Mollie E Barnard ScD

Assistant Professor, Hematology & Medical Oncology

Center Faculty Member, Slone Epidemiology Center

72 E. Concord Street | (617) 734-6006
Mollie Barnard
Sections

Hematology & Medical Oncology

Biography

Dr. Mollie Barnard is a molecular and genetic epidemiologist whose research focuses on the etiology of breast and ovarian cancers and the elimination of racial disparities in cancer outcomes. She leverages large, diverse epidemiologic cohorts linked with molecular data to identify modifiable risk factors and biologic pathways that can be translated into prevention and survivorship strategies.

Dr. Barnard is Principal Investigator of an American Cancer Society Research Scholar Grant investigating how cardiometabolic health influences breast cancer risk, tumor biology, and immune profiles among Black women. By combining prospective cohort data with tumor gene expression and immune infiltration analyses, this work seeks to uncover mechanisms driving aggressive disease and to identify opportunities for targeted screening, prevention, and treatment.

Her prior research has examined the role of inflammation in ovarian carcinogenesis. Findings from her work on anti-inflammatory drug use and ovarian cancer risk indicated that the inverse association between aspirin use and ovarian cancer risk may be specific to low-dose aspirin. In related work, she demonstrated that women with deep infiltrating endometriosis and/or ovarian endometriomas have a substantially greater risk of ovarian cancer compared to those with less severe endometriosis subtypes.

Dr. Barnard is dedicated to training the next generation of scientists. She has mentored master’s students, PhD students, and medical students in cancer epidemiology, study design, and data analysis. She has a longstanding commitment to supporting students from underrepresented backgrounds, serving as a faculty mentor for the Society for Epidemiologic Research’s LGBTQIA+ mentoring group, mentoring students through the Dana-Farber Continuing Umbrella of Research Experiences (CURE) Program, and volunteering as a program leader for Minds Matter Boston.

Education

Epidemiology, ScD, Harvard School of Public Health

Epidemiology, SM/ScM, Harvard School of Public Health

Biology, BA, Swarthmore College

Publications

Published on 9/4/2025

Lawson-Michod KA, Johnson CE, Barnard ME, Davidson NR, Collin LJ, Nix DA, Huff CD, Berchuck A, Salas LA, Greene CS, Marks JR, Peres LC, Doherty JA, Schildkraut JM. Homologous recombination deficiency and survival in ovarian high-grade serous carcinoma by self-reported race. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2025 Sep 04. PMID: 40905821.

Published on 8/26/2025

Yao S, Wei L, Hu Q, Liu S, Manojlovic Z, Fiorica PN, Long M, Zirpoli GR, Cai Q, Long J, Ping J, Barnard ME, Jin Y, Murakami M, Wang J, Zhu Q, Davis W, Chen J, Ondracek RP, Khoury T, Gandhi S, Takabe K, Ko N, Sanderson M, Hong CC, Bandera EV, Craig DW, Ambrosone CB, Palmer JR, Zheng W, Carpten JD. Mutational landscape of triple-negative breast cancer in African American women. Nat Genet. 2025 Sep; 57(9):2166-2176. PMID: 40858906.

Published on 8/21/2025

McCarty RD, Trabert B, Collin LJ, Millar MM, Kriebel D, Grieshober L, Barnard ME, Sawatzki J, Carter M, Yoder V, Gilreath JA, Grossman D, Hyngstrom J, Shami PJ, Doherty JA. Tattooing and risk of melanoma: a population-based case-control study in Utah. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2025 Aug 21. PMID: 40839395.

Published on 8/13/2025

Ping J, Jia G, Cai Q, Guo X, Wang J, Tao R, Li B, Bauer JA, Xie Y, Ambs S, Barnard ME, Chen Y, Choi JY, Gao YT, Garcia-Closas M, Gu J, Hu JJ, Iwasaki M, John EM, Kweon SS, Li CI, Matsuda K, Matsuo K, Nathanson KL, Nemesure B, Olopade OI, Pal T, Park SK, Park B, Press MF, Sanderson M, Sandler DP, Yao S, Zheng Y, Ahearn T, Brewster AM, Falusi A, Hennis AJM, Ito H, Kubo M, Lee ES, Makumbi T, Mapoko BSE, Noh DY, O'Brien KM, Ojengbede O, Olshan AF, Park MH, Reid S, Yamaji T, Zirpoli G, Butler EN, Huang M, Low SK, Obafunwa J, Weinberg CR, Zhang H, Zhao H, Ambrosone CB, Cote ML, Huo D, Haiman CA, Kang D, Palmer JR, Troester MA, Shu XO, Long J, Zheng W. Multi-Ancestry Transcriptome-wide Association Studies Uncover New Insights into Breast Cancer Genetics and Biology. medRxiv. 2025 Aug 13. PMID: 40832405.

Published on 8/6/2025

Barnard ME, Qin B, Emerson MA, Holder EX, Dunn MR, Sarkar S, Xu NN, Li Y, Ambrosone CB, Bandera EV, Palmer JR, Troester MA, Hyslop T. Associations between social drivers of health and breast cancer stage at diagnosis among U.S. Black women. NPJ Breast Cancer. 2025 Aug 06; 11(1):85. PMID: 40770199.

Published on 7/14/2025

Jia G, Ping J, Tao R, Long J, Liu L, Xu S, Munro HM, Ambs S, Barnard ME, Chen Y, Choi JY, Gao YT, Garcia-Closas M, Gu J, Hu JJ, Iwasaki M, John EM, Kweon SS, Matsuda K, Matsuo K, Nathanson K, Nemesure B, Olopade OI, Pal T, Park SK, Park B, Press MF, Sanderson M, Sandler DP, Yao S, Zheng Y, Adejumo PO, Ahearn T, Brewster AM, Hennis AJM, Ito H, Kubo M, Lee ES, Low SK, Makumbi T, Ndom P, Noh DY, O'Brien KM, Olshan AF, Oluwasanu MM, Park MH, Reid S, Yamaji T, Zirpoli G, Butler EN, Huang M, Ntekim A, Weinberg CR, Li B, Huo D, Kang D, Ambrosone C, Troester MA, Haiman CA, Shu XO, Palmer JR, Guo X, Zheng W. Integrating multi-ancestry genomic and proteomic data to identify blood risk biomarkers and target proteins for breast cancer genetic risk loci. Int J Cancer. 2025 Nov 15; 157(10):2071-2080. PMID: 40658085.

Published on 4/1/2025

Holder EX, Barnard ME, Xu NN, Barber LE, Palmer JR. Neighborhood Disadvantage, Individual Experiences of Racism, and Breast Cancer Survival. JAMA Netw Open. 2025 Apr 01; 8(4):e253807. PMID: 40193073.

Published on 2/5/2025

Barnard ME, Poole EM, Huang T, Sood AK, Kubzansky LD, Tworoger SS. Caregiver burden and risk of epithelial ovarian cancer in the Nurses' Health Studies. Am J Epidemiol. 2025 Feb 05; 194(2):362-369. PMID: 38973733.

Published on 1/3/2025

Jia G, Chen Z, Ping J, Cai Q, Tao R, Li C, Bauer JA, Xie Y, Ambs S, Barnard ME, Chen Y, Choi JY, Gao YT, Garcia-Closas M, Gu J, Hu JJ, Iwasaki M, John EM, Kweon SS, Li CI, Matsuda K, Matsuo K, Nathanson KL, Nemesure B, Olopade OI, Pal T, Park SK, Park B, Press MF, Sanderson M, Sandler DP, Shen CY, Troester MA, Yao S, Zheng Y, Ahearn T, Brewster AM, Falusi A, Hennis AJM, Ito H, Kubo M, Lee ES, Makumbi T, Ndom P, Noh DY, O'Brien KM, Ojengbede O, Olshan AF, Park MH, Reid S, Yamaji T, Zirpoli G, Butler EN, Huang M, Low SK, Obafunwa J, Weinberg CR, Zhang H, Zhao H, Cote ML, Ambrosone CB, Huo D, Li B, Kang D, Palmer JR, Shu XO, Haiman CA, Guo X, Long J, Zheng W. Refining breast cancer genetic risk and biology through multi-ancestry fine-mapping analyses of 192 risk regions. Nat Genet. 2025 Jan; 57(1):80-87. PMID: 39753771.

Published on 12/24/2024

Schliep KC, Barnard ME, Peterson CM. Endometriosis and Ovarian Cancer-Reply. JAMA. 2024 Dec 24; 332(24):2117-2118. PMID: 39621324.

View full list of 44 publications.