Anna Capasso, MD, PhD

Assistant professor, Livestrong Cancer Institutes

Anna Capasso, MD, PhD, is a medical oncologist in UT Health Austin’s Livestrong Cancer Institutes. She specializes in treating cancer and providing medical care for patients diagnosed with gastrointestinal cancers. Additionally, Dr. Capasso is an assistant professor in the Dell Medical School Department of Oncology and a courtesy assistant professor in the Dell Medical School Department of Internal Medicine.

Anna earned her medical and doctorate degree in translational medicine from Universita’ Luigi Vanvitelli, in Naples, Italy. During her doctorate she joined the Developmental Therapeutics Program at the University of Colorado directed by Dr. Gail Eckhardt, focusing her research on colorectal cancer. She also completed her fellowship in medical oncology at Universita’ Luigi Vanvitelli  in Naples, Italy

Dr. Capasso is currently one of the PIs of the  LCI laboratories with a clinical and research focus on patients suffering from colorectal cancer (CRC). In particular, Dr. Capasso’s main interest is studying early onset CRC, a malignancy in need of novel target treatments, which has seen an increased incidence in recent years, and she just recently published a manuscript on this topic in collaboration with the Value Institute. Dr. Capasso is also focusing her research on onco immunology for microsatellite stable (MSS) CRC, currently not eligible for immunotherapy, and was awarded a career development award grant from the Department of Defense to study novel drug combinations to help develop new treatments for this patient population, making tumors more immunogenic, which would increase response. 

Dr. Capasso has been instrumental in spearheading our new Phase I Clinical Trials program, and currently serves as principal investigator on three industry-sponsored, phase I clinical trials testing new treatments for patients with solid tumors. This new program will provide important treatment options for the cancer population in the Austin and central Texas area. She oversees several research activities and is specializing in ‘first in human” clinical trials She also mentors students and residence and is a member of the European Society of Medical Oncology, American Society of Cancer Research and Women in Cancer Research.

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