Laura J. Zitella

Laura J. Zitella is a nurse practitioner who cares for patients with blood or bone marrow cancers, such as lymphoma, multiple myeloma and leukemia. With more than 25 years of experience caring for people with cancer, she has expertise in chemotherapy, immunotherapy, targeted therapy, investigational agents (substances approved by the Food and Drug Administration for treating certain conditions but under study for others), blood and marrow transplants, symptom management and palliative care.

Zitella earned her master's degree in nursing at the University of Illinois Chicago College of Nursing, where she also completed training to become a certified acute care nurse practitioner. She specialized in oncology and immunology.

Zitella has delivered hundreds of educational presentations to national and international audiences. She has authored numerous peer-reviewed publications and book chapters, and has created web courses and videos. She co-edited the textbook Hematologic Malignancies in Adults.

Zitella has received a number of awards, including an award for excellence from the Oncology Nursing Society, the DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses, and Stanford Health Care's inaugural Advanced Practice Provider of the Year Award.