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Kekoa Taparra, MD, PhD, MPH

Assistant Professor, Departments of Health Policy and Management and Radiation Oncology

Languages

English

Education

Internship

Transitional Internship, Gundersen Health System La Crosse, WI, 2021

Degrees

MPH, Hawaiʻi Pacific University, HI, 2024
MD, Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine Rochester, MN, 2020
PhD, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine Baltimore, MD, 2016
BS, Fairfield University Fairfield, CT, 2012

Residency

Radiation Oncology, Stanford Medicine Stanford, CA, 2025

Contact Information

Scientific Interests

Dr. Taparra's primary research interest lies in advancing cancer equity by leveraging community voices to inform population-level research, particularly for Pacific Islander communities. His career pathway — spanning bench research on glycobiology and oncogene-induced senescence, clinical innovation to reduce radiation cardiotoxicity, and population science — allows him to translate between these fields. Dr. Taparra's current/future areas of investigation include cancer epidemiology (AYA disparities, NHPI epidemiology, financial toxicity), cancer technology (access to radiation therapy technologies, clinical trial development/access/enrollment, radiation adaptive planning, machine learning integration), and prevention/survivorship (comorbidity burden, anti-metabolic strategies such as GLP-1 agonists, exercise, and diet interventions).

Highlighted Publications

Taparra K, Que V, Pollom E. Disparities in Survival and Comorbidity Burden Between Asian and Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander Patients with Cancer. JAMA Network Open 2022 Aug 1; 5(8):e2226327. PMID: 35960520.

Haque AT, Berrington de González A, Chen Y, Haozous EA, Inoue-Choi M, Lawrence WR, McGee-Avila JK, Nápoles AM, Pérez-Stable EJ, Taparra K, Vo JB, Freedman ND, Shiels MS. Cancer mortality rates by racial/ethnic groups in the United States, 2018-2020. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2023 Jul 6;115(7):822-830. PMID: 37074947.

Taparra K, Benavente R, Shih J, Gimmen MY, Tominez P, Kekumano K, Pineda E, Sherman R, Deville C, Peppercorn J, Gomez S, Bosserman L, Chino F, Patel M, Shah C. Patient Inclusion and Reporting by US Federally Defined Race/Ethnicity in High-Impact Phase 2/3 Oncology Clinical Trial Publications. JAMA Health Forum. 2024 Jun 7;5(6):e241388. PMID: 38848090.

Taparra K*, Kekumano K*, Benavente R, Roberto L, Gimmen M, Shontell R, Cakobau H, Deo N, Kinslow CJ, Warner AB, Deville C, Shing JZ, Vo JB, Patel MI, Pollom E. Racial Disparities in Cancer Stage at Diagnosis and Survival for Adolescent and Young Adults. JAMA Network Open. 2024 Aug 1;7(8):e2430975. PMID: 39212989. *These Authors Contributed Equally

Vo JB, Bess JL, Taparra K, Mitra PR, Berrington de González, Freedman ND, Shiels MS, Shing JZ. Leading causes of death among Asian American compared with Pacific Islander individuals, 2018-2020. JAMA Internal Medicine. 2025 Jan 13. PMID: 39804611.