Robert Nagourney, MD Named Medical Director of Malcolm C. Todd, M.D. Cancer Institute at Long Beach Memorial Medical Center and Miller Children’s Hospital.
LONG BEACH, CA – Nationally known clinician and researcher Robert Nagourney, M.D. has been named Medical Director of the Malcolm C. Todd, MD Cancer Institute, one of the West’s largest and most well-respected cancer programs located on the campus of Long Beach Memorial Medical Center and Miller Children’s Hospital in Long Beach.
A medical oncologist, Dr. Nagourney is highly regarded in the cancer community for his pioneering work in cancer research, new treatment protocols, laboratory-directed therapy and individualized treatment. His work has helped enable cancer programs to better match patients to available drugs and treatments. The principal investigator for a number of clinical trials for cancer, including co-principal investigator of two current national trials in gynecological oncology, Dr. Nagourney continually develops new approaches tested nationwide and lectured to more than 100 medical organizations across the nation and abroad in the last three years alone.
He has 15 years of experience studying human tissue cultures and has authored more than 75 publications and abstracts, including publication in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute and the Journal of Clinical Oncology. He serves on several editorial boards and reviews numerous articles for professional journals that include Clinical Cancer Research, British Journal of Cancer, Oncology Research and the Journal of Medicinal Food.
His philosophy focuses on individualized treatment plans. “Every patient has the potential to get better,” explains Dr. Nagourney, a member of the Long Beach Memorial medical staff for nearly two decades. “We have a responsibility to pursue every available option in the interest of our patients, and to create a patient-oriented program to provide improved clinical outcomes, while reducing the toxicities and costs associated with cancer therapy.”
A Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Boston University, Dr. Nagourney received his medical degree from McGill University in Montreal, Canada, where he was a University Scholar. He completed his residency in internal medicine at University of California, Irvine, and Long Beach VA Medical Centers. He was awarded a fellowship in medical oncology at Georgetown University Hospital in Washington, D.C. As recipient of the Scripps Institute Young Investigator Award, he completed further study in hematology at Scripps Clinic and Research Institute in La Jolla, Calif. He is board certified in internal medicine, medical oncology and hematology.
As medical director, Dr. Nagourney leads the Todd Cancer Institute at Long Beach Memorial Medical Center, which earned a Mercury Award for Best Cancer Program in Los Angeles from HCIA, a national research institute based in Baltimore. Additionally, the Todd Cancer Institute’s Memorial Care Breast Center was ranked first in Self Magazine’s “Ten Best Breast Centers in the U.S.” Long Beach Memorial’s gynecology, neurology/neurosurgery, respiratory, endocrinology, ear/nose/throat and digestive tract disease programs have also placed among the Top 50 hospitals nationally in the U.S. News & World Report ranking.
Plans are set to begin construction of a new signature building on the campus of Long Beach Memorial and Miller Children’s to house the Todd Cancer Institute’s outpatient services. “The new facility will bring comprehensive and innovative prevention, screening, diagnosis, treatment, clinical research and education to one location,” says Dr. Nagourney. “It will blend the most advanced cancer technology and therapies into an environment that focuses on all needs of cancer patients. It will be a supportive and inviting environment where patients have access to evidence-based options ranging from nutritional, naturopathic and herbal remedies to emotional and spiritual care, along with the most advanced application of drugs, radiation oncology and surgery. In short, anything and everything that works. Our emphasis is on achieving the best clinical outcomes and highest survival rates possible. We are proud of our national reputation for research and clinical care in breast, gynecologic and prostate cancers and are expanding our research efforts into lung, colon, pancreatic and other cancers.”
One emphasis is laboratory-directed therapies. Using an approach similar to the way infections are treated, patient’s cancer cells may be cultured to determine which chemotherapies work best for each individual, allowing drugs to be used more intelligently and effectively.
The Malcolm C. Todd, MD Cancer Institute is named for the late Long Beach Memorial surgeon, American Medical Association chairman and physician advisor to five U.S. presidents.
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