Casey L. O'connell, MD

Dr. Casey O’Connell is an Associate Professor in the Jane Anne Nohl Division of Hematology at the Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California (USC). She did her undergraduate work at Stanford University and completed her medical degree with distinction at the George Washington School of Medicine. She began her career as a clinical researcher at USC’s Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center in the area of cancer-related thrombosis by describing the clinical significance of incidental pulmonary embolism identified on routine cancer staging CT scans. Her original work in this area was published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology and brought this clinical entity to the attention of oncologists worldwide. 
Dr. O’Connell’s background in cancer-related thrombosis has generated a focused interest in Myeloproliferative Neoplasms (MPNs), which include Polycythemia Vera, Essential Thrombocytosis and Myelofibrosis. In addition to leading clinical treatment trials for patients with these malignancies and the Myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), she pursues translational research seeking to discover how clonal stem cell mutations induce arterial and venous thrombosis. 
As director of the GEHR CURES Myeloid Malignancy Program (https://myeloidcancercures.usc.edu), Dr. O’Connell is focused on optimizing therapies and on novel, non-toxic ways to intervene earlier to prevent progression of pre-leukemic myeloid malignancies. She also works with an international team sponsored by Van Andel Research Institute-Stand Up 2 Cancer to use immune-stimulating medications to optimize the role of epigenetic therapy in preventing these conditions from evolving to acute myeloid leukemia (AML). 
Dr. O’Connell is proudest of her accolades for patient care in Southern California, for helping patients with rare blood disorders find answers (https://www.keckmedicine.org/rare-blood-diseases) and for teaching at the Keck School of Medicine, where she is the Director of the Year I Hematology Course.