Patricia LoRusso, DO

Oncologist Patricia LoRusso, DO, associate director of innovative medicine at Yale Medicine, has expertise in testing new treatments on patient volunteers who have advanced stages of cancer. Her passion is bringing research breakthroughs into the clinic to help patients with different types and stages of cancer.
The clinical trials at Yale Cancer Center offer access to experimental drugs that are sometimes a patient’s last and best hope, says Dr. LoRusso. Therapies that prove successful can advance through the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval process. “Many of the drugs tested here will help generations of cancer patients,” says Dr. LoRusso. In her career, 14 cancer drugs she has performed clinical trials on, which she refers to as her “children,” have gone on to gain FDA approval.
Dr. LoRusso leads the Phase I clinical trials infusion center at Smilow Cancer Hospital at Yale New Haven. She infuses the center with a warm, team-focused approach that puts patients at the center of care. “We’re improving patients’ lives in Connecticut and beyond,” says Dr. LoRusso.