The future of cancer research lies behind us | Robert Nagourney, MD | TEDxSoCal

Robert A. Nagourney, MD, is Medical and Laboratory Director at Rational Therapeutics, Inc., in Long Beach, California, and teaches Pharmacology at the University of California, Irvine School of Medicine. He is board certified in internal medicine, medical oncology, and hematology. During his medical oncology fellowship at Georgetown University, Dr. Nagourney confronted aggressive malignancies for which the standard therapies remained highly unsatisfactory. Responding to an unmet need, he pioneered the development of "personalized cancer therapy" applying a laboratory platform to match patients to therapies based on their unique response profiles. With over 20 years experience in human tumor primary culture analyses, Dr. Nagourney has authored numerous manuscripts, book chapters and abstracts. As co-investigator on national cooperative trials, Dr. Nagourney introduced the use of platinum/Gemcitabine doublets in the management of advanced ovarian and breast cancers, treatments that today are used around the world. These native-state microspheroid cancer studies have enabled Dr. Nagourney to explore the fundamental biology of human malignancies toward a new understanding of molecularly targeted cancer therapeutics. Dr. Nagourney resides in Long Beach, California with his wife and two sons. ABOUT TEDx In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.* (*Subject to certain rules and regulations)