rachna Shroff, an internationally respected gastrointestinal oncologist and clinician-scientist who served as associate director of clinical investigations at the University of Arizona Cancer Center, died at age 47 after battling an aggressive form of the disease she spent her career trying to cure.
The oncology community is mourning the loss of a prominent physician-scientist whose work reshaped the study of pancreatic and hepatobiliary cancers. Dr. Rachna Shroff passed away following a battle with an aggressive cancer, leaving behind a legacy of clinical innovation, research leadership, and mentorship.
Her diagnosis came earlier this year after she noticed a swollen lymph node in May. While doctors initially suspected lymphoma, further testing revealed terminal adenocarcinoma originating in her gastrointestinal tract. Even after learning the diagnosis, she continued working, attending a major research conference days later to advocate for clinical trials and patient access.
Early Roots and Academic Journey in Oncology
Dr. Shroff’s path into cancer research began decades ago in Tucson. As a high school student in 1993, she won the Osler Fellowship, which gave her the opportunity to work in a laboratory at the University of Arizona Cancer Center under the mentorship of Margaret Briehl, PhD, a College of Medicine – Tucson professor and cancer center member. That early exposure cemented her dedication to science and medicine, nurtured by a family background where her father, Devendar Trivedi, worked as a biochemist and her mother, Dr. Amita Trivedi, served as a nephrologist.
She went on to complete her undergraduate studies at Brown University, earning a degree in biochemistry in 2000. She then earned her medical degree from Thomas Jefferson University in 2004 before completing her fellowship at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in 2010.
She was the inaugural John F. and Valli S. Duval Endowed Professor for Gastrointestinal Oncology.
Leadership Roles and Impact on Clinical Trials
Throughout her career, Dr. Shroff authored more than 80 scientific publications and delivered over 130 professional presentations. She specialized in cholangiocarcinoma—commonly known as bile duct cancer—and worked to expand treatment options where few previously existed, building on a focus she adopted when no Food and Drug Administration-approved therapies were available for the rare and historically difficult-to-treat disease.
Her extensive national leadership included serving as the Hepatobiliary Subcommittee co-chair for the Southwest Oncology Group (SWOG), chairing the American Society of Clinical Oncology’s GI ASCO 2024 meeting, participating in the 2021-2022 ASCO Leadership Development Program, being elected to the ASCO Nominating Committee, and serving as Chair of the Cancer Communications Committee. Additionally, she contributed as an ASCO Daily News Associate Editor, sat on the ASCO Meeting & Member Publications Editorial Board, and acted as a peer reviewer for JCO Journals.
It is our role and responsibility to have clinical trials available to the patients that come to see us and to ideally have a trial available to every single patient that walks through the door, to be able to offer them something cutting-edge, different, and innovative.
Dr. Rachna Shroff
Colleagues noted that her dedication transformed the clinical trial landscape in southern Arizona. Dan Theodorescu, endowed chair for the director of the cancer center and her supervisor, credited her with building a high-performing gastrointestinal oncology program and effectively expanding clinical trial operations so patients could access the latest scientific advances.
Final Wishes and the Endowed Young Investigator Award
In September, while facing her terminal diagnosis, Dr. Shroff focused her remaining energy on supporting the next generation of cancer specialists. She helped establish the Conquer Cancer — Rachna Shroff, MD, MS, FASCO Endowed Young Investigator Award in Biliary Cancers.
Within weeks, friends, colleagues, and supporters accomplished her goal by raising more than $1.35 million to endow the award and fund future innovation in biliary cancer research.
Her personal philosophy and motto throughout her life and final months remained, If you can’t find the sunshine, be the sunshine.
Dr. Shroff is survived by her husband, Dr. Puneet Shroff, their children, Simran and Sachin, her father, Devendar Trivedi, her mother, Dr. Amita Trivedi, and her sister, Neema Sahni.
