Maria A. Velez Velez, MD, MS
(she/her)
- Hematology Oncology
About
Maria Velez is a Clinica Instructor in the Division of Hematology/Oncology at UCLA where she focuses on translational and equity research in thoracic and head and neck oncology. Since joining faculty, she has received multiple early career development awards and has peer-reviewed funding from both the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO). During her training, she completed her master's degree in clinical research at UCLA through the Specialized Training in Advanced Research (STAR) Program and served as Chief Fellow for the UCLA Hematology/Oncology Fellowship Program. She has been recognized as an Emerging Leader in the NCI-designated UCLA Health Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center and currently serves as Assistant Director of the Clinical Trial Advisory Commitee where she oversees clinical trial equity initiatives. She has published extensively on correlative work in non-small cell lung cancer and clinical trial inclusion, including her first author Nature publication that identified consent translation as a key barrier to equitable enrollment.
Languages
Education
Medical Board Certifications
Fellowship
Residency
Degrees
Recognitions
- NIH/NIDDK Travel Award, Academic Medicine Fellow, 2019
- Specialty Training and Advance Research (STAR) Award, 2020
- Conquer Cancer Merit Award, 2022
- See More
Locations
Hospital Affiliations
Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center
UCLA Santa Monica Medical Center
Research
Interests
- Clinical Trials
- Translational Science in Thoracic and Head and Neck Oncology
- Inclusion in Clinical Trials for patients who do not speak English
Publications
- Velez MA, Glenn BA, Garcia-Jimenez M, Cummings AL, Lisberg A, Nañez A, Radwan Y, Lind-Lebuffe JP, Brodrick PM, Li DY, Fernandez-Turizo MJ, Gower A, Lindenbaum M, Hegde M, Brook J, Grogan T, Elashoff D, Teitell MA, Garon EB. Consent document translation expense hinders inclusive clinical trial enrolment. Nature. 2023;620(7975):855-62. Epub 2023/08/03. doi: 10.1038/s41586-023-06382-0. PubMed PMID: 37532930.
- Courtney PT, L. Santoso M, Savjani RR, K. Reddy V, Chai-Ho W, Velez Velez MA, J. Wong D, Palodichuk C, Basehart TV, P. O’Connell D, Cao M, Telesca D, Chin RK. A phase II study of personalized ultrafractionated stereotactic adaptive radiotherapy for palliative head and neck cancer treatment (PULS-Pal): a single-arm clinical trial protocol. BMC Cancer. 2024;24(1):1564. doi: 10.1186/s12885-024-13303-5.
- 3. Chen AM, Yoshizaki T, Velez MA, Mikaeilian AG, Hsu S, Cao M. Tolerance of the Brachial Plexus to High-Dose Reirradiation. International Journal of Radiation Oncology Biology Physics. 2017;98(1):83-90. Epub 2017/06/08. doi: 10.1016/j.ijrobp.2017.01.244. PubMed PMID: 28587056.
- 4. Ragab O, Banerje R, Park SJ, Patel S, Zhang M, Wang J, Velez M, Demanes DJ, Kamrava M. Comparison of patient-reported acute urinary and sexual toxicity scores in a 6- versus 2-fraction course of high-dose-rate prostate brachytherapy monotherapy. Journal of Medical Imaging and Radiation Oncology. 2018;62(1):109-15. Epub 2017/09/01. doi: 10.1111/1754-9485.12648. PubMed PMID: 28856847.
- 5. Velez MA, Wang PC, Hsu S, Chin R, Beron P, Abemayor E, St John M, Chen AM. Prognostic significance of HPV status in the re-irradiation of recurrent and second primary cancers of the head and neck. American Journal of Otolaryngology. 2018;39(3):257-60. Epub 2018/02/13. doi: 10.1016/j.amjoto.2018.01.011. PubMed PMID: 29433815.
- 6. Velez MA, Veruttipong D, Wang PC, Abemayor E, St John M, TenNapel M, Chen AM. FDG-PET metabolic tumor parameters for the reirradiation of recurrent head and neck cancer. Laryngoscope. 2018;128(10):2345-50. Epub 2018/03/25. doi: 10.1002/lary.27173. PubMed PMID: 29573279.
- 7. Meshman J, Velez MA, Wang PC, Abemayor E, St. John M, Wong D, Bhuta S, Chen AM. Immunologic mediators of outcome for irradiated oropharyngeal carcinoma based on human papillomavirus status. Oral Oncology. 2019; 89:121-126.
- 8. Zandberg DP, Menk AV, Velez M, Normolle D, DePeaux K, Liu A, Ferris RL, Delgoffe GM. Tumor hypoxia is associated with resistance to PD-1 blockade in squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck. Journal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer. 2021;9(5): e002088. doi: 10.1136/jitc-2020-002088. PubMed PMID: 33986123.
- 9. Zhou N, Velez MA, Bachrach B, Gukasyan J, Fares CM, Cummings AL, Lind-Lebuffe JP, Akingbemi WO, Li DY, Brodrick PM, Yessuf NM, Rettinger S, Grogan T, Rochigneux P, Goldman JW, Garon EB, Lisberg A. Immune checkpoint inhibitor induced thyroid dysfunction is a frequent event post-treatment in NSCLC. Lung cancer. 2021; 161:34-41. Epub 2021/09/11. doi: 10.1016/j.lungcan.2021.08.009. PubMed PMID: 34507111. Dr. Velez is a co-first author on this publication with Dr. Zhou as she played and essential role in the design and analysis of this publication.
- 10. Somasundaram A, Cillo AR, Lampenfeld C, Workman CJ, Kunning S, Oliveri L, Velez M, Joyce S, Calderon M, Dadey R, Rajasundaram D, Normolle DP, Watkins SC, Herman JG, Kirkwood JM, Lipson EJ, Ferris RL, Bruno TC, Vignali DAA. Systemic Immune Dysfunction in Cancer Patients Driven by IL6 Induction of LAG3 in Peripheral CD8+ T Cells. Cancer Immunology Research. 2022;10(7):885-99. Epub 2022/05/20. doi: 10.1158/2326-6066.Cir-20-0736. PubMed PMID: 35587532.
Insurance
- Aetna
- Anthem Blue Cross
- Blue Shield of California
- Centivo
- Cigna
- First Health
- Health Net of California
- Interplan (part of HealthSmart)
- Medicare Advantage
- MultiPlan
- UFCM Health System
- Prime Health Services
- Private Healthcare Systems (PHCS)
- TRICARE
- UnitedHealthcare
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Recognitions
- NIH/NIDDK Travel Award, Academic Medicine Fellow, 2019
- Specialty Training and Advance Research (STAR) Award, 2020
- Conquer Cancer Merit Award, 2022
- Specialty Training and Advanced Research Research Innovator Award (STAR), 2023
- Conquer Cancer ASCO Young Investigator Award, 2024