Massey Center, VCU Health hire cancer exec

Virginia Commonwealth University Massey Cancer Center and VCU Health announced Tuesday that Dr. Paula M. Fracasso, formerly of the University of Virginia, is now the cancer center’s deputy director and senior vice president of the health system’s cancer service line.

An oncologist, former pharmaceutical executive and medical school professor, Fracasso joined VCU and the Massey Center this month. Fracasso will work with leadership at Massey, VCU Health and the VCU School of Medicine to coordinate patient care, education and research initiatives concerning cancer.

“I’m excited to be joining such a strong, accomplished team of clinicians, researchers and staff all motivated by our shared mission to reduce the cancer burden for all Virginians,” Fracasso said in a statement.

“Dr. Fracasso’s deep expertise across the spectrum of patient care and clinical and translation research in [National Cancer Institute]-designated cancer centers will greatly contribute to our continued efforts to enhance patient care by streamlining operations under a centralized cancer service line,” VCU Medical Center President Michael Roussos said in a statement.

Fracasso, who served as professor of women’s oncology research as well as deputy director of U.Va.’s cancer center, previously worked at Washington University in St. Louis, Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. and Adaptimmune Therapeutics PLC. At Washington University in St. Louis, she built the Siteman Cancer Center’s Developmental Therapeutics program for phase 1 and 2 clinical trials. She is also a member of the NCI’s operational efficiency working group, which aims to speed up the pace of clinical trials.

Fracasso holds an undergraduate degree from the College of the Holy Cross and medical and graduate degrees from Yale University. She completed her internal medicine internship and residency at Beth Israel Hospital in Boston, her postdoctoral research fellowship at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and her clinical fellowship in hematology-oncology at Tufts Medical Center.