Dr. Kala Visvanathan

Dr. Visvanathan is a Professor on faculty at Johns Hopkins. She is a practicing medical oncologist and cancer epidemiologist focused on translating discoveries to the clinic and population as a whole. She directs the Clinical Cancer Genetics and Prevention service at Johns Hopkins Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center (SKCCC) and is an active member of the Breast and Ovarian Program and Cancer Prevention and Control Program. Dr. Visvanathan is also Director of the Cancer Epidemiology Track in the Department of Epidemiology at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. With her research centered on primary and secondary prevention of breast and ovarian cancer, her goal is to reduce the incidence of and mortality from breast cancer globally by conducting impactful studies at the local, national, and international levels. Specifically, she focuses on the identification of atrisk groups, potential biomarkers of risk and prognosis and evaluation of preventive agents across the continuum. She conducts both observational studies and early phase clinical trials. She also teaches and mentors the next generation of clinicians and cancer researchers. Dr. Visvanathan has also served on national committees focused on Breast Cancer Risk Reduction, Breast Cancer Genetics and Cancer Disparities. She has also co-chaired National Guidelines on Breast Cancer Endocrine Prevention. Locally, serving on the Maryland State Cancer Council. Dr. Visvanathan received her medical degree from the University of Sydney in Australia. She subsequently went on to complete training in internal medicine and medical oncology, including a period as chief resident at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital. She then did further training in Medical Oncology at Johns Hopkins and also obtained a master’s degree in clinical/cancer epidemiology at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. This was followed by a postdoctoral fellow before coming on to faculty in both the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Dr. Visvanathan is rated as an Experienced provider by MediFind in the treatment of Li-Fraumeni Syndrome. Her top areas of expertise are Breast Cancer, Ovarian Cancer, Menopause, Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT), and Salpingo-Oophorectomy.

Her clinical research consists of co-authoring 278 peer reviewed articles and participating in 2 clinical trials. MediFind looks at clinical research from the past 15 years. In particular, she has co-authored 1 article in the study of Li-Fraumeni Syndrome.