Vice President and COO, Adult Cancer Services 

Here is what Laurel's nominator had to say about her:

“Laurel Bray-Hanin is our fearless Cancer Center Chief Operating Officer and should be celebrated. She continuously goes above and beyond - working long hours - to ensure that we are operating efficiently and smoothly. More importantly, she is an individual who always takes time out to listen to employees whenever an issue comes up, and makes each person (whether it’s a director, physician, or front-line team member) feel like an important part of the team.” 

Nominated by Nihari Patel 

Laurel's Bio:

I joined UCSF in 1997 as the first practice manager of the Breast Care Center.  This was a time at UCSF when Cancer Services was becoming a strategic area of focus and the various cancer faculty from the Departments of Medicine, Surgery, OBGYN, Urology, Pathology, Orthopaedics, and Radiation Oncology were coming together to plan the first UCSF Cancer Center building at Mount Zion.  The building would bring together cancer faculty and experts to work in multidisciplinary teams to bring the latest translational research and care to adult patients.  As someone with a love for learning and a need to understand the what and the why in whatever I do, I took advantage of any opportunity to learn and grow.  Over the next 19 years, I earned promotional opportunities, taking on more responsibility and oversite, serving as the Operations Manager and then the Director for the solid tumor adult cancer practices.  In 2017 with the recruitment of Dr Alan Ashworth and the reorganization of the Cancer Service Line, I was honored to be selected to serve as the VP and COO for Adult Cancer Services.   

Some of my accomplishments include the design, oversite, and activation of several significant building projects, most notable the Bakar Precision Cancer Medicine Building at the Mission Bay Campus opened in 2019.  In my current role I have focused on approaching cancer services as a service line, working to reduce variation, create operational standards, and support the many unique and world-class programs ensuring transparency of resource allocation.  Increasing the diversity of the leadership team in Cancer Services has been an area of focus. Over the past five years diversity among the management team increased by 5.5% and among the supervisory team by 33%.  The best part of my job is working with so many talented and amazing people who are motivated by our mission and genuinely put the patient experience at the center of our work. 

What advice would you give yourself early on in your career?

To a woman entering your field today? Take the highroad, there is never any traffic and patience, humility, and respect towards others pays off in dividends.  Be curious, go and see, don’t just assume.  Push yourself outside of your comfort zone and connect with others in your field.   

What do you like to do outside of work?

I mostly spend time with family and friends. I have three large rescue dogs, two with special needs.  My son is getting ready to go off to college and my daughter is a junior in college.    

What’s a favorite movie or TV Show you’ve watched recently?

My favorite move is Star Wars A New Hope.  It was the first movie I saw in a movie theater when I was a kid. I love anything Star Wars or Avengers.   

Meet other outstanding women of UCSF through Our Spotlight.