Maria D. Garcia-Jimenez MD, MHS

Maria Garcia-Jimenez, MD, MHS, is Director of Oncology Research at UCLA-Olive View Medical Center and a Clinical Instructor in Health Sciences at UCLA Health. She is a practicing medical oncologist, health services researcher, clinical trialist, and cancer health equity advocate.

Dr. Garcia-Jimenez earned her medical degree from UC Berkeley/UC San Francisco Joint Medical Program, where she also obtained a master's of health science degree. After completing an internal medicine residency at New York University, she returned to California to complete a hematology-oncology fellowship at UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine, during which time she served as Chief Fellow.

As a Mexican immigrant, Dr. Garcia-Jimenez's career in medicine always has been guided by seeking opportunities to contribute to eliminating health disparities, especially for racial and ethnic minorities and patients with limited English proficiency. Through her master's thesis work, she became particularly interested in cancer health disparities and medical oncology. During her fellowship, she was actively involved in cancer health equity research addressing disparities in end-of-life care and clinical trial participation among racial/ethnic minority patients with cancer. In addition to conducting research on these topics, she has participated as a speaker in conferences sponsored by community organizations in Los Angeles County serving Latino/a patients with cancer.

During her time at UCLA, Dr. Garcia-Jimenez has worked to create an academic community to promote awareness of cancer health disparities. Her efforts are focused on implementing interventions to improve racial/ethnic minority patient participation in clinical trials and fostering collaboration between academic cancer centers and underrepresented communities. She co-founded the Cancer Health Equity Collaborative (CHEC) at UCLA, and is a member of the Cancer Equity and Diversity Committee for Cancer Support Community Los Angeles (CSCLA), a participant in the National Medical Fellowships Diversity in Clinical Trials Research Program, and member of several professional societies, including the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), the ASCO Trainee & Early Career Advisory Council, and the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR).

Dr. Garcia-Jimenez is also a past-recipient of several awards, including the ASCO Resident Travel Award, the AACR Student and Early Career Investigator Scholarship, a Tower Cancer Research Foundation Community Partner grant, and the Robert A. Winn Diversity in Clinical Trials: Career Development Award. With the support of the Robert A. Winn Diversity in Clincial Trials award, Dr. Garcia-Jimenez is developing culturally and linguistically appropriate patient-centered interventions, cancer center level interventions, and building community partnerships, all aimed at improving access to and enrollment in clinical trials by Latino/a and limited English proficiency patients.