Casey 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, she pursues translational research seeking to discover how they induce arterial and venous thrombosis. The MPNs and Myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) are malignant hematopoietic disorders with pleiotropic clinical manifestations. Dr. O’Connell is interested in optimizing the role of epigenetic therapy in these pre-leukemic conditions that can lead to acute myeloid leukemia.

As director of the new GEHR CURES Myeloid Malignancy Program, Dr. O’Connell is focused on optimizing therapies and on novel ways to intervene earlier to prevent progression of these disorders. Dr. O’Connell is proudest of her accolades for patient care in Southern California and for teaching at the Keck School of Medicine, where she is the Director of the Year II Hematology Course.

• Keck School of Medicine: Master Teacher Distinction, 2013
• LAC+USC Medical Center: Medical Staff Leadership Recognition Award, 2013
• Keck School of Medicine : Outstanding Year I Teaching Award, 2012-2013
• Keck School of Medicine: Best Year I System, 2011-2012
• Keck School of Medicine : Outstanding Year I Teaching Award, 2008-2009
• Division of Hematology, USC: Fellow Research Award, 2006-2007
• Division of Hematology, USC: Fellow Teaching Award, 2004-2005
• USC Department of Medicine: Senior Resident of the Year, 2003-2004
• USC Department of Medicine: Brautbar Teaching Award, 2003-2004
• Keck School of Medicine: Outstanding Resident Teaching Award, 2003
• George Washington University Department of Medicine: Jorge C. Rios Award in Internal Medicine, 2001
• Laszlo M Tauber Scholarship, 1999
• George Washington University School of Medicine: William Beaumont Medical Research Honor Society, 1998

• Ruxolitinib discontinuation in polycythemia vera: Patient characteristics, outcomes, and salvage strategies from a large multi-institutional database Leuk Res. 2021 10; 109:106629. . View in PubMed
• Extrapulmonary manifestations of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 infection J Med Virol. 2021 05; 93(5):2645-2653. . View in PubMed
• Treatment of Cancer-Associated Venous Thromboembolism with Low-Molecular-Weight Heparin or Direct Oral Anticoagulants: Patient Selection, Controversies, and Caveats Oncologist. 2021 01; 26(1):e8-e16. . View in PubMed
• ACVR1/JAK1/JAK2 inhibitor momelotinib reverses transfusion dependency and suppresses hepcidin in myelofibrosis phase 2 trial Blood Adv. 2020 09 22; 4(18):4282-4291. . View in PubMed
• The TEMPI syndrome Blood. 2020 04 09; 135(15):1199-1203. . View in PubMed
• Oral cedazuridine/decitabine for MDS and CMML: a phase 2 pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic randomized crossover study Blood. 2020 08 06; 136(6):674-683. . View in PubMed
• A Retrospective Study of the Combination of Rituximab, Cyclophosphamide and Dexamethasone for the Treatment of Relapsed/Refractory Warm Antibody Autoimmune Hemolytic Anemia Acta Haematol. 2020; 143(3):244-249. . View in PubMed
• Persistent leukocytosis in polycythemia vera is associated with disease evolution but not thrombosis Blood. 2020 05 07; 135(19):1696-1703. . View in PubMed
• Unsuspected pulmonary emboli adversely impact survival in patients with cancer undergoing routine staging multi-row detector computed tomography scanning J Thromb Haemost. 2011 Feb; 9(2):305-11. . View in PubMed
• Managing cancer-related venous thromboembolic disease: low-molecular-weight heparins and beyond Expert Rev Hematol. 2008 Dec; 1(2):175-82. . View in PubMed

• Demetriades, Demetrios
• Young, Guy
• Matsuo, Koji
• Liebman, Howard
• Lieberman, Jay
• Lenz, Heinz-Josef
• Inaba, Kenji
• Heckmann, Nathanael