Paula Aristizabal, M.D., M.A.S.

Bio

Dr. Paula Aristizabal is a hematologist-oncologist at Rady Children's Hospital-San Diego and an assistant professor of pediatrics in the Division of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology at UC San Diego.

Dr. Aristizabal completed her medical degree and pediatrics residency in Colombia, her home country. She continued her medical education with a fellowship in pediatric hematology and oncology at UC San Diego School of Medicine. She also completed a Master of Advanced Studies in clinical research at UC San Diego and a certificate in pediatric bioethics at the University of Missouri.

In her clinical work at the Peckham Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders, Dr. Aristizabal specializes in the care of children with cancer and blood disorders, with an emphasis on leukemia, lymphoma and histiocytic disorders. She has also been the director of Rady Children's International Outreach Program since 2008 and has partnered with St. Jude Children's Research Hospital to lead efforts to establish pediatric oncology programs in resource-constrained settings, including Tijuana and La Paz, Mexico.

Dr. Aristizabal's research interests include ethics and patient-provider communication, with a focus on discovering the causes of pediatric cancer disparities and developing strategies to better serve patients, including those from underserved communities. She is a member of the UC San Diego Clinical and Translational Research Institute and the UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center Reducing Cancer Disparities Program and enjoys mentoring trainees, particularly medical students, in diverse research projects. Dr. Aristizabal has also received research grant funding from various organizations, including the National Cancer Institute, the American Cancer Society, the American Society of Hematology, the Alex Lemonade Stand Foundation, the American Society of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology and Hyundai Hope on Wheels. She publishes her work in peer-reviewed journals and presents her work at both national and international meetings. Among her honors and accomplishments, she received the Mitchell Thorp Foundation "Pillars of Hope" Award (2018), the UC San Diego Hispanic Center of Excellence Scholar Award (2018), the American Society of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Clinician-Educator Award (2016), the American Society of Hematology Scholar Award (2016), the University of California Office of the President "Team Science" Scholar Award (2015) and the Rice University-Puentes Consortium Scholar Award (2015).

Dr. Aristizabal is fluent in Spanish.

Publications

Medulloblastoma With Extensive Nodularity: Tailored Therapy in a Low-resource Setting
Aristizabal P, Burns L, Rivera-Gomez R, Levy ML, Roberts W, Crawford JR

Addressing regional disparities in pediatric oncology: Results of a collaborative initiative across the Mexican-North American border
Aristizabal P, Fuller S, Rivera-Gomez R, Ornelas M, Nuno L, Rodriguez-Galindo C, Ribeiro R, Roberts W

Factors associated with cervical cancer screening in a safety net population
Heberer MA, Komenaka IK, Nodora JN, Hsu CH, Gandhi SG, Welch LE, Bouton ME, Aristizabal P, Weiss BD, Martinez ME

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention definition of mucosal barrier injury-associated bloodstream infection improves accurate detection of preventable bacteremia rates at a pediatric cancer center in a low- to middle-income country
Torres D, Gonzalez ML, Loera A, Aguilera M, Relyea G, Aristizabal P, Caniza MA

Participation in pediatric oncology research protocols: Racial/ethnic, language and age-based disparities
Aristizabal, P, Singer, J, Cooper, R, Wells, KJ, Nodora, J, Milburn, M, Gahagan, S, Schiff, DE, Martinez, ME

Improving pediatric cancer care disparities across the United States-Mexico border: Lessons learned from a transcultural partnership between San Diego and Tijuana
Aristizabal, P, Fuller, S, Rivera, R, Beyda, D, Ribeiro, RC, Roberts, W

Factors associated with surgical management in an underinsured, safety net population
Winton, LM, Nodora, JN, Martinez, ME, Hsu, CH, Djenic, B, Aristizabal, P, Ferguson, EM, Weiss, BD, Komenaka, IK

Preoperative presentation of a variant of cerebellar mutism syndrome in a young boy with juvenile pilocytic astrocytoma
Chen, DY, Aristizabal, P, Crawford, JR

Temporal dynamics of inflammatory cytokines/chemokines during sofosbuvir and ribavirin therapy for genotype 2 and 3 hepatitis C infection
Carlin, AF, Aristizabal, P, Song, Q, Wang, H, Paulson, MS, Stamm, LM, Schooley, RT, Wyles, DL

Descriptive epidemiology of childhood cancer in Cali: Colombia 1977-2011
Bravo, LE, Garc?a, LS, Collazos, P, Aristizabal, P, Ramirez, O