Manuela Orjuela-Grimm, MD
On the web
Overview
Manuela Orjuela-Grimm is a molecular epidemiologist and pediatric oncologist whose research focuses on vulnerability (including social) to environmental exposures, gene-nutrient/ environment interactions during windows of susceptibility such as pregnancy, early childhood, adolescence and the development of later genetic and epigenetic changes contributing to poorer health outcomes in childhood and adolescence. She leads EpiRbMx, a long-standing case control/ case series study examining exposure to methyl donors, folate pathway metabolism and risk for retinoblastoma in collaboration with a multidisciplinary team of investigators including the Hospital Infantil de Mexico, the Hospital de Pediatria at the Instituto Mexicano de Seguro Social (IMSS), the Instituto Nacional de Salud Publica (INSP), and the University of Toronto. In collaboration with INSP researchers, Dr. Orjuela is involved in multiple studies examining the intersection between food security, folate-related dietary intake, dietary diversity and environmental exposures in central Mexico, and in immigrants in New York.
Interests: social contributors to dietary exposures, gene-nutrient interactions; one carbon donor metabolism; methylation; nutrient and environmental exposures during early life and later genetic and epigenetic effects; dietary assessment in Mexico, in populations on the move in Latin America; effects of acculturation and early life migration on nutrient/ environmental exposures in US Latinos.
Areas of Expertise / Conditions Treated
- Chemotherapy
- Lymphoma
Academic Appointments
- Associate Professor Epidemiology and Pediatrics (in the HICCC) at CUMC
- Faculty, Department of Pediatrics (Division of Pediatric Hematology, Oncology, Stem Cell Transplantation
Administrative Titles
- Director Global Health Certificate
- Member, Columbia Center for Environmental Health and Justice in Northern Manhattan
- Group leader, Nutrition and Migration Epidemiology
- Faculty Affiliate, Center for Mexican and Central American Studies
- Faculty Affiliate, Institute of Latin American Studies
- Member, Committee on Forced Migration
- Member, Food Systems Network
Hospital Affiliations
- NewYork-Presbyterian / Columbia University Irving Medical Center
- NewYork-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital
Languages
- French
- German
- Italian
- Spanish
Gender
- Female
Schedule an Appointment
Virtual Visits/Telehealth
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Phone Appointments
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Location(s)
Insurance Accepted
Affinity Health Plan
- Essential Plan
- Medicaid Managed Care
Amida Care
- Special Needs
Cigna
- EPO
- Great West (National)
- HMO
- Medicare Managed Care
- POS
- PPO
Emblem/GHI
- Medicare Managed Care
- PPO
Emblem/HIP
- ConnectiCare
- EPO
- Essential Plan
- HMO
- Medicaid Managed Care
- Medicare Managed Care
- POS
- PPO
- Select Care (Exchange)
- Vytra
Empire Blue Cross/Blue Shield
- EPO
- HMO
- Medicare Managed Care
- PPO
Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield HealthPlus
- Child/Family Health Plus
- Essential Plan
- Medicaid Managed Care
Fidelis Care
- Child/Family Health Plus
- Essential Plan
- Medicaid Managed Care
- Medicare Managed Care
Healthfirst
- Child/Family Health Plus
- Leaf (Exchange)
- Medicaid Managed Care
- Medicare Managed Care
Local 1199
- Local 1199
MagnaCare (National)
- MagnaCare
Medicare
- Railroad
- Traditional Medicare
Multiplan
- Multiplan
MVP Health Care
- Child/Family Health Plus
- Essential Plan
- HMO
- Medicaid Managed Care
RiverSpring
- Special Needs
UnitedHealthcare
- Columbia University Employee Plan
- Compass (Exchange)
- Empire Plan
- HMO
- Medicaid (Community Plan)
- Medicare Managed Care
- Oxford Freedom
- Oxford HMO
- Oxford Liberty
- POS
- PPO
WellCare
- Medicaid Managed Care
World Trade Center Health Plan
- World Trade Center Health Plan
Credentials & Experience
Education & Training
- ScM, Harvard School of Public Health (Epidemiology)
- BA, Yale College (Spanish)
- Residency: Babies & Children's Hospital - Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center
- Fellowship: Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, NY, Pediatric Hematology Oncology
- Fellowship: Harvard School of Public Health, Cancer Epidemiology
Committees, Societies, Councils
Member, Children's Oncology Group, (NHL, Epidemiology, Retinoblastoma , Membership, Diversity and Health DIsparities Committee)
Member, Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center, Molecular Epidemiology Committee
Volunteer, Physicians for Human Rights
Board Certifications
- Pediatrics
- Pediatric Hematology-Oncology
Research
Selected Publications
Orjuela-Grimm MA, Beauchemin MP. Childhood Cancer Death When Life Transpires Where High Childhood Poverty Has Persisted for Decades. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2023 Mar 6;32(3):295-297. doi: 10.1158/1055-9965.EPI-22-1279. PMID: 36872901.
Vahedi L, Orjuela-Grimm M, Man Pamela Chan P, Meyer SR. Intimate Partner Violence and Women's Dietary Diversity: A Population-Based Investigation in Eight Low- and Middle-Income Countries. J Nutr. 2025 Jan 27:S0022-3166(25)00031-8. doi: 10.1016/j.tjnut.2025.01.024. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 39880168.
Bhatt Carreno S, Orjuela-Grimm M, Vahedi L, Roesch E, Heckman C, Beckingham A, Gayford M, Meyer SR. Linkages between maternal experience of intimate partner violence and child nutrition outcomes: A rapid evidence assessment. PLoS One. 2024 Mar 18;19(3):e0298364. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0298364. PMID: 38498450; PMCID: PMC10947923.
Gampel B, Troullioud Lucas AG, Broglie L, Gartrell-Corrado RD, Lee MT, Levine J, Orjuela-Grimm M, Satwani P, Glade-Bender J, Roberts SS. COVID-19 disease in New York City pediatric hematology and oncology patients. Pediatr Blood Cancer. 2020 Jun 26;:e28420. doi: 10.1002/pbc.28420. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 32588957; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC7361160.
Orjuela MA, Mejia-Rodriguez F, Quezada AD, Sanchez-Pimienta TG, Shamah-Levy T, Romero-Rendón J, Bhatt-Carreño S, Ponce-Castañeda MV, Castro MA, Paul L, Villalpando S. Fortification of bakery and corn masa-based foods in Mexico and dietary intake of folic acid and folate in Mexican national survey data. Am J Clin Nutr. 2019 Dec 1;110(6):1434-1448. doi: 10.1093/ajcn/nqz224. PMID: 31529037; PMCID: PMC6885481.
Orjuela MA, Cabrera-Munoz L, Paul L, Ramirez-Ortiz MA, Liu X, Chen J, Mejia-Rodriguez F, Medina-Sanson A, Diaz-Carreno S, Suen IH, Selhub J, Ponce-Castaneda MV. Risk of retinoblastoma is associated with a maternal polymorphism in dihydrofolatereductase (DHFR) and prenatal folic acid intake. Cancer. 2012 May 30. doi: 10.1002/cncr.27621. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 22648968.
Ramirez-Ortiz M, Ponce-Castaneda MV, Cabrera-Munoz ML, Medina-Sanson A, Liu X, Orjuela M . Diagnostic delay and socio-demographic predictors of stage at diagnosis and mortality in unilateral and bilateral retinoblastoma Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev;February 12, 2014;doi:10.1158/1055-9965.EPI-13-1069 PubMed PMID: 24521997; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4040273.
Mejia-Rodriguez, F, Neufeld LM, Amaya D, Garcia, Guerra A, Orjuela, M Validation of a food frequency questionnaire for retrospective estimation of diet during the first 2 years of life, Matern Child Health J. 2014 Jan;18(1):268-85. doi: 10.1007/s10995-013-1263-4. PubMed PMID: 23532627; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3752306.DOI: 10.1007/s10995-013-1263-4
Orjuela M, Liu X, Miller RL, Warburton D, Tang DL, Jobanputra V, Hoepner L, Suen IH, Diaz-Carreno S, Li Z, Sjodin A, Perera F. Urinary napthol metabolites and chromosomal aberrations in 5 yr old children. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2012 May 9. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 22573794.
Orjuela MA, Alobeid B, Liu X, Siebert AL, Kott ER, Addonizio LJ, Morris E, Garvin JH, Lobritto SJ, Cairo MS. CD20 expression predicts survival in paediatric post-transplant lymphoproliferative disease (PTLD) following solid organ transplantation. Br J Haematol. 2011 Mar;152(6):733-42. Epub 2011 Jan 30. PubMed PMID: 21275950.
Global Health Activities
EpiRbMx, Mexico: Epidemiology of sporadic Retinoblastoma in Mexico, Mexico: This project examines the role that gene- nutrient interactions play in the development of retinoblastoma and RB1 genetic and epigenetic changes. We examine the effect of early life exposure to dietary intake of folate/folic acid, genetic variation in metabolism of folate and genetic and epigenetic changes in RB1 and in the development of sporadic retinoblastoma in central Mexico. A collaboration with the Hospital Infantil de Mexico, the Nutrition Epidemiology group of the Instituto Nacional de Salud Publica, the Hospital de Pediatria Siglo XXI of the Instituto Mexicano de Seguro Social (IMSS), and the Instituto de Fisiologia Celular of the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico(UNAM).
Urban Health Activities
CAMINANDO: CAMINANDO examines diet, living conditions and risk and protective factors for health in adolescents from Latin America settling in New York. Our multidisciplinary team works with local community partners offering services to teens. We also collaborate with the Instituto Nacional de Salud Publica in Mexico's work on food security in Mexico. We have received pilot funding from the Columbia Global Mental Health Pilot program, Columbia Population Research Council, and the Institute for Latin American Studies.