Shiara Melissa Ortiz-Pujols, MD, MPH

Dr. Shiara Ortiz-Pujols joins the Northwell Health family after most recently serving as the Medical Director of Obesity Medicine at MedExpress/Optum Health. She helped develop and grow a national comprehensive medical weight loss program focused on whole-person care, which was offered as an employee benefit.She completed her undergraduate studies at Yale University. She then went on to receive her MD from the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry and her MPH at the University of North Carolina Gillings School of Global Public Health. She continued her training as a United Health Group Clinical Scholar in Obesity Medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine, under the mentorship of Dr. Louis Aronne.Her post-medical training includes training in surgery, preventive medicine/population health, and obesity medicine at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry and at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She is board-certified in Public Health & General Preventive Medicine, Obesity Medicine, and Lifestyle Medicine.She has a strong commitment to person-centered, holistic, and equitable care and strives to expand high-quality, evidence-based, and culturally competent care to all. She is also very interested in population health and research with the goal of finding novel and pragmatic strategies to improve health by addressing obesity as the root cause of many preventable and chronic conditions. One of her priorities will be focusing on Hispanic/Latinx populations, given the high prevalence of obesity and its related conditions in this population.