Andrew T. Leitner, M.D.

Andrew Leitner, M.D., earned his undergraduate degree magna cum laude in biology from Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts. He received his medical doctorate from the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri. He completed his residency in the Department of Anesthesiology at the University of California, Los Angeles, where he also pursued a fellowship in Interventional Pain Management.

Board-certified in both Anesthesiology and Pain Management, Dr. Leitner joined City of Hope in 2015. He helped build interventional pain management into a comprehensive clinical program and established it as a clinical division in the Department of Supportive Care Medicine. An expert in cancer pain, Dr. Leitner has contributed to the field with regional and national presentations and publications, including a textbook on cancer pain management. he recognizes pain as an intensely personal and debilitating experience, and he tailors individual treatment plans to a wide variety of patients. Dr. Leitner is passionate about incorporating treatments to increase function and improve his patients' quality of life.

Known for his collaborative and process-driven approach, he served as the department's Vice Chair of Clinical Affairs from 2019-2023, providing operational oversight and faculty support for multiple programs and initiatives to enhance interdisciplinary patient care. In 2023, Dr. Leitner was appointed chair of the Department of Supportive Care Medicine and Arthur M. Coppola Family Chair in Supportive Care Medicine. In this role, he helps oversee what was one of the country's first integrated supportive care departments. Today, the department is expanding access to evidence-based, whole-person care and advocating for a national standard of practice for supportive care.

• Leitner AT, Chang C. (Eds.). Fundamentals of Cancer Pain Management. Textbook. Springer International Publishing. First edition. 2021.

• Kaltman J., Sun C. , Loscalzo M. J., Kronstadt E., Goodspeed E., Qamar S., Glaser C., Zachariah F., Leitner A., Biller L., and Dale W. The impact of early integrated supportive care on length of stay at an NCI-designated cancer center. Abstract and presentation. American Society of Clinical Oncology, 2020 Annual Meeting. 

• Leitner A., Chang C., Dumitra S., Lee B., Leatherman H., Schwartz J., Nguyen M., and Lew M., Opioid Use after Hyperthermic Intraperitoneal Chemotherapy. Regional Therapies Conference, 2017. 

• Leitner A., Chang C.,  Chang W., Lew M., Regional Anesthetic Technique in an Elderly Patient with Severe Pulmonary Hypertension, Abstract and Presentation, American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine, 2016 Annual Meeting.

• Leitner A., Chang C.,  Lew M., Continuous Paravertebral Infusion for Analgesia in a Patient with Lytic Thoracic Spine Metastasis, Abstract and Presentation, American Society of Anesthesiologists, 2015 Annual Meeting. 

• Leitner A., Chang C., Lew M., Post-Operative Analgesia for Patient Undergoing Hyperthermic Intraperitoneal Chemotherapy Surgery, Abstract, and Presentation, American Society of Anesthesiologists, 2015 Annual Meeting. 

• Leitner A., Nguyen T.,  Ming Huang Y. , Ed.D., Salehi A., Steadman R., Excellence in Communication and Professionalism: Identifying Key Behaviors of Anesthesiologists During the Preoperative Patient Interaction. Abstract and Presentation. American Society of Anesthesiologists, 2012 Annual Meeting.

• Searleman A. C., Leitner A., Ridley C., Zhang L.,  Avidan M. S., Deep Hypnotic Time and One-Year Mortality in Non-Cardiac and Cardiac Surgical Patients. Abstract and Presentation. American Society of Anesthesiologists, 2008 Annual Meeting. 

• Leitner A, Kodner IJ, Munson R, Cronin DC. Collaboration with China in the field of organ transplantation. Surgery. 2008 Nov; 144(5):725-8.

• Taizi M, Deutsch VR, Leitner A, Ohana A, Goldstein RS. A novel and rapid in vivo system for testing therapeutics on human leukemias. Experimental Hematology. 2006 Dec; 34(12):1698-708.