Helen M. Johnson, MD
Department of Breast Surgical Oncology, Division of Surgery
In the News
Present Title & Affiliation
Primary Appointment
Assistant Professor, Department of Breast Surgical Oncology, Division of Surgery, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX
Dual/Joint/Adjunct Appointment
Assistant Professor, Department of Breast Surgical Oncology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX
Education & Training
Degree-Granting Education
| 2015 | Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, US, MD |
| 2011 | Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, US, Bachelor of Science in Biology, BS |
Postgraduate Training
| 2022-2023 | Clinical Fellowship, Breast Surgical Oncology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas |
| 2018-2020 | Research Fellowship, Department of Surgery, ECU Health Medical Center, Greenville, North Carolina |
| 2015-2022 | Clinical Residency, General Surgery, ECU Health Medical Center, Greenville, North Carolina |
Board Certifications
| 2023 | American Board of Surgery, General Surgery |
| 2021 | International Board-Certified Lactation Consultant |
Experience & Service
Administrative Appointments/Responsibilities
BSO Literature Review Co-Director, Department of Breast Surgical Oncology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, 2024 - Present
Associate Program Directors, Department of Breast Surgical Oncology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, 2024 - Present
Institutional Committee Activities
Faculty Representative, Department Activities Committee, 2024 - Present
Member, Contralateral Risk Reducing Mastectomy Working Group, 2024 - Present
Member, PeopleFirst Committee, 2023 - Present
Honors & Awards
| 2023 | Clinical Education Resident/Fellow Excellence Award for Professionalism, Office of Graduate Medical Education at MD Anderson Cancer Center |
| 2022 | 2021-2022 Outstanding Resident in General/Minimally Invasive Surgery, ECU Health Medical Center |
| 2022 | “Golden Apple” Outstanding Resident Teaching Award, ECU Health Medical Center |
| 2021 | 2020-2021 Outstanding Resident in Surgical Oncology, ECU Health Medical Center |
| 2021 | Finalist, American College of Surgeons Jameson L. Chassin Award for Professionalism, ACS |
| 2021 | 2020-2021 Outstanding Resident in Colorectal Surgery, ECU Health Medical Center |
| 2020 | Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society, East Carolina University Brody School of Medicine Chapter |
| 2020 | 2019-2020 Outstanding Resident in Trauma/Surgical Critical Care, ECU Health Medical Center |
| 2019 | Best Poster, Clinical and Basic Science Research, ECU Health Medical Center Medical Staff Graduate Medical Education Research Day |
| 2019 | First Place, Annual Ray D. Minges Research Award, ECU Health Medical Center Department of Surgery Research Day |
| 2019 | Honorable Mention, Oral Presentation, ECU Health Medical Center Medical Staff Graduate Medical Education Research Day |
| 2019 | Finalist, Best Clinical Research Poster, Society of Surgical Oncology, Society of Surgical Oncology |
| 2018 | Honorable Mention, Clinical and Basic Science Research Poster, ECU Health Medical Center Medical Staff Graduate Medical Education Research Day |
| 2011 | Elizabeth Leduc Prize in Cell Biology, Brown University |
| 2011 | Anne Crosby Emery Fellowship, Brown University |
| 2011 | Katherine G. Farley and Jerry I. Speyer Trustee’s Scholarship, Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University |
| 2010 | Katherine G. Farley and Jerry I. Speyer Trustee’s Scholarship, Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University |
| 2009 | Katherine G. Farley and Jerry I. Speyer Trustee’s Scholarship, Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University |
| 2008 | Katherine G. Farley and Jerry I. Speyer Trustee’s Scholarship, Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University |
| 2007 | Katherine G. Farley and Jerry I. Speyer Trustee’s Scholarship, Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University |
| 2007 | United States Presidential Scholar |
Professional Memberships
Selected Publications
Peer-Reviewed Articles
- Wanis KN, Kuerer HM, Sun SX, Hunt KK, Glencer AC, Teshome M, Lucci A, Weiser R, Johnson HM, Smith BD, Gutierrez AM, Shaitelman SF, Arun BK. Clinical Outcomes for BRCA Pathogenic Variant Carriers With Breast Cancer Undergoing Breast Conservation. JAMA Netw Open:e2418486, 2024. e-Pub 2024. PMID: 38916888.
- Johnson HM, Teshome M, Singh P, Mitchell KB. Lactation Education for Surgeons: American Society of Breast Surgeons (ASBrS) Survey Demonstrates Strong Member Interest in Expanded Training. Ann Surg Oncol 30(10):6125-6132, 2023. e-Pub 2023. PMID: 37452168.
- Johnson HM, Lin H, Shen Y, Diego EJ, Krishnamurthy S, Yang WT, Smith BD, Valero V, Lucci A, Sun SX, Shaitelman SF, Mitchell MP, Boughey JC, White RL, Rauch GM, Kuerer HM, Study Group ER. Patient-Reported Outcomes of Omission of Breast Surgery Following Neoadjuvant Systemic Therapy: A Nonrandomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Netw Open 6(9):e2333933, 2023. e-Pub 2023. PMID: 37707811.
- Johnson HM, Valero V, Yang WT, Smith BD, Krishnamurthy S, Shen Y, Lin H, Lucci A, Rauch GM, Kuerer HM. Eliminating Breast Surgery for Invasive Cancer with Exceptional Response to Neoadjuvant Systemic Therapy: Prospective Multicenter Clinical Trial Planned Initial Feasibility Endpoint. J Am Coll Surg 237(1):101-108, 2023. e-Pub 2023. PMID: 36856291.
- Johnson HM, Torres MB, Möller MG, Cannada L, Nosanov LB, Riner AN, Tatebe LC, Reyna C, Altieri MS. Association of Women Surgeons' Comprehensive Initiative for Healthy Surgical Families During Residency and Fellowship Training. JAMA Surg 158(3):310-315, 2023. PMID: 36598769.
- Johnson HM, Mohamed A, Hassan MM, Geradts J, Geisel L, Vohra NA, Wong JH. Race-Related Differences in the Clinical Presentation and Histopathologic Features of Phyllodes Tumor. Am Surg 89(3):407-413, 2023. e-Pub 2021. PMID: 34190619.
- Johnson HM, Torres MB, Tatebe LC, Altieri MS, Women Surgeons FTPCOTAO. Every ounce counts: A call for comprehensive support for breastfeeding surgeons by the Association of Women Surgeons. Am J Surg 223(6):1226-1227, 2022. e-Pub 2022. PMID: 35027170.
- Mitchell KB, Johnson HM, Rodríguez JM, Eglash A, Scherzinger C, Zakarija-Grkovic I, Cash KW, Berens P, Miller B, Breastfeeding Medicine AO. Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine Clinical Protocol #36: The Mastitis Spectrum, Revised 2022. Breastfeed Med 17(5):360-376, 2022. PMID: 35576513.
- Slama EM, Johnson HM, Yu YR, Sumra H, Altieri MS. Paid parental leave for surgeons in the United States. Am J Surg 223(1):218-220, 2022. e-Pub 2021. PMID: 34419264.
- Johnson HM, Irish W, Vohra NA, Wong JH. Refining breast cancer prognosis by incorporating age at diagnosis into clinical prognostic staging: introduction of a novel online calculator. Breast Cancer Res Treat 187(3):805-814, 2021. e-Pub 2021. PMID: 33609208.
- Betts RC, Johnson HM, Eglash A, Mitchell KB. It's Not Yeast: Retrospective Cohort Study of Lactating Women with Persistent Nipple and Breast Pain. Breastfeed Med 16(4):318-324, 2021. e-Pub 2020. PMID: 33305975.
- Johnson HM, Mitchell KB. Low incidence of milk fistula with continued breastfeeding following radiologic and surgical interventions on the lactating breast. Breast Dis 40(3):183-189, 2021. PMID: 33935049.
- Johnson HM, Irish W, Strassle PD, Mahoney ST, Schroen AT, Josef AP, Freischlag JA, Tuttle JE, Brownstein MR. Associations Between Career Satisfaction, Personal Life Factors, and Work-Life Integration Practices Among US Surgeons by Gender. JAMA Surg 155(8):742-750, 2020. PMID: 32579211.
- Johnson HM, Mitchell KB, Breastfeeding Medicine AO. ABM Clinical Protocol #34: Breast Cancer and Breastfeeding. Breastfeed Med 15(7):429-434, 2020. e-Pub 2020. PMID: 32516007.
- Johnson HM, Shivalingappa H, Irish W, Wong JH, Muzaffar M, Verbanac K, Vohra NA. Race May Not Impact Endocrine Therapy-Related Changes in Breast Density. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 29(5):1049-1057, 2020. e-Pub 2020. PMID: 32098892.
- Johnson HM, Eglash A, Mitchell KB, Leeper K, Smillie CM, Moore-Ostby L, Manson N, Simon L, Breastfeeding Medicine AO. ABM Clinical Protocol #32: Management of Hyperlactation. Breastfeed Med 15(3):129-134, 2020. e-Pub 2020. PMID: 32031417.
- Johnson HM, Mitchell KB. Lactational phlegmon: A distinct clinical entity affecting breastfeeding women within the mastitis-abscess spectrum. Breast J 26(2):149-154, 2020. e-Pub 2019. PMID: 31495049.
- Johnson HM, Lewis TC, Mitchell KB. Breast Cancer Screening During Lactation: Ensuring Optimal Surveillance for Breastfeeding Women. Obstet Gynecol 135(1):194-198, 2020. PMID: 31809436.
- Hao S, Johnson HM, Celio A, Frye L, Bayouth L, Joseph J, Walsh DS. Rural General Surgery Experience as a Valuable Adjunct to an Academic Based General Surgery Residency. J Surg Educ 77(3):598-605, 2020. e-Pub 2019. PMID: 31813795.
- Johnson HM, Geisel L, Weil A, Muzaffar M, Vohra NA, DeAntonio P, Wong JH. Enhancing the Electronic Health Record to improve the quality of breast cancer care in Eastern North Carolina. Journal of Clinical Pathways, 2020. PMID: None.
- Johnson HM, Irish W, Muzaffar M, Vohra NA, Wong JH. Quantifying the relationship between age at diagnosis and breast cancer-specific mortality. Breast Cancer Res Treat 177(3):713-722, 2019. e-Pub 2019. PMID: 31297648.
- Mosquera C, Johnson HM, Mitsakos AT, Neill NE, Bellamy N, Irish W, Zervos EE, Laks S. Predictive Value of Preoperative Serum CA19-9 on Margin Status. Am Surg 85(9):965-972, 2019. PMID: 31638508.
- Johnson HM, Mitchell KB, Snyder RA. Call to Action: Universal Policy to Support Residents and Fellows Who Are Breastfeeding. J Grad Med Educ 11(4):382-384, 2019. PMID: 31440330.
- Johnson HM, Irish W, Vohra NA, Wong JH. The effect of local therapy on breast cancer-specific mortality of women with occult breast cancer and advanced nodal disease (N2/N3): a population analysis. Breast Cancer Res Treat 177(1):155-164, 2019. e-Pub 2019. PMID: 31127469.
- Mitchell KB, Johnson HM, Eglash A, Breastfeeding Medicine AO. ABM Clinical Protocol #30: Breast Masses, Breast Complaints, and Diagnostic Breast Imaging in the Lactating Woman. Breastfeed Med 14(4):208-214, 2019. e-Pub 2019. PMID: 30892931.
- Muzaffar M, Johnson HM, Vohra NA, Liles D, Wong JH. The Impact of Locoregional Therapy in Nonmetastatic Inflammatory Breast Cancer: A Population-Based Study. Int J Breast Cancer 2018:6438635, 2018. e-Pub 2018. PMID: 29967698.
- Cao Y, Johnson HM, Bazemore-Walker CR. Improved enrichment and proteomic identification of outer membrane proteins from a Gram-negative bacterium: focus on Caulobacter crescentus. Proteomics 12(2):251-62, 2012. e-Pub 2011. PMID: 22106052.
Invited Articles
- Mitchell KB, Johnson HM. Breast Pathology That Contributes to Dysfunction of Human Lactation: a Spotlight on Nipple Blebs. J Mammary Gland Biol Neoplasia 25(2):79-83, 2020. e-Pub 2020. PMID: 32495215.
- Johnson HM, Wong JH. When Is a Little Breast Tissue Too Much?: Nipple-Sparing Risk-Reducing Mastectomy in BRCA Carriers. JAMA Surg 153(2):129, 2018. PMID: 28903136.
Other Articles
- Mitchell, KB, Johnson, HM Management of Common Complications of Lactation. Surgical Clinics of North America 102(6):973-987, 2022. PMID: 36335932.
- Mitchell KB, Johnson HM, Rodriguez JM, Eglash A, Scherzinger C, Widmer K, Berens P, Miller B Response to Baeza et al. re: "Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine Clinical Protocol #36: The Mastitis Spectrum, Revised 2022". Breastfeed Med 17(11):972, 2022. PMID: 36378817.
- Mitchell, KB, Johnson, HM Challenges in the Management of Breast Conditions During Lactation. Obstetrics and Gynecology Clinics of North America 49(1):35-55, 2022. PMID: 35168772.
- Johnson HM, Josef AP, Brownstein MR Associations of Various Subspecialties in Surgery With Career Satisfaction and Personal Life Among Surgeons by Gender-Reply. JAMA Surg 156(3):292-293, 2021. PMID: 33326002.
- Johnson HM, Walsh DS Crafting an Evidence-Based, Accreditation Council of Graduate Medical Education-Compliant Lactation Policy for Residents and Fellows. Breastfeed Med 15(1):49-55, 2020. PMID: 31851831.
- Johnson HM, Mitchell KB Breastfeeding and Breast Cancer: Managing Lactation in Survivors and Women with a New Diagnosis. Ann Surg Oncol 26(10):3032-3039, 2019. PMID: 31342385.
- Johnson HM, Anciano CJ, Laks S Esophageal perforation secondary to malignant gastric outlet obstruction: a case report. World J Surg Oncol 17(1):36, 2019. PMID: 30782160.
- Johnson HM, Reisler T Pseudoangiomatous stromal hyperplasia presenting as accessory axillary breast tissue. Eplasty 17:ic19, 2017. PMID: 28900530.
- Johnson HM, Gaitanis J, Morrow E Genetics in autism diagnosis: adding molecular subtypes to neurobehavioral diagnoses. Med Health R I 94(5):124-6, 2011. PMID: 21710919.
Book Chapters
- Mitchell KB, Johnson HM. Management of Common Complications of Lactation: The Breast Surgeon's Role in Examining the Science and Debunking Old Myths. In: Management of Benign Breast Disease. 6. None, 973-987, 2022.
- Mitchell KB, Johnson HM. Challenges in the Management of Breast Conditions During Lactation. In: Management of Benign and Malignant Breast Disease, An Issue of Obstetrics and Gynecology Clinics. 1. None, 35-55, 2022.
- Mitchell KB, Johnson HM, Eglash A. ABM Clinical Protocol #30: Breast Masses, Breast Complaints, and Diagnostic Breast Imaging in the Lactating Woman. In: Breastfeeding: A Guide for the Medical Profession. 9th. None, 1010-1016, 2022.
- Johnson HM, Mitchell KB. ABM Clinical Protocol #34: Breast Cancer and Breastfeeding. In: Breastfeeding: A Guide for the Medical Profession. 9th. None, 1038.e11 - 1038.e17, 2022.
- Mitchell KB, Johnson HM. Breast Conditions in the Breastfeeding Mother. In: Breastfeeding: A Guide for the Medical Profession. 9th. None, 572-593, 2022.
- Johnson HM, Eglash A, Mitchell KB, Leeper K, Smillie CM, Moore-Ostby L, Manson N, Simon L. ABM Clinical Protocol #32: Management of Hyperlactation. In: Breastfeeding: A Guide for the Medical Profession. 9th. None, 1023 - 1028, 2022.
- Johnson HM, Levine TP. Health Care and Services for Individuals with ASDs: Disparities and Transitions. In: Comprehensive Guide to Autism. None. None, 1195-1217, 2014.
Patient Reviews
CV information above last modified September 23, 2024