Cooper University Hospital has appointed Andres J. Pumariega, MD, as Chief of the Department of Psychiatry.
A specialist in Pediatric and Adolescent Psychiatry, Dr. Pumariega joins Cooper from The Reading Hospital and Medical Center in Reading, PA, where he served as Chair of Psychiatry and Head of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. He maintained several academic appointments, including Professor of Psychiatry at Temple University School of Medicine, Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School at Camden, and Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine.
“Dr. Pumariega is an accomplished physician, educator and researcher and we’re pleased that he has joined Cooper University Hospital,” said Carolyn Bekes, MD, Chief Medical Officer at Cooper. “He brings with him a wealth of clinical and leadership experience that will help expand mental health services at The Children’s Regional Hospital at Cooper, as well as the psychiatric residency and fellowship programs at the new Cooper Medical School of Rowan University.”
Dr. Pumariega has devoted his 30-year career in child and adolescent psychiatry to a variety of special interests, including: the diagnosis and management of mental illness in minority populations; health policy and research on pediatric mental health services; eating disorders in children and adolescents; childhood depression; autism spectrum disorders; and pediatric psychosomatic medicine and chronic illness. Dr. Pumariega also treats adult patients and has a special interest in maternal depression.
“I am excited to join an institution like Cooper, which is focused on an academic mission as well as on the delivery of excellent and innovative health care services,” noted Dr. Pumariega. “I look forward to contributing to these important missions.”
A graduate of the University of Miami School of Medicine, and member of its Alumni Hall of Fame (1999), Dr. Pumariega completed his psychiatry residency at Duke University Medical Center followed by a fellowship in child and adolescent psychiatry at Duke University Medical Center and Children’s Psychiatric Institute at John Umstead Hospital (Butner, NC). He is a Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association and Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP), and Fellow of the American College of Psychiatrists, College of Physicians of Philadelphia and American Orthopsychiatric Association, for which he also serves as President (2010-2011). Dr. Pumariega is also a member of the Society of Professors of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry.
In addition to his participation and leadership roles in numerous prestigious professional organizations, Dr. Pumariega has authored or co-authored hundreds of scientific papers, articles, abstracts, chapters and presentations related to a variety of child and adolescent psychiatry issues. He was co-editor (with H. Vance) of Clinical Assessment of Child & Adolescent Behavior (John Wiley, 2001); co-editor (with N. Winters) of the Handbook of Child and Adolescent Systems of Care: The New Community Psychiatry (Jossey Bass, 2003); and co-editor (with S. Joshi) of a special issue of the Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Clinics of North America (October 2010) on Cultural Issues in Pediatric Mental Health.
Dr. Pumariega has received numerous awards over his career, including the American Psychiatric Association’s 2004 Simon Bolivar Award and Lecture in Hispanic Psychiatry; the 2006 Staples Lecture and the 2009 Service Award by the Eastern Pennsylvania and Southern New Jersey Council of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry; and the 2007 Jeanne Spurlock Award and Lecture in Diversity and Culture by the AACAP.
Dr. Pumariega will see patients at The Children’s Regional Center in Voorhees and at 3 Cooper Plaza, Camden.