Chandana Banerjee, M.D., M.P.A.

Chandana Banerjee, M.D., M.P.A., HMDC, is the dean, director and designated institutional official for Graduate Medical Education at City of Hope. She is also an assistant clinical professor in the Department of Supportive Care Medicine, specializing in hospice and palliative care. She developed the City of Hope Hospice & Palliative Medicine Fellowship. She also established the Cancer Pain Rotation for Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Hospice & Palliative Medicine Fellowship, which is now part of the core curriculum for the Kaiser Permanente Southern California Hospice & Palliative Medicine fellowship program. Dr Banerjee also developed and directed the End of Life Symposium, which was first held at City of Hope in September 2019 and was endowed by Arthur Riggs, Ph.D. She is the physician lead for Schwartz Rounds at City of Hope and serves as chair on the End of Life Option Act Subcommittee. She is also a member of the Continuing Medical Education and the Ethics and Quality of Life committees. She co-founded the City of Hope Expressions of Hope initiative in partnership with Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.

 

She is currently chair-elect of the American Academy of Hospice & Palliative Medicine's (AAHPM) Medical Aid in Dying Special Interest Group. She served as chair-elect, chair and past chair on the AAHPM Humanities and Spirituality Special Interest Group from March 2019-2022. She serves on AAHPM's Editorial Board for the publication AAHPM Quarterly and has served on the assembly's Abstract Review Board. She is a reviewer for evidence-based research articles in hospice and palliative care submitted to McMaster University in Canada. Dr Banerjee has written and published numerous articles and book chapters and spoken at conferences nationally and internationally. She is the editor for an upcoming book by Springer Publishing's CTAR series exploring views on end-of-life care, death, burial and bereavement within different cultures and religions. She also sits on the board of directors for Compassion & Choices, an organization dedicated to end-of-life issues. Dr Banerjee is a contributing member on the National Comprehensive Cancer Network Fatigue Panel. Her leadership activities in education include excellence in teaching, faculty development and mentoring, and curriculum and program development.

 

Dr. Banerjee earned her undergraduate degree with an honors scholar designation from University of Connecticut. She received her master's degree in public administration from New York University and her medical degree from Saba University School of Medicine. She completed her residency in pediatrics and her fellowship in adult hospice and palliative medicine from Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles. She is also a Hospice Medical Director Certified.

 

Dr Banerjee was recently selected as a Health Equity Scholar into the prestigious Cambridge Health Alliance - Center for Health Equity Education & Advocacy Program’s 2021-2022 Cohort.

 

Dr. Banerjee loves to write poetry and her first collection, "Ashen Leaves," was published in July 2020. Her second book of poems, "Neruda in Bed," is was published in November 2021.