Naomi Y. Ko, MD, MPH

Associate Professor, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine

Biography

Breast Cancer
Cancer Disparities
Health Equity

Dr. Ko is an Associate Professor of Medicine at Chobanian and Avedisian School of Medicine (BUSM) and a medical oncologist at Boston Medical Center (BMC) who has a lifelong passion for social justice. After college, Dr. Ko participated in Teach For America followed by volunteer service at the Berkeley Free Clinic in the Bay Area. She went on to Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and School of Public Health to complete her MD MPH with a focus on health outcomes research for vulnerable populations. After internal medicine residency at Brigham and Women's Hospital she arrived for fellowship in hematology/oncology at BUSM/BMC, which allowed Dr. Ko to conduct research in the context of caring for an underserved population within a large safety net institution. She has sought out meaningful projects that are a culmination of her passion for oncology, service to the underserved, and academic research. Her research has a translational focus that has been directed to understanding the disconnect between scientific discoveries in cancer treatment and delivery of evidence-based treatment to vulnerable, racial/ethnic minority women with breast cancer. She is actively investigating how tumor biology, poverty, communication and treatment influence breast cancer outcomes in diverse breast cancer populations.

Publications

  • Published 3/23/2025

    Ponce RKM, Verma K, Gergen-Barnett K, Brimhall K, Ko NY. A Review of Medical Mistrust Across the Cancer Continuum of Care and Current Interventions. J Community Health. 2025 Mar 23. PMID: 40123044.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 3/11/2025

    Bar Y, Fell G, Dedeoglu A, Moffett N, Vidula N, Spring L, Wander SA, Bardia A, Ko N, Moy B, Ellisen LW, Isakoff SJ. Dynamic HER2-low status among patients with triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) and the impact of repeat biopsies. NPJ Breast Cancer. 2025 Mar 11; 11(1):27. PMID: 40069204.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 3/6/2025

    Qiu Y, Chen A, Yu R, Llevenes P, Seen M, Ko NY, Monti S, Denis GV. Insulin Resistance Increases TNBC Aggressiveness and Brain Metastasis via Adipocyte-derived Exosomes. Mol Cancer Res. 2025 Mar 06. PMID: 40047645.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 1/16/2025

    Oshry LJ, Lederman RI, Gagnon H, Fikre T, Gundersen DA, Revette AC, Odai-Afotey A, Kantor O, Hershman DL, Crew KD, Keating NL, Freedman RA, Ko NY. Racial discrimination among women seeking breast cancer care. NPJ Breast Cancer. 2025 Jan 16; 11(1):4. PMID: 39819887.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 9/20/2024

    Ko N, Oshry L, Lederman R, Gagnon H, Fikre T, Gundersen D, Revette A, Odai-Afotey A, Kantor O, Hershman D, Crew K, Keating N, Freedman R. See Me, Hear Me: Racial Discrimination Among Women Seeking Breast Cancer Care. Res Sq. 2024 Sep 20. PMID: 39372929.

    Read at: PubMed

View All 81 Publications:   View Full Profile in BUMC

Other Positions

  • Member, BU-BMC Cancer Center
    Boston University
  • Member, Center for Excellence in Women’s Health
    Boston University
  • Member, Evans Center for Interdisciplinary Biomedical Research
    Boston University

Websites

Education

  • Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, MD
  • Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health, MPH
  • Harvard University, AM
  • Barnard College, BA

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