Dr. Hope Rugo is a medical oncologist and hematologist specializing in breast cancer research and treatment. A Clinical Professor of Medicine, Dr. Rugo joined the Breast Care Center in 1999 after a decade of experience at UCSF in malignant hematology and bone marrow transplantation for a variety of diseases, including breast cancer. She entered the field of breast cancer in order to incorporate novel therapies based on an understanding of the biology of cancer with excellent quality of care into the treatment of women with breast cancer.

Dr. Rugo is the Director of the Breast Oncology Clinical Trials Program, and is the principal investigator of multiple clinical trials focusing on combining novel targeted therapeutics with standard treatment to improve the treatment of both early and late stage breast cancer. In addition, Dr. Rugo is working on studies to evaluate cognitive function in women receiving chemotherapy for breast cancer, as well as novel ways to reduce toxicity from therapy. Dr. Rugo has established collaborations with a number of other large academic medical centers for the purpose of expanding the novel therapies that are available for our patients, including herbal agents that appear to have an antitumor effect in the laboratory. She is an active member of the national cooperative group, CALGB, and a is a founding member of the Breast Cancer Research Consortium, as well as serving as an investigator in the UCSF Breast SPORE (the Bay Area Specialized Program of Research Excellence in Breast Cancer). Dr. Rugo teaches medical students and physicians, and regularly lectures locally, nationally and internationally on subjects relating to the treatment of breast cancer. At UCSF, Dr. Rugo runs the Breast Forum, an open bimonthly evening educational session for breast cancer patients, families and friends from throughout the bay area.

Dr. Rugo graduated from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in 1983. She completed a residency in internal medicine and primary care followed by a fellowship in hematology and oncology at the University of California San Francisco. She was a post-doctoral fellow in immunology participating in laboratory research at Stanford University from 1988-1990. In 1990, Dr. Rugo joined the faculty at UCSF in the Division of Hematology and Oncology. Dr. Rugo has been recognized for her excellence in both patient care and in teaching of both medical students and training physicians. She has received several awards including the Bank of America Gianini Foundation Award and a UCSF Clinical Cancer Center Investigator Research Program intra-mural award. In 2006, she was honored for her work in Breast Cancer Research by the Friends of the Breast Care Center.

Outside of work, Dr. Rugo spends time with her two children, Philip and Alyssa-Faith, and her husband Martin. Her outside interests include bicycling, hiking, travel with her family and playing the flute.