Xiomara Rocha-Cadman, MD is an Associate Clinical Professor and Chief of the Division of Psychiatry within the Department of Supportive Care Medicine at City of Hope. She specializes in Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry and Psycho-Oncology, with expertise in the psychiatric care of patients with advanced cancer, hematologic malignancies, and those undergoing stem cell transplantation.
Dr. Rocha-Cadman earned her medical degree from the Universidad Autónoma de Guadalajara in Mexico and completed initial surgical training at Sound Shore Medical Center of Westchester in New York. She later transitioned to psychiatry, completing her residency at Lincoln Medical and Mental Health Center in affiliation with Weill Cornell Medical College. She went on to complete a fellowship in Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry and Psycho-Oncology at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC), where she trained under the supervision of psycho-oncology pioneer Dr. Jimmie C. Holland and alongside leaders in the field, including Dr. Mary Jane Massie, Dr. Andy Roth, and Dr. William Breitbart. She subsequently served on faculty at MSKCC for over eight years, working closely with the Stem Cell Transplant program and later serving as Program Director of the Psycho-Oncology Fellowship.
Dr. Rocha-Cadman is a nationally and internationally recognized clinician-scholar whose academic work spans mood and neuropsychiatric complications of cancer treatments, cognitive dysfunction in older adults with hematologic malignancies, psychiatric care in stem cell transplantation, and the integration of palliative and psychosocial care across the cancer continuum. She is the author and co-author of multiple peer-reviewed publications, invited essays, systematic reviews, and authoritative textbook chapters in leading psychiatric and psycho-oncology references. Her chapter contributions include seminal works on hematologic cancers, end-of-life care, and palliative psychiatry, as well as culturally and linguistically adapted psychosocial interventions for Latino patients with cancer. Notably, she has contributed to multiple editions of Kaplan & Sadock’s Comprehensive Textbook of Psychiatry and Oxford University Press texts, reflecting sustained leadership in shaping the educational foundation of psycho-oncology and palliative psychiatry.
A major focus of Dr. Rocha-Cadman’s scholarly and clinical leadership is reducing disparities in cancer care, particularly among Latino and underserved populations. Her work includes the cultural adaptation of evidence-based psychotherapies, meaning-centered interventions for Spanish-speaking patients, and the development of telehealth and digital health models to expand access to psycho-oncology services across Latin America. She has led and collaborated on international research efforts, Delphi consensus studies, and systematic reviews that inform best practices in culturally responsive supportive cancer care. She is also a contributing author to the NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology for Distress Management, underscoring her role in establishing national standards of care.
Since joining City of Hope, Dr. Rocha-Cadman has been recognized for her clinical excellence, receiving the Physician Excellence Award in 2021. Her clinical work includes providing intensive “bedside psychotherapy” to patients undergoing bone marrow transplantation and other complex cancer treatments. She is a strong advocate for high-quality end-of-life care and remains deeply engaged in education, mentorship, and collaborative research with psycho-oncologists, palliative care specialists, and multidisciplinary teams throughout the United States, Latin America, and Spain.
Outside of her professional roles, Dr. Rocha-Cadman enjoys running marathons and raising awareness for cancer. She is the founder of The Rocha-Cadman Foundation, dedicated to reducing cancer care disparities by supporting underserved communities. Spending time with her husband, son, and daughter is the most important part of her life.
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