Dr. Stefan O. Ciurea is a distinguished physician who has accrued over 15 years of practiced experience. Currently, he excels as a hematologist at the University of California Irvine Medical Center, where he has also garnered experience as a stem cell transplant physician and the director of the Stem Cell Transplant and Cellular Therapy program. Additionally, he maintains affiliation with the UCI Anti-Cancer Challenge at the university. Earlier in his career, Dr. Ciurea served as an attending physician at the MD Anderson Cancer Center at The University of Texas at Houston for 12 years, specializing in stem cell transplantation.
Before commencing his career, Dr. Ciurea pursued a formal education at Universitatea de Medicina si Farmacie Iasi in Bulgaria, where he achieved a Doctor of Medicine. Subsequently, he completed a residency in internal medicine at Pinnacle Health Hospitals, where he was also recognized as chief resident. Thereafter, Dr. Ciurea completed a fellowship in hematology and oncology at the University of Illinois before completing a second fellowship in hematopoietic stem cell transplantation at the MD Anderson Cancer Center at The University of Texas. Throughout his career, he has published over 70 scholarly papers on haploidentical stem cell transplantation.
Dr. Ciurea attributes his success to the support of his family and mentors, his diligent work ethic, and his desire to improve the practice of stem cell transplantation and cellular therapy at UCI Medical Center. As a testament to his success, he was honored with numerous accolades. In 2015, he received the Clinical Innovator Award from the MD Anderson Cancer Center, having previously been bestowed the High Impact Clinical Research Support Program Award from the Center in 2014. Additionally, Pinnacle Health Hospitals honored Dr. Ciurea as Resident of the Year during his residency training.
Among his many career achievements, Dr. Ciurea is especially proud of developing the stem cell transplant and cellular therapy program at UCI Medical Center from the inception of its establishment. Likewise, he is gratified by his research on haploidentical stem cell transplantation and his contributions to the field of medicine. Looking forward, Dr. Ciurea intends to continue building the program at UCI Medical Center and obtain grant funding for his research.
