Remembering Dr. Rachna Shroff

We mourn the loss of our colleague and friend Dr. Rachna Shroff, who died earlier this week, following a diagnosis of cancer.

To pay tribute to Rachna and highlight the impact she has had on so many colleagues, so many patients, and on research to improve outcomes for those facing GI cancers, we’ve invited several SWOG leaders who knew her best to contribute remembrances, both professional and personal.

SWOG Gastrointestinal Committee Chair Dr. Philip Philip, Vice Chair Dr. E. Gabriela Chiorean, and Past Vice Chair Dr. Cathy Eng shared this tribute: 

On behalf of the GI Committee, it is with deep sadness that we remember Rachna, an outstanding gastrointestinal medical oncologist and a valued colleague in our SWOG community. As co-leader of the Hepatobiliary Cancer Subcommittee, she brought tremendous enthusiasm, energy, and an unwavering commitment to advancing research in an area of significant unmet medical need. Her scientific leadership included leading SWOG S1815, the largest randomized phase III trial in biliary cancer to date.  

Beyond her research accomplishments, Rachna was exceptionally generous with her time and expertise in support of SWOG’s mission and the broader National Clinical Trials Network (NCTN). Throughout her career, she exemplified the highest standards of professionalism, collegiality, and dedication to collaborative research, and her contributions to cancer research and the SWOG community will have a lasting impact.

She also dedicated herself to mentoring and inspiring residents, fellows, junior faculty, and colleagues, generously investing her time and expertise to help others achieve their academic and professional goals. Mentorship was not simply one of her many contributions; it was her passion. Through the countless individuals she guided, encouraged, and inspired, her influence will continue to be felt for generations. This enduring commitment to developing future leaders will remain one of her greatest legacies. 

Above all, she will be remembered for the important work she did, but also for the colleagues she supported, the investigators she mentored, and the enthusiasm and generosity she brought to our shared mission. 

She will be deeply missed by all of us who had the privilege of knowing her and working with her.
 

SWOG Executive Officer for International Affairs Dr. Mariana Chavez Mac Gregor shared a moving remembrance:

“Mi Marianita”—that is what Rachna called me. Two simple words, always with a smile. 

As I struggle to find a way to honor my friend, I keep coming back to the words she used for me. Because although our oncology community has lost an extraordinary physician, scientist, and leader, I have lost someone I love, someone who has been a constant in my life for more than 20 years.

I met Rach, as many of us called her, in 2005 during our training at Washington University School of Medicine. That year, I arrived in the United States to begin my training. I was an intern, feeling both lost and insecure as I tried to adapt to my new life. Rach was a resident, and of all the possible rotations, we met on the oncology service. The connection between two aspiring oncologists who shared a love for family, their heritage, and their own birthdays was immediate. This was the beginning of a profound and enduring friendship. 

Rach started calling me “mi Marianita” back then. As if I were hers. And somehow, in a beautiful way, her calling me that, made me feel seen, validated, and welcomed. It gave me the comforting feeling that I belonged. It was with her, and with her friends, who later became mine as well, that I began to feel at home. She gave me, and many others, a sense of home. She had that power: to make others feel loved and safe. 

After some truly wonderful years in Saint Louis, we shared our fellowship years at MD Anderson, and our paths continued to intertwine not only as friends but also through our careers in academic medicine and our roles at ASCO and SWOG. When I reflect on my life in the United States over the past 21 years, Rachna was always there. Through graduations, new homes, weddings, births, and different cities; through milestones, promotions, and many challenges, she was one of those rare constants who made everything better simply by being part of it. 

And Rachna truly did make everything better. She was exceptional in so many ways. She was full of life, light, energy, laughter, and love. She shone in every dimension—as a doctor, researcher, colleague, and leader. But for those of us lucky enough to know her, it was always clear that her light shone brightest in her roles as mother, wife, daughter, sister, and friend. She embraced every moment, and I never saw a dance floor that did not eventually include her. She had a unique combination of intellectual brilliance, relentless determination, tenacity, and genuine compassion.

In medicine, we often speak about legacy in terms of discoveries, publications, grants, awards, clinical trials, and the patients whose lives we helped improve. By every one of those measures, Rachna leaves an extraordinary legacy. But there is another kind of legacy, one that is harder to measure and even more enduring: the lives we touch, the confidence we inspire, the friendships we nurture, the smiles we spark, and the love we leave behind.

Rachna’s legacy lives in all of these.

Our field has lost a remarkable oncologist and researcher. Her colleagues and trainees have lost a generous leader and mentor. Her loving family has lost someone truly irreplaceable. And many of us have lost a loyal and cherished friend. 

I will miss her brilliance, her energy, her laughter, and the countless ways she made the world brighter and better. I will also miss hearing her say, “mi Marianita.” And I will forever be grateful that, for a part of my life, I got to be hers.
 

Among Rachna’s final contributions to the advancement of high-impact research on GI malignancies was spearheading the endowment of the Conquer Cancer – Rachna Shroff, MD, MS, FASCO Young Investigator Award in Biliary Cancer, to support future generations of researchers working against these malignancies. Launched shortly after she was diagnosed with cancer, it was realized through the contributions of more than 600 donors in just a few months, while she was alive, fulfilling one of her final wishes.

We extend our deepest condolences to Dr. Shroff’s family, friends, and colleagues – to all who loved her and acutely feel her loss. As we do. We will miss you, Rachna.