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Puja Umaretiya, M.D.

Puja Umaretiya, M.D.

Assistant Professor

School
Medical School
Department
Pediatrics | Harold C. Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center

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For more information on the doctor and patient care, please visit the clinical profile.

  • Biography

    Puja J. Umaretiya, M.D., M.S., is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Pediatrics, Division of Hematology and Oncology at UT Southwestern Medical Center. She joined the UT Southwestern faculty in 2023.

    Dr. Umaretiya earned her Bachelor of Science in Molecular and Cellular Biology at the University of Arizona and earned her medical degree at the Mayo Clinic School of Medicine in Rochester, Minnesota. She completed her pediatric residency in the Boston Combined Residency Program (Boston Children's Hospital and Boston Medical Center) and subsequently completed dual fellowships in pediatric palliative care and pediatric hematology/oncology at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Boston Children's Hospital. Dr. Umaretiya has additionally completed a Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in the Department of Psychosocial Oncology and Palliative Care and a Master of Science in Epidemiology at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. While at Dana-Farber, she conducted her postdoctoral research training under the mentorship of Dr. Kira Bona and Dr. Joanne Wolfe.

    Dr. Umaretiya's research focuses on identifying and addressing social determinants of health that drive racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic inequities experienced by children and parents during childhood cancer treatment. She has a particular interest in the advanced cancer population and clinical trial decision-making. Dr. Umaretiya ultimately aims to develop social needs-targeted interventions that enhance the well-being of historically marginalized children and their families. She has received extramural funding to support her research, including an American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Young Investigator Award, ASCO Career Development Award, Palliative Care Research Cooperative Group Pilot Award, and the National Palliative Care Research Center Kornfeld Scholars Award. 

  • Education
    Medical School
    Mayo Medical School (2015)
    Residency
    Boston Medical Center/Boston Children's Hospital (2018), Pediatrics
    Fellowship
    Massachusetts General Hospital/Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (2019), Hospice & Palliative Medicine
    Fellowship
    Boston Children's Hospital/ Boston Medical Center (2022), Pediatric Hematology/oncology
    Other Post Graduate Training
    Harvard School of Public Health (2022)
  • Research Interest
    • racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic disparities in pediatric oncology; patient and family-reported outcomes; social needs interventions
  • Publications

    Star Featured Publications

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    Inequitable Poverty Exposures: A Subspecialty Opportunity to Address Disparities.
    Karvonen KA, Umaretiya PJ, Koch VB, Flamand Y, Aziz-Bose R, Ilcisin L, Valenzuela A, Cole PD, Gennarini LM, Kahn JM, Kelly KM, Tran TH, Michon B, Welch JJG, Wolfe J, Silverman LB, Rosenberg AR, Bona K, Hosp Pediatr 2024 Feb 14 2 e104-e106
  • Honors & Awards
    • ASCO Career Development Award
      (2024)
    • UTSW Dean's Clinical Scholar Award
      (2024)
    • National Palliative Care Research Center Kornfeld Scholars Award
      (2023)
    • ASCO Young Investigator Award
      (2022-2023)