Since joining the Bone Marrow Transplant Service at Mass General in 2009, psychiatrist Carlos Fernandez-Robles, MD, has dramatically expanded its inpatient psychiatric consultation services. Before he joined the unit, only outpatients received specialized psychiatric oncology care.
Dr. Fernandez-Robles has been instrumental in the growth of this new and important practice. He brings to his role passion, dedication and clinical expertise, as well as the insights that can only come from his personal experience as a transplant patient.
The year before he came to Mass General from his native Colombia for a fellowship in psychosomatic medicine, Dr. Fernandez-Robles was diagnosed with lymphoma and received a bone marrow transplant. That experience created a career interest in helping patients undergoing this treatment to improve their quality of life. He is currently pursuing research on the use of light therapy to improve quality of life in hospitalized patients undergoing bone marrow transplants.
He also has provided medical care to poor communities in Miami and offers Latino cancer patients expert psychiatric care in either English or Spanish. Dr. Fernandez-Robles is a hero to his patients and colleagues.
