Naomi Y. Ko, MD, MPH

Associate Professor, Medicine

Naomi Ko
617.638.8188
FGH building, 1st floor, 820 Harrison Avenue

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.

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

Education

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

Publications

  • Published on 7/3/2024

    Beaulieu-Jones BR, Ha EJ, Fefferman A, Wang J, Chung SH, Tseng JF, Merrill A, Sachs TE, Ko NY, Cassidy MR. ASO Visual Abstract: Association of Race, Ethnicity, Language and Insurance and Time to Treatment Initiation Among Women with Breast Cancer at an Urban, Academic, Safety-Net Hospital. Ann Surg Oncol. 2024 Jul 03. PMID: 38961042.

    Read at: PubMed
  • Published on 5/2/2024

    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. bioRxiv. 2024 May 02. PMID: 38746141.

    Read at: PubMed
  • Published on 3/21/2024

    Mayer EL, Ren Y, Wagle N, Mahtani R, Ma C, DeMichele A, Cristofanilli M, Meisel J, Miller KD, Abdou Y, Riley EC, Qamar R, Sharma P, Reid S, Sinclair N, Faggen M, Block CC, Ko N, Partridge AH, Chen WY, DeMeo M, Attaya V, Okpoebo A, Alberti J, Liu Y, Gauthier E, Burstein HJ, Regan MM, Tolaney SM. PACE: A Randomized Phase II Study of Fulvestrant, Palbociclib, and Avelumab After Progression on Cyclin-Dependent Kinase 4/6 Inhibitor and Aromatase Inhibitor for Hormone Receptor-Positive/Human Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor-Negative Metastatic Breast Cancer. J Clin Oncol. 2024 Jun 10; 42(17):2050-2060. PMID: 38513188.

    Read at: PubMed
  • Published on 11/28/2023

    Beaulieu-Jones BR, Ha EJ, Fefferman A, Wang J, Chung SH, Tseng JF, Merrill A, Sachs TE, Ko NY, Cassidy MR. Association of Race, Ethnicity, Language, and Insurance with Time to Treatment Initiation Among Women with Breast Cancer at an Urban, Academic, Safety-Net Hospital. Ann Surg Oncol. 2024 Mar; 31(3):1608-1614. PMID: 38017122.

    Read at: PubMed
  • Published on 10/28/2023

    Huang HC, Guadamuz JS, Hoskins KF, Ko NY, Calip GS. Risk of contralateral breast cancer among Asian/Pacific Islander women in the United States. Breast Cancer Res Treat. 2024 Feb; 203(3):533-542. PMID: 37897647.

    Read at: PubMed
  • Published on 9/1/2023

    Ko NY, Fikre TG, Buck AK, Restrepo E, Warner ET. Breast cancer survivorship experiences among Black women. Cancer. 2023 Sep; 129(S19):3087-3101. PMID: 37691522.

    Read at: PubMed
  • Published on 9/1/2023

    Chung SH, de Geus SWL, Shewmaker G, Romatoski KS, Drake FT, Ko NY, Merrill AL, Hirsch AE, Tseng JF, Sachs TE, Cassidy MR. ASO Visual Abstract: Axillary Lymph Node Dissection is Associated with Improved Survival for Men with Invasive Breast Cancer and Sentinel Node Metastasis. Ann Surg Oncol. 2023 Sep; 30(9):5621-5622. PMID: 37202569.

    Read at: PubMed
  • Published on 7/28/2023

    Fefferman A, Beaulieu-Jones BR, Shewmaker G, Zhang T, Sachs T, Merrill A, Ko NY, Cassidy MR. Association of Race, Ethnicity, Insurance, and Language and Rate of Breast-Conserving Therapy Among Women With Nonmetastatic Breast Cancer at an Urban, Safety-Net Hospital. J Surg Res. 2023 Nov; 291:403-413. PMID: 37517348.

    Read at: PubMed
  • Published on 5/19/2023

    Chung SH, de Geus SWL, Shewmaker G, Romatoski KS, Drake FT, Ko NY, Merrill AL, Hirsch AE, Tseng JF, Sachs TE, Cassidy MR. Axillary Lymph Node Dissection is Associated with Improved Survival Among Men with Invasive Breast Cancer and Sentinel Node Metastasis. Ann Surg Oncol. 2023 Sep; 30(9):5610-5618. PMID: 37204557.

    Read at: PubMed
  • Published on 5/13/2023

    Odai-Afotey A, Lederman RI, Ko NY, Gagnon H, Fikre T, Gundersen DA, Revette AC, Hershman DL, Crew KD, Keating NL, Freedman RA. Breast cancer treatment receipt and the role of financial stress, health literacy, and numeracy among diverse breast cancer survivors. Breast Cancer Res Treat. 2023 Jul; 200(1):127-137. PMID: 37178432.

    Read at: PubMed

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