Massachusetts General Hospital | Cancer Center

An interview with Mara Bloom, JD, executive director of the Cancer Center

Mara Bloom joined the Cancer Center as executive director in March 2009. She provides oversight for all cancer operations and works closely with leadership to develop the strategic direction of the Cancer Center. Mara previously worked as the director of oncology services at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital for the Columbia and Cornell Cancer programs. At NYP, she also served as director of strategic and operational planning.

Mara is an attorney by training, but developed an interest in health care after earning a masters degree at the NYU Wagner School of Public Service. “I always thought I would follow in my father’s footsteps as a real estate attorney," she recalls.  "I am so glad I found my calling in health care.”

What makes you passionate about your work?

First and foremost, our patients and their families make me so passionate about this work. Their unique experiences and strength motivate me to provide a Cancer Center offering the best patient experience and highest quality of care. Next, the physicians, researchers, nurses and caregivers inspire me with their dedication and passion . . . administratively, I want to help them achieve their goals whether its developing new programs, obtaining more resources, or facilitating discussions to improve operations. Finally, the complexity of the disease fascinates me . . . I learn something new every day!

What do you find challenging about your work?

Constantly juggling the needs of our many disease centers that cross multiple divisions and departments is probably the most challenging aspect of this job, but also the most rewarding when we achieve success.

What is the future of cancer care? Where do you see the Cancer Center in the next 5 years?

The future of cancer care will definitely involve more personalized medicine. Genetic and molecular testing will allow for more tailored treatments and hopefully earlier diagnosis of cancer. Technologies at the Cancer Center like the CTC’s and snapshot analysis are extremely promising. However, more information will lead to different operational challenges and we will need to develop new paradigms for cancer care, whether it’s figuring out how to best manage oral chemotherapy or developing a process for high throughput genomic testing of all patients, we will need to evolve our operations. Over the next 5 years, I see the Cancer Center expanding this innovative approach to translational research and targeted therapies on a large scale.

I also think that with payment reform, there will be more incentive to manage patients better across multiple institutions, so we will need to develop well integrated relationships with high quality community providers. Additionally, I envision that more patients will survive cancer longer, possibly indefinitely, thus we will need to manage cancer more like a chronic disease. We will need to develop models for disease management and survivorship care, which may include partnerships with primary care physicians or specialized survivorship clinics. Over the next 5 years I see the Cancer Center at the leading edge of transforming cancer in new directions.

Why should patients choose Mass General for their cancer care?

Because we are situated in one of the world’s top academic medical centers, patients have access to the best of everything and access to the latest therapies and technologies within a fully integrated multidisciplinary model.

There is also an excitement and energy here – it is so clear that our physicians and scientists collaborate closely. There is a culture of innovation and growth that permeates throughout the Cancer Center. Our portfolio of clinical trials, including many investigator initiated clinical trials, is a major reason patients should seek treatment here.

What do you enjoy in your free time?

In my free time, I enjoy spending time with my children, Aliya (9 years old) and Nathaniel (6 years old) and my husband, Joel. On the weekends, you can catch us on the soccer field, at the local museums, participating in a temple activity, or hiking in the nice weather. We are also looking forward to the snowy winters and learning some winter sports.

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