Josephine Kang, M.D. Ph.D.

Dr. Kang is a Board Certified Radiation Oncologist who received her MD and PhD at New York University where she completed her graduate thesis in the lab of renown microbiome expert, Dr. Martin J. Blaser.  She completed residency at the Harvard Medical School Combined Program in Boston, MA and was awarded the 2011 AACR Women in Cancer Research award for the development of a molecular signature to predict ovarian cancer outcomes.She is the author of over 50 manuscripts, abstracts and book chapters, and is the Director of Clinical Research at New York Presbyterian/Queens. Presently, she is the online update editor of gynecologic malignancies for Perez and Brady’s Principles and Practice of Radiation Oncology, and also serves as an adjunct faculty at New York University in the Department of Medicine.Dr. Kang’s research focus is on the human microbiome and how it can be harnessed to improve cancer treatment efficacy. She is working with Dr. Silvia Formenti, Chair of Radiation Oncology at NYP/Weill Cornell Medicine, whose groundbreaking work has shown immunotherapy combined with radiation can control cancer cell growth. While at NYU, they developed a protocol to study the cutaneous microbiome in breast cancer patients, and are now exploring the microbiome impact on immune checkpoint blockade (CTLA-4, PD-L1 inhibitors) and conversion of irradiated tumors into an in-situ vaccine.   Dr. Kang is familiar with all modalities of radiation oncology, including 3D conformal RT, intensity modulated RT (IMRT), high dose rate (HDR) brachytherapy, protons and stereotactic body radiation therapy/radiosurgery (SBRT). She has published on long-term quality of life and disease outcomes for 5-fraction SBRT for prostate cancer, which has been presented at multiple national and international conferences. Her clinical expertise is on use of stereotactic radiation for treatment of cancer, with special focus on genitourinary malignancies.