Last Updated: October 17, 2026
Dr Rachna Shroff Children: Dr. Rachna Shroff, the brilliant Indian-American oncologist who dedicated her life to fighting rare gastrointestinal cancers, left an indelible mark on medicine. Yet those who knew her best always said her greatest joy and priority remained her two children. In the weeks and months before her passing at age 47 in October 2026, she made it clear that Simran and Sachin mattered more than anything else.
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A Distinguished Career Grounded in Family
Dr. Rachna Shroff served as associate director of clinical investigations at the University of Arizona Cancer Center and chief of the Division of Hematology/Oncology. She specialized in cholangiocarcinoma (bile duct cancer), pancreatic cancer, and other difficult-to-treat hepatobiliary cancers. Raised in Tucson by a biochemist father and nephrologist mother, she returned to her hometown after years at MD Anderson to advance clinical trials and mentor the next generation of researchers.
Even while facing her own aggressive adenocarcinoma diagnosis earlier in 2026, she continued working and fulfilled one final wish: raising $1.35 million to endow the Conquer Cancer–Rachna Shroff Young Investigator Award in Biliary Cancers. Through it all, she repeatedly emphasized that her family came first.
Meet Her Children: Simran and Sachin
Dr. Shroff and her husband, Dr. Puneet Shroff (a physician and professor of medicine), shared two children:
- Simran Shroff, their daughter, age 17
- Sachin Shroff, their son, age 13
In recent interviews, the teenagers spoke with quiet pride about their mother. Simran highlighted her tenacity and ability to overcome obstacles in both personal and professional life. Sachin simply said he would remember how loving she was. In her final months, Dr. Shroff still made time for ordinary family moments that meant everything to her—joining Simran on college visits and cheering at Sachin’s baseball games.
These small, everyday experiences reflected the values she lived by: presence, resilience, and love.
Balancing Medicine and Motherhood
Dr. Shroff often spoke about the simple happiness she found in everyday family life. Driving the kids to school and listening to their thoughts, traveling together to show them the wider world, and simply being together at home ranked among her greatest sources of joy. She and Puneet were approaching their 20th wedding anniversary when she passed. She credited her husband’s steady support as the reason she could keep moving forward.
Her children saw both her professional determination and her deep capacity for care. That combination left a powerful example: excellence in one’s field does not require sacrificing the people who matter most.
| Family Member | Relationship | Age (as of 2026) | Notable Details |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dr. Rachna Shroff | Mother | 47 (passed) | Leading GI oncologist, University of Arizona |
| Dr. Puneet Shroff | Husband / Father | — | Physician & professor of medicine |
| Simran Shroff | Daughter | 17 | College visits with mother |
| Sachin Shroff | Son | 13 | Baseball player; remembered mother’s love |
Lessons from a Mother’s Final Chapter
Dr. Shroff’s story offers quiet but powerful lessons for parents everywhere:
- Prioritize presence over perfection. Even with a demanding career and later a terminal diagnosis, she showed up for school runs, games, and college tours.
- Model resilience without hiding vulnerability. Her children witnessed both her professional fight against cancer and her personal one.
- Create lasting impact beyond your lifetime. The research award she established will fund young investigators every year in perpetuity—an extension of the care she gave her own family and patients.
- Cherish ordinary moments. She found deep happiness in the everyday routines of family life.
Her Indian-American roots and scientific upbringing shaped her, yet the values she passed to Simran and Sachin—curiosity, compassion, and courage—transcend any single culture or career.
Conclusion
Dr. Rachna Shroff’s professional achievements changed the landscape of rare cancer research. Her personal legacy lives on most clearly in her two children. Simran and Sachin carry forward the example of a mother who balanced groundbreaking science with wholehearted love. In remembering her, we honor both the researcher who advanced treatments for patients worldwide and the parent who made her children the center of her world.
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Her story reminds us that the deepest impact often comes not only from the work we do, but from the people we raise and the love we leave behind.
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