If you’ve spent any time in the world of cancer support—particularly here in the San Gabriel Valley—you’ve likely felt the quiet influence of Professor Matthew Loscalzo. A pioneer in psychosocial oncology and a longtime friend of the Cancer Support Community Greater San Gabriel Valley (back when it was still The Wellness Community), Professor Loscalzo has spent his career reshaping the way we understand care: not just as treatment, but as relationship.
A native New Yorker turned proud Sierra Madre local, Professor Loscalzo and his wife have devoted their lives to supporting people living with cancer through their work at City of Hope. After decades of leadership, innovation, and mentorship, Professor Loscalzo will retire at the end of this year—once and for all, he laughs—transitioning fully into his Professor Emeritus role. “I tried to retire four years ago,” he admits, but was encouraged to stay a bit longer.
When asked how he plans to spend his days post-retirement, his answer comes with a twinkle of mystery: “I’m going to thoroughly enjoy being lost and confused.”
A Career of Innovation
When Professor Loscalzo began his career at Memorial Sloan Kettering in the 1980s, the field of psychosocial oncology was still in its infancy. “I never imagined technology would be where it is today,” he says. “Not even 15 or 20 years ago. We’re not going back—we’re only going forward.”
Over the years, he and colleagues have been at the forefront of this forward motion. He developed the first biopsychosocial survey—a multilingual screening tool designed to capture the emotional, social, and psychological dimensions of cancer care. Later, they created an innovative digital platform called Connecting Hope and the Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) model.
Through Connecting Hope, patients can record what motivates them to persevere through their care. By uploading pictures and notes this platform not only helps providers tailor care to the unique motivators for each patient, but also interacts directly with the patient with set reminders for small acts of care—like, “Your son Kori wants you to drink an extra glass of water today”—and share insights with their care team. “Family,” Professor Loscalzo says, “always comes up first. Again and again, it’s the number one motivator.”
Supporting Patients—and Their Partners
At City of Hope, Professor Loscalzo and team built one of the nation’s only couples programs as the standard of care where licensed mental health professionals meet with partners navigating a cancer diagnosis together.
“One of the first things I ask is, ‘Do you have the strength of unity to face this difficulty together?’” he says. “It’s an essential question.” His screening also includes a deceptively simple but telling prompt: “What is your perception of the medical situation?”
The results are often surprising. About one-third of couples don’t align in their perception of the prognosis, a disconnect that can make it difficult to have honest, necessary conversations. “It’s not about agreement,” he explains, “it’s about understanding where the other person stands and coming to a place where both can grapple with the same reality.”
All of the EMA questions, he notes, are written at a fifth- to sixth-grade reading level to ensure accessibility and clarity. For him, language should invite—not intimidate or confuse.
A Strengths-Based Approach
Professor Loscalzo’s work has always been strength-oriented, focusing on what people can do in the face of illness. “Talking about feelings is good,” he says, “but not an endpoint. To live in feelings is getting stuck in a rut.”
Instead, he asks patients: “What can you do today that, in a day, a week, or a month, you’ll be proud of yourself for?”
He’s observed two broad responses to a cancer diagnosis: some people shrink their world, turning inward to focus on their immediate circle, while others expand their world, seeing the experience as a wake-up call to make amends, reconnect, or check items off their bucket list. “Both responses,” he says, “can be healthy. The key is movement—any kind of forward motion.”
Building a Culture of Care
When Professor Loscalzo was recruited to City of Hope, his mission was to build a Supportive Care Medicine program—one that integrates psychosocial, spiritual, and palliative care into every stage of cancer treatment. Under his leadership, the program has grown from 20 to more than 200 colleagues over the past 17 years.
He believes this success could only happen at City of Hope. “This program couldn’t exist anywhere else,” he says. “It’s in the DNA of this place—the founding values that center humanity, partnership with patients, and genuine care for one another.”
He recalls that, for many years, City of Hope didn’t even have a billing department—a detail he points to as symbolic of its ethos. “It’s never been about transactions here,” he says. “It’s about people.”
A Lesson in Directness and Grace
Known for his candor, Professor Loscalzo describes himself as “a very direct New Yorker.” As he prepares for retirement, he’s been going around to colleagues with a rare kind of honesty: telling them, “We may not see each other again like this, so if there’s anything I did that rubbed you the wrong way or that I could have done better, please tell me—even if it was years ago.”
Some have taken him up on it. “People told me that when I first started, I was too direct,” he admits, smiling. “And they’re right. I’ve learned to reframe.”
It’s a perfect encapsulation of his growth—not a softening, but a deepening. His directness remains, but it’s now coupled with a profound sense of empathy and partnership. He says that this type of candor with care must not only be directed at patients, but intrinsic to the workplace culture and be emulated by interactions between colleagues as well.
The Legacy of a Life’s Work
As Professor Loscalzo prepares to step away from his day-to-day role, his influence will continue to ripple outward through the generations of clinicians, counselors, and researchers he has mentored. His approach—grounded in curiosity, kindness, and courage—has helped redefine what it means to care for the whole person.
He’s credits his team, who he is deeply proud, but his legacy is undeniable. For Professor Loscalzo, success has never been about accolades or recognition—it’s about people feeling seen, supported, and strengthened.
After decades of giving others the tools to navigate uncertainty, he now looks forward to a new chapter—one guided by the same values he’s always championed: reflection, curiosity, and connection.
He has spent my career helping people find meaning in the unknown, and now it is his turn.