Translational Orphan Blood Cancer Research Initiative

The UVA Comprehensive Cancer Center’s Translational Orphan Blood Cancer Research Initiative (TOBCRI) pursues new treatments for blood cancers so rare they are designated “orphan” diseases and have historically received limited research scrutiny and funding. TOBCRI is an interdisciplinary, donor-supported and project-based effort that collaborates with partner institutions under the direction of two leading researchers: Owen A. O’Connor, MD, PhD, UVA’s American Cancer Society Research Professor, who has invented and developed multiple blood cancer drugs, and Thomas Loughran, MD, PhD, UVACCC’s Director and the discoverer of LGL leukemia.