Gordana Raca, MD, PhD, FACMG

Director, Clinical Cytogenomics Laboratory, Center for Personalized Medicine
Associate Professor of Clinical Pathology, Keck School of Medicine of USC

Dr. Gordana Raca is Director of the Cytogenomics Laboratory in the Center for Personalized Medicine in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, and Associate Professor of Clinical Pathology at the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California.

Clinical Interests

Dr. Raca has many years of experience overseeing molecular and cytogenetic testing in high volume diagnostic laboratories. Her long term clinical and research interest is in molecular and cytogenetic mechanisms of genetic disorders and in molecular and cytogenetic diagnostics. Dr. Raca’s recent focus has been on application of genomic technologies (chromosome microarray analysis and next generation sequencing) in studying hematologic malignancies and genetic diseases. Dr. Raca is certified in both Clinical Cytogenetics and Molecular Diagnostics by the American Board of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ABMGG).
Dr. Raca’s expertise in using genomic assay for diagnostics and research in oncology resulted in an election to the Board of Directors of the Cancer Genomics Consortium, a collaborative group focusing on clinical implementation, standardization and advancement of genomic technologies. Dr. Raca’s commitment to the quality and accuracy of clinical testing is reflected in her service on the American College of Medical Genetics (ACMG) Laboratory Quality Assurance Committee for Clinical Cytogenetics and the College of American Pathologists Cytogenetics Resource Committee. Dr. Raca is a member of the American Society for Clinical Pathology (ASCP) Teleconference Committee for Molecular/Emerging Technology Area, and the American Society of Hematology (ASH) Image Bank Taskforce.

Education

Medical School

University of Novi Sad School of Medicine, Novi Sad, Yugosalvia

Fellowship

University of Chicago, Department of Human Genetics (Clinical Molecular Genetics)
Emory University, Department of Human Genetics (Clinical Cytogenetics)

Accomplishments

Certification

American Board of Medical Genetics and Genomics: Clinical Cytogenetics, Molecular Diagnostics

Memberships

American Society of Human Genetics
American College of Medical Genetics
American Cytogenetics Conference
The American Society for Clinical Pathology (ASCP)
American Society of Hematology

Medical Awards

Elected to the Board of Directors of the Cancer Genomics Consortium (CGC), 2013
President-Elect of the Cancer Genomics Consortium (CGC) (2015)
Elected to the American Collage of Medical Genetics (ACMG) Laboratory Quality Assurance Committee (2015)
Elected to the College of American Pathologists (CAP) Cytogenetics Resource Committee (2015)

Publications

Nabhan C, Raca G, Wang YL. Predicting Prognosis in Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia in the Contemporary Era. JAMA Oncol. 2015 May 7. PubMed PMID: 26181643.

Li Z, Stölzel F, Onel K, Sukhanova M, Mirza MK, Yap KL, Borinets O, Larson RA, Stock W, Sasaki MM, Joseph L, Raca G. Next generation sequencing reveals clinically actionable molecular markers in myeloid sarcoma. Leukemia. 2015 Mar 19. PubMed PMID: 25787914; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4575593.

Raca G, Gurbuxani S, Zhang Z, Li Z, Sukhanova M, McNeer J, Stock W. RCSD1-ABL2 fusion resulting from a complex chromosomal rearrangement in high-risk B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Leuk Lymphoma. 2015 Apr;56(4):1145-7. PubMed PMID: 25098428.

Mirza MK, Sukhanova M, Stölzel F, Onel K, Larson RA, Stock W, Ehninger G, Kuithan F, Zöphel K, Reddy P, Joseph L, Raca G. Genomic aberrations in myeloid sarcoma without blood or bone marrow involvement: characterization of formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded samples by chromosomal microarrays. Leuk Res. 2014 Sep;38(9):1091-6. Epub 2014 May 21. PubMed PMID: 25088808; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4157130.

McGregor S, Shah A, Raca G, Mirza MK, Smith SM, Anastasi J, Vardiman JW, Hyjek E, Gurbuxani S. PLZF staining identifies peripheral T-cell lymphomas derived from innate-like T-cells with TRAV1-2-TRAJ33 TCR-α rearrangement. Blood. 2014 Apr 24;123(17):2742-3. PubMed PMID: 24764561.