Kimberly Anne Bertrand ScD
Associate Professor, Preventive Medicine & Epidemiology
Associate Professor, Slone Epidemiology Center
72 E. Concord Street | (617) 206-6174kab15@bu.edu
Sections
Preventive Medicine & Epidemiology
Centers
BU-BMC Cancer Center
Biography
Dr. Bertrand’s research focuses primarily on the epidemiology of cancer, with an emphasis on understanding racial disparities in incidence and outcomes. She is currently Multiple Principal Investigator of the Black Women’s Health Study (BWHS), a prospective cohort study of over 59,000 self-identified Black women begun in 1995. Dr. Bertrand is actively involved in several epidemiologic studies to evaluate risk factors for high mammographic density, a strong independent predictor of breast cancer, and the role mammographic density and other risk factors may play in breast tumor aggressiveness in this and other populations. In addition, she leads research to identify factors that explain racial disparities in multiple myeloma.
Other Positions
Education
Epidemiology, ScD, Harvard School of Public Health
Epidemiology, MPH, Boston University School of Public Health
Biology, BS, Brown University
Publications
Sherr HR, Soliman AS, Bertrand KA, Hirko KA. Persistent poverty and late-stage breast cancer diagnosis in the USA: impacts of rural residence, race, and time within Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results registries, 2004 to 2021. Cancer Causes Control. 2025 Aug 19. PMID: 40828194.
Published on 7/1/2025O'Brien KM, House MG, Goldberg M, Jones ME, Weinberg CR, de Gonzalez AB, Bertrand KA, Blot WJ, DeHart JC, Couch FJ, Garcia-Closas M, Giles GG, Kirsh VA, Kitahara CM, Koh WP, Park HL, Milne RL, Palmer JR, Patel AV, Rohan TE, Schoemaker MJ, Swerdlow AJ, Teras LR, Vachon C, Visvanathan K, Yuan JM, Zheng W, Nichols HB, Sandler DP. Hormone therapy use and young-onset breast cancer: a pooled analysis of prospective cohorts included in the Premenopausal Breast Cancer Collaborative Group. Lancet Oncol. 2025 Jul; 26(7):911-923. PMID: 40609572.
Published on 6/27/2025Sherr HR, Soliman AS, Bertrand KA, Hirko KA. Persistent poverty and late-stage breast cancer diagnosis in the United States: Impacts of rural residence, race, and time within Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results registries, 2004 to 2021. Res Sq. 2025 Jun 27. PMID: 40678240.
Published on 4/15/2025Schoemaker MJ, Ellington T, Nichols HB, Wright LB, Jones ME, O'Brien KM, Weinberg CR, Adami HO, Baglietto L, Bertrand KA, Chen Y, Clague DeHart J, Eliassen AH, Giles GG, Houghton SC, Kirsh VA, Milne RL, Palmer JR, Park HL, Rohan TE, Severi G, Shu XO, Tamimi RM, Vatten LJ, Weiderpass E, Willett WC, Zeleniuch-Jacquotte A, Zheng W, Sandler DP, Swerdlow AJ. Central and peripheral adiposity and premenopausal breast cancer risk: a pooled analysis of 440,179 women. Breast Cancer Res. 2025 Apr 15; 27(1):55. PMID: 40234955.
Published on 3/27/2025Bigham Z, Holder EX, Rodday AM, Breeze JL, Nelson KP, Palmer JR, Freund KM, Bertrand KA. Reproductive determinants of mammographic density in black women. Cancer Causes Control. 2025 Sep; 36(9):911-921. PMID: 40146429.
Published on 2/28/2025Kim SH, Park GE, Bertrand KA, Sandler DP, Han K, Park YM. Mammographic density as a predictor of invasive breast cancer and ductal carcinoma in situ in over six million South Korean women. Breast Cancer Res Treat. 2025 Jun; 211(2):341-350. PMID: 40019668.
Published on 2/3/2025Bertrand KA, McCullough LE. Linking Neighborhood Socioenvironmental Factors to Breast Pathogenesis-Implications for Breast Cancer. JAMA Netw Open. 2025 Feb 03; 8(2):e2461353. PMID: 39992658.
Published on 1/23/2025Shan Y, Bertrand KA, Petrick JL, Sheehy S, Palmer JR. Planetary Health Diet Index in relation to mortality in a prospective cohort study of United States Black females. Am J Clin Nutr. 2025 Mar; 121(3):589-596. PMID: 39863116.
Published on 1/16/2025Wang ML, Bertrand KA. AI for all: bridging data gaps in machine learning and health. Transl Behav Med. 2025 Jan 16; 15(1). PMID: 39868946.
Published on 1/6/2025Huang H, Couch RE, Karam R, Hu C, Boddicker N, Polley EC, Na J, Ambrosone CB, Yao S, Trentham-Dietz A, Eliassen AH, Penney K, Brantley K, Bodelon C, Teras LR, Hodge J, Patel A, Haiman CA, John EM, Neuhausen SL, Martinez E, Lacey JV, O'Brien KM, Sandler DP, Weinberg CR, Palmer JR, Bertrand KA, Vachon CM, Olson JE, Ruddy KE, Anton-Culver H, Ziogas A, Goldgar DE, Nathanson KL, Domchek SM, Weitzel JN, Kraft P, Dolinsky JS, Pesaran T, Richardson ME, Yadav S, Couch FJ. Pathogenic Variants in Cancer Susceptibility Genes Predispose to Ductal Carcinoma In Situ of the Breast. Clin Cancer Res. 2025 Jan 06; 31(1):130-138. PMID: 39513960.
Media Mentions
Published on 6/17/2024
How Colorism Impacts Black Women’s Physical and Mental Health
Published on 2/29/2024
FDA’s Plan to Ban Hair Relaxer Chemical Called Too Little, Too Late
Published on 2/7/2024
FDA Move to Ban Hair Relaxer Chemical Called Too Little, Too Late
Published on 2/6/2024
FDA move to ban formaldehyde in hair straighteners called too little, too late
Published on 12/12/2023
Can using everyday hair care products be harmful to your health?
Published on 12/5/2023
'It's long overdue': Local salons react to FDA proposal to ban hair relaxers
Published on 11/14/2023
Hair Straighteners and Relaxers May Be Harmful to Health. Here’s How to Make Them Better
Published on 11/2/2023
Moderate, Heavy Use of Chemical Hair Relaxer Linked to Uterine Cancer
Published on 11/1/2023
If You're Using Any of These Toxic Hair Products, Stop Now, FDA Warns`
Published on 11/1/2023
There’s a straight line between natural-hair discrimination and a higher risk of cancer
View full list of 42 media mentions.