Maria Tria Tirona MD

Maria “Marissa” Tria Tirona, MD, FACP, is professor of medicine and chief of the Hematology/Oncology Section of the Department of Medicine.

 

She earned her MD degree from the University of the East R.M. Memorial Medical Center in the Philippines. She completed her internal medicine residency training and also served as chief resident at Mercy Hospital in Buffalo, N.Y. She then completed her hematology/oncology fellowship training at Emory University.

 

Before joining the JCESOM faculty, she led the cancer clinical trials program of the Saskatchewan Cancer Agency and served as director of medical oncology at the Allan Blair Cancer Center in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada.

 

She is a fellow of the American College of Physicians and is board certified in internal medicine and medical oncology by the American Board of Internal Medicine.

 

Dr. Tirona initiated the cancer clinical trials program at JCESOM, where she was one of the principal investigators of the National Cancer Institute-sponsored Clinical Trials Support Unit. In 2010, through her leadership, the ECCC was accepted as a member of the North Central Cancer Treatment Group, a major NCI-sponsored cooperative group based at the Mayo Clinic.

 

She also actively participates in the teaching and education of medical students and residents through mentorships and lectures. She took over the directorship of the medical oncology fellowship program in July 2012.

 

She serves as member-at-large of the West Virginia Oncology Society and was one of its founding members. She is also the cancer liaison physician of Cabell Huntington Hospital.

 

Dr. Tirona has an active clinical practice at the ECCC. Her main interests are breast cancer, lung cancer and gastrointestinal malignancies.