Mollie E. Barnard, ScD
Assistant Professor
Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine
Medicine
Hematology & Medical Oncology

ScD, Harvard School of Public Health
SM/ScM, Harvard School of Public Health
BA, Swarthmore College

Pronouns: she/her/hers



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.

Center Faculty Member
Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine
Slone Epidemiology Center




The role of biobehavioral factors and anti-inflammatory medications on the ovarian tumor immune response
04/01/2024 - 03/31/2029 (Subcontract PI)
Oregon Health & Science University NIH NCI
5R01CA276224-03

Cardiometabolic health and risk of breast cancer in Black women
01/01/2025 - 12/31/2028 (PI)
American Cancer Society, Inc.


The impact of biobehavioral factors and aspirin on ovarian cancer biology
09/19/2023 - 08/31/2028 (Subcontract PI)
H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute NIH NCI
5U54CA163068-12

Changing Contraceptive Patterns and Ovarian Cancer Risk
07/01/2022 - 03/31/2026 (Subcontract PI)
The Brigham and Women's Hospital, Inc. NIH NCI
5R01CA258679-05



Title


Yr Title Project-Sub Proj Pubs
2021 Inflammation and gynecologic cancer: the role of prostaglandins in ovarian cancer 5K00CA212222-06
2020 Inflammation and gynecologic cancer: the role of prostaglandins in ovarian cancer 5K00CA212222-05
2019 Inflammation and gynecologic cancer: the role of prostaglandins in ovarian cancer 5K00CA212222-04
2018 Inflammation and gynecologic cancer: the role of prostaglandins in ovarian cancer 4K00CA212222-03
2017 Inflammation and gynecologic cancer: the role of prostaglandins in ovarian cancer 5F99CA212222-02 3
2016 Inflammation and gynecologic cancer: the role of prostaglandins in ovarian cancer 1F99CA212222-01 3

Publications listed below are automatically derived from MEDLINE/PubMed and other sources, which might result in incorrect or missing publications. Faculty can login to make corrections and additions.

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  1. 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 Nov 03; 34(11):2007-2014. PMID: 40905821; PMCID: PMC12478560; DOI: 10.1158/1055-9965.EPI-25-0762;
     
  2. 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.View Related Profiles. PMID: 40858906; PMCID: PMC12425817; DOI: 10.1038/s41588-025-02322-y;
     
  3. 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; PMCID: PMC12404683; DOI: 10.1093/jnci/djaf235;
     
  4. 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.View Related Profiles. PMID: 40832405; PMCID: PMC12363744; DOI: 10.1101/2025.08.12.25333509;
     
  5. 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.View Related Profiles. PMID: 40770199; PMCID: PMC12328792; DOI: 10.1038/s41523-025-00804-0;
     
  6. 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.View Related Profiles. PMID: 40658085; PMCID: PMC12406259; DOI: 10.1002/ijc.70041;
     
  7. 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.View Related Profiles. PMID: 40193073; PMCID: PMC11976487; DOI: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2025.3807;
     
  8. 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; PMCID: PMC11815502; DOI: 10.1093/aje/kwae185;
     
  9. Lawson-Michod KA, Johnson CE, Barnard ME, Davidson N, Collin LJ, Nix DA, Huff C, Berchuck A, Salas LA, Greene C, Marks JR, Peres LC, Doherty JA, Schildkraut JM. Homologous recombination deficiency in ovarian high-grade serous carcinoma by self-reported race. medRxiv. 2025 Jan 28. PMID: 39974072; PMCID: PMC11838950; DOI: 10.1101/2025.01.21.25320918;
     
  10. 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.View Related Profiles. PMID: 39753771; PMCID: PMC12184877; DOI: 10.1038/s41588-024-02031-y;
     
Showing 10 of 47 results. Show More

This graph shows the total number of publications by year, by first, middle/unknown, or last author.

Bar chart showing 47 publications over 13 distinct years, with a maximum of 10 publications in 2025

YearPublications
20101
20111
20121
20131
20152
20162
20185
20194
20211
20224
20237
20248
202510


Prior Endometriosis Diagnoses May Increase Ovarian Cancer Risk

Cancer Network 8/1/2024

Women With Endometriosis Are 10 Times More Likely To Develop Ovarian Cancer

Technology Networks 7/18/2024

Landmark Study Reveals Elevated Ovarian Cancer Risk for Women with Severe Endometriosis

Inside Precision Medicine 7/18/2024

Study: Women with severe endometriosis 10 times more likely to get ovarian cancer

News Medical 7/18/2024

Analgesic Use and Risk of Ovarian Cancer in the Nurses’ Health Studies

AMA EdHub 10/4/2018

2025 Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine: Karin Grunebaum Faculty Research Fellow
2023 Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine: Dahod Assistant Professorship
2021 HCI, Salt Lake City, UT: Women’s Cancers Center Rising Star Award
2021 American Association for Cancer Research: Molecular Epidemiology Working Group Scholar-in-Training Award
2020 HCI, Salt Lake City, UT: Susan Cooper Jones Endowed Fellowship in Cancer Research
2020 HCI, Salt Lake City, UT: Huntsman Travel Fellowship
2019 University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT: Postdoc Travel Assistance Award ($500 travel award)
2019 HCI, Salt Lake City, UT: Huntsman Travel Fellowship ($1,500 travel award)
2019 National Cancer Institute: Epidemiology and Genomics Research Program Research Highlight
2016 Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health: Nominee for the National Cancer Institute (NCI) Predoctoral to Postdoctoral Fellow Transition Award
In addition to these self-described keywords below, a list of MeSH based concepts is available here.

Epidemiology, Molecular
Epidemiology, Genetic
Breast Cancer
Ovarian Cancer
Epidemiology
Tumor Markers, Biological
Gene Expression Profiling

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72 E. Concord St
Boston MA 02118
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617.734.6006
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