Ruth O’Regan Joins URMC, Will Lead Wilmot’s Education Efforts
Earlier in January, Ruth O’Regan, M.D., officially joined the University of Rochester Medical Center as the Charles A. Dewey Professor and Chair of the Department of Medicine. Her position in that capacity was announced in September. In addition to that role at URMC, as a breast oncologist, she will have significant involvement with endeavors at Wilmot Cancer Institute, serving as Wilmot’s Associate Director for Mentoring and Career Development.
“We are very excited to have Ruth here at URMC and at Wilmot,” says Jonathan W. Friedberg, M.D., M.M.Sc., director of Wilmot Cancer Institute. “Not only does she bring a background in oncology, but also in research and she is considered a national thought leader in the breast cancer field. She’s a welcome addition both at the administrative level and at the patient care and research levels.”
O’Regan previously worked as chief of Hematology, Medical Oncology and Palliative Care at the University of Wisconsin. Prior to that, she was a professor at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta. At Emory, among other roles, she served as Chief of Hematology and Medical Oncology at the Georgia Cancer Center for Excellence at Grady Memorial Hospital and as director of the Hematology/Oncology Fellowship Program.
She brings that wealth of experience to Wilmot’s education mission in her role as Associate Director for Mentoring and Career Development. In this role, she will help Wilmot shape and strive for goals around strengthening Wilmot’s offerings for faculty, students and trainees. Diversity and inclusion play a big part in this education piece, she says.
“It will be important to work toward unifying some of the education initiatives across the whole department, including cancer-related initiatives,” she says. “My goal is to work on trying to attract trainees with diverse backgrounds, both in Hematology/Oncology and in the whole Department of Medicine.”
In addition to this work, she plans to see breast cancer patients at Pluta Cancer Center on Tuesdays and will continue her breast cancer research. She serves as editor-in-chief of Clinical Breast Cancer and as Breast Section Editor for Cancer.
“As we move toward our goal of achieving National Cancer Institute designation, one key area we need to continue to strengthen is education. I believe having Ruth here is an important addition toward that goal,” says Friedberg. “I look forward to working with her as we push forward into 2021 and beyond."
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