Puja Umaretiya, M.D.

Pediatrics - Hematology-Oncology

Biography

Puja Umaretiya, M.D., is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Pediatrics at UT Southwestern Medical Center.

Dr. Umaretiya earned her medical degree at the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science. She completed a residency in pediatrics at Boston Children’s Hospital and Boston Medical Center, where she also received advanced training through a fellowship in pediatric hematology and oncology. She completed a fellowship in hospice and palliative medicine, as well as a psychosocial oncology and palliative care research fellowship, at Massachusetts General Hospital and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

She also holds a master’s degree in epidemiology from Harvard.

Certified by the American Board of Pediatrics in hospice and palliative medicine as well as pediatric hematology and oncology, she joined the UT Southwestern faculty in 2023.

Dr. Umaretiya is a member of several professional associations, including the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine.

Education & Training

Medical School - Mayo Medical School (2011-2015)
Other Post Graduate Training - Harvard School of Public Health (2020-2022)
Fellowship - Boston Children's Hospital/ Boston Medical Center (2019-2022), Pediatric Hematology/oncology
Fellowship - Massachusetts General Hospital/Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (2018-2019), Hospice & Palliative Medicine
Residency - Boston Medical Center/Boston Children's Hospital (2015-2018), Pediatrics

Professional Associations & Affiliations

American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine
American Academy of Pediatrics
American Society for Clinical Oncology
Children’s Oncology Group

Honors & Awards

Research Institute Scholar 2022, National Institute of Health on Minority Health and Health Disparities
Brigid Leventhal Special Merit Award 2022, American Society for Clinical Oncology Meeting
Fellow Teaching Honor Roll 2021, Boston Combined Residency Program
ASCO Merit Award 2021, American Society for Clinical Oncology Meeting 2021
Fellow Teaching Honor Roll 2020, Boston Combined Residency Program

Books & Publications

Publications
- 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, Hospital pediatrics 2024 Feb 14 2 e104-e106
- A comprehensive analysis of neuroblastoma incidence, survival, and racial and ethnic disparities from 2001 to 2019.
  Campbell K, Siegel DA, Umaretiya PJ, Dai S, Heczey A, Lupo PJ, Schraw JM, Thompson TD, Scheurer ME, Foster JH, Pediatric blood & cancer 2024 Jan 71 1 e30732
- Opportunities to Advance Equity Through Informed Consent Discussions.
  Umaretiya PJ, Johnston EE, JAMA network open 2023 Dec 6 12 e2346814
- "It's a lot of things": Household material hardship among Black and Hispanic parents of children with cancer.
  Valenzuela A, Hawkins A, Revette A, Chen L, Xiong N, Mazzola E, Eche IJ, Karvonen K, Snaman JM, Wolfe J, Bona K, Umaretiya PJ, Pediatric blood & cancer 2023 Jun e30485
- Disparities in parental distress in a multicenter clinical trial for pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia.
  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, Bona K, Journal of the National Cancer Institute 2023 Jun
- "The simple life experiences that every other human gets": Desire for normalcy among adolescents and young adults with advanced cancer.
  Umaretiya PJ, Fisher L, Altschuler A, Kushi LH, Chao CR, Vega B, Rodrigues G, Josephs I, Brock KE, Buchanan S, Casperson M, Fasciano KM, Kolevska T, Lakin JR, Lefebvre A, Schwartz CM, Shalman DM, Wall CB, Wiener L, Bona K, Mack JW, Pediatric blood & cancer 2023 Jan 70 1 e30035
- Feasibility of oncology clinical trial-embedded evaluation of social determinants of health.
  Aziz-Bose R, Zheng DJ, Umaretiya PJ, Ilcisin L, Stevenson K, Koch V, Valenzuela A, Cole PD, Gennarini LM, Kahn JM, Kelly KM, Tran TH, Michon B, Welch JJG, Silverman LB, Wolfe J, Bona K, Pediatric blood & cancer 2022 Nov 69 11 e29933
- Naming the Problem: A Structural Racism Framework to Examine Disparities in Palliative Care.
  Umaretiya PJ, Wolfe J, Bona K, Journal of pain and symptom management 2022 May 63 5 e461-e463
- A Structural Racism Framework to Guide Health Equity Interventions in Pediatric Oncology.
  Umaretiya PJ, Vinci RJ, Bona K, Pediatrics 2022 May 149 5
- Achieving Global Pediatric Palliative Care Equity-What We Have Yet to Learn.
  Umaretiya PJ, Wolfe J, JAMA network open 2022 Mar 5 3 e221253
- Missing Voices: Lessons Learned from Nonparticipating Caregivers in Palliative Care Research.
  Umaretiya PJ, Ilowite M, Fisher L, Bakitas M, Currie ER, Gilbertson-White S, Lindley L, Roeland EJ, Mack JW, Bona K, Journal of palliative medicine 2022 Mar 25 3 455-460
- Disparities in pediatric psychosocial oncology utilization.
  Zheng DJ, Umaretiya PJ, Schwartz ER, Al-Sayegh H, Raphael JL, van Litsenburg RRL, Ma C, Muriel AC, Bona K, Pediatric blood & cancer 2021 Nov 68 11 e29342
- PediCARE: Development of a poverty-targeted intervention for pediatric cancer.
  Umaretiya PJ, Revette A, Seo A, Flamand Y, Ilcisin L, Zheng DJ, Bhatia S, Wolfe J, Bona K, Pediatric blood & cancer 2021 Oct 68 10 e29195
- Race, ethnicity, and goal-concordance of end-of-life palliative care in pediatric oncology.
  Umaretiya PJ, Li A, McGovern A, Ma C, Wolfe J, Bona K, Cancer 2021 Oct 127 20 3893-3900
- Learning to listen: A plea to our profession.
  Umaretiya PJ, Tsai JW, Pediatric blood & cancer 2021 Aug 68 8 e29150
- Are we undermining the value of palliative care through advanced cancer clinical trial consent language?
  Umaretiya PJ, Rubin JP, Snaman JM, Ullrich C, Feraco AM, Dussel V, Wolfe J, Waldman E, Cancer 2021 Jun 127 12 1954-1956
- Vitamin D and the Breastfeeding Infant: Family Medicine Clinicians' Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices.
  Oberhelman SS, Cozine EW, Umaretiya PJ, Maxson JA, Thacher TD, Journal of human lactation : official journal of International Lactation Consultant Association 2018 May 34 2 331-336
- Maternal Preferences for Vitamin D Supplementation in Breastfed Infants.
  Umaretiya PJ, Oberhelman SS, Cozine EW, Maxson JA, Quigg SM, Thacher TD, Annals of family medicine 2017 Jan 15 1 68-70
- Influence of HLA-DR polymorphism and allergic sensitization on humoral immune responses to intact pneumococcus in a transgenic mouse model.
  Sheen YH, Rajagopalan G, Snapper CM, Kita H, Wi CI, Umaretiya PJ, Juhn YJ, HLA 2016 Jul 88 1-2 25-34
- Asthma and risk of breakthrough varicella infection in children.
  Umaretiya PJ, Swanson JB, Kwon HJ, Grose C, Lohse CM, Juhn YJ, Allergy and asthma proceedings 2016 May 37 3 207-15
- Modulation of breast cancer cell viability by a cannabinoid receptor 2 agonist, JWH-015, is calcium dependent.
  Hanlon KE, Lozano-Ondoua AN, Umaretiya PJ, Symons-Liguori AM, Chandramouli A, Moy JK, Kwass WK, Mantyh PW, Nelson MA, Vanderah TW, Breast cancer (Dove Medical Press) 2016 8 59-71
- A 5-year-old with connective tissue nevi: Buschke-Ollendorff syndrome.
  Umaretiya PJ, Miest RY, Tollefson MM, The Journal of pediatrics 2014 Jul 165 1 206
- Bone mineral density in Nigerian children after discontinuation of calcium supplementation.
  Umaretiya PJ, Thacher TD, Fischer PR, Cha SS, Pettifor JM, Bone 2013 Jul 55 1 64-8