Barbara J. Gitlitz, MD

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Areas of Treatment:

Specialties:

  • Lung Cancer
  • Oncology

Title:

  • Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine

Department:

Locations:

Sub-specialties:

  • New Drug Development
  • Clinical Trials
  • Personalized Medicine
  • Epigenetic Therapy

Background:

After graduating from the State University of New York Stony Brook campus, Dr. Gitlitz moved out west to California. After completing a fellowship in Hematology Oncology and Translational Investigation at UCLA, she stayed on as an Assistant Professor. Much of her early clinical-translational work involved cancer immunotherapy including one of the first trials of a Dendritic Cell Vaccine for patients with kidney cancer. She then joined the Keck School of Medicine of USC as an Associate Professor to spearhead the USC oncology effort in lung cancer and head and neck cancer. Her most rewarding part of working at USC is being a member of multidisciplinary treatment teams; where medical oncologists, surgeons, radiation oncologists and other specialists can collaborate together on the best, individualized treatment plan for a patient.

Her dedicated, compassionate clinical care has been noticed by the community as she has been consistently nominated to the list of Los Angeles Magazine Super Doctors, Pasadena Magazine Top Doctors, and US News Top Doctors. She has received research grants from the American Cancer Society, the National Institute of Health and STOP cancer. Currently she is a member of the Stand Up 2 Cancer Epigenetics Dream Team where she will bring novel trials to treat cancer with combinations of immunotherapy and therapy to awaken important genes that are “turned off” by growing cancers. Dr. Gitlitz has a passion for working with scientists seeking ways to personalize therapy and bring novel drugs (clinical trials) to treat her patients. She believes that each person’s cancer may have unique molecular/genomic features to help guide the best treatment plan.

Dr. Gitlitz is an accomplished author and has numerous articles published in peer reviewed cancer journals and she has written numerous book chapters. She has been invited to lecture at cancer conferences all across the United States and internationally.


Education:

  • Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, B.S., 1985
  • Doctor of Medicine, State University of New York, Stony Brook, NY, 1989

Internships:

  • University of California at Los Angeles (Medicine), CA, 1989 - 1990

Residencies:

  • Cedars Sinai Medical Center (Internal Medicine), Los Angeles, CA, 1990 - 1992

Fellowships:

  • University of California, Los Angeles, (Hematology/Oncology) CA, , 1992 - 1995
  • University of California, Los Angeles, (Translational Investigation), CA 2001 - 2003

Board Certification:

  • Internal Medicine
  • Medical Oncology

Professional Society Memberships:

  • American Society of Clinical Oncology
  • American Association for Cancer Research
  • International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer
  • Southwest Oncology Group

Languages:

  • English
  • Spanish