Joanne Mortimer, M.D., F.A.C.P., F.A.S.C.O.
- Breast Cancer
- Women's Cancers
- Functional Image
- Functional Imaging
- Breast Cancer
- Associate Director for Education and Training, Comprehensive Cancer Center
- Vice Chair and Professor, Department of Medical Oncology & Therapeutics Research
“It has been my privilege to work as a team with my patients throughout my career and to witness their incredible strength. They are faced with a diagnosis that may be extremely serious and manage to get through rigorous treatments while maintaining their roles as a wife, mother, and caregiver. Most often they come through the treatment stronger. My patients humble me and motivate me to provide the best care and to continue to improve treatments through clinical research.”
A vital member of the City of Hope team since 2007, Joanne Mortimer, M.D. is the Baum Family Professor in Women’s Cancers, Associate Director of Education and Training, Vice Chair and Professor of the Department of Medical Oncology and Therapeutics.
Dr. Mortimer received her medical degree from Loyola University, Stritch School of Medicine and has over three decades of experience in caring for patients and in conducting clinical trials to improve the care of patients with breast cancer. Throughout her career she has held many positions including Division Chief, Department Chair, and Deputy Director of a Comprehensive Cancer Center. However, the greatest gratification comes from the day-to-day care of women with breast cancer.
“Our patients are the most remarkable, inspirational people,” she recalled. “Every one of them is a heroic individual who faced this unexpected adversity and turns it into something to learn from.”
Listed numerous times as one of America’s Castle Connolly Top Doctors®, Dr. Mortimer takes a special interest in the use of functional imaging to predict for early benefit from targeted treatments. As Director of the Women’s Cancers Program, she brings together scientists from across disciplines whose goals include the prevention of cancer, development of better treatments and improving the quality of life of cancer survivors.
Location
Duarte Cancer Center
Duarte, CA 91010
Education & Experience
Board Certifications
- 1984, Medical Oncology, American Board of Internal Medicine
- 1980, American Board of Internal Medicine
- 1977, National Board of Medical Examiners
Degrees
- 1977, M.D., Loyola University, Stritch School of Medicine, Maywood, IL.
- 1974, B.S., Chemistry, St. Mary’s College, Notre Dame, IN.
Fellowship
- 1980 -1982, Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Cleveland, OH, Fellowship, Oncology
Residency
- 1977 -1980, Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Cleveland, OH, Resident, Internal Medicine
Professional Experience
- 2016-present, Baum Family Professor in Women’s Cancers, City of Hope, Duarte, CA
- 2015-present, Associate Director for Education and Training, Comprehensive Cancer Center, City of Hope, Duarte, CA
- 2014-2025, Co-Leader Breast Cancer Program.
- 2014-2015, Associate Director for Clinical Investigations, City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center, Duarte, CA
- 2012-2025, Director, Women's Cancer Program, City of Hope, Duarte, CA
- 2007-present, Vice Chair, Department of Medical Oncology, Associate Director for Affiliate Programs, Administrative Director of Phase I Programs, Professor, Department of Medical Oncology & Experimental Therapeutics, City of Hope, Duarte, CA
- 2004-2007, Professor of Clinical Medicine, Deputy Director for Clinical Affairs, Rebecca and John Moores UCSD Cancer Center
- 2002-2004, Professor of Medicine, Division Head Medical Oncology and Hematology Medical Director, Oncology Sentara Cancer Institute
- 1999-2002, Professor, Department of Medicine, Division of Oncology, Clinical Director Barnard Cancer Center, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO
- 1989-1999, Associate Professor, Department of Medicine, Division of Oncology, Clinical Director Barnard Cancer Center, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO
- 1984-1989, Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine, Division of Oncology, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA
- 1982-1989, Associate in Clinical Research, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center Seattle, WA
- 1982-1984, Acting Instructor, Department of Medicine, Division of Oncology, University of Washington School of Medicine Seattle, WA
Awards & Memberships
Awards
2022, Bernard Shaw Lectureship Award
2022, Exceptional Women in Medicine
2022, The American Registry
2019, Arti Hurria Mentoring and Teaching Award, Mentor of the Year
2019, Fellow of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO)
America’s Top Doctors by Castle Connolly 18 years in a row
Listed as “SuperDoc” by Los Angeles Times, 5 years
Memberships
American Society of Clinical Oncology
Oncology Drug Advisory Committee of the FDA
Missouri Cancer Pain Initiative
Association of Subspecialty Professors
American Association of Cancer Research
American College of Physicians (Member)
American Medical Women's Association
Cancer and Leukemia Group B
Hoosier Oncology Group (Member)
Missouri Society of Internal Medicine - Missouri Medical Society
National Cancer Institute (Charter Member)
National Core Content Review of Family Medicine
Publications
- Dieli-Conwright CM, Sweeney FC, Courneya KS, Tripathy D, Sami N, Lee K, Buchanan TA, Spicer D, Bernstein L, Mortimer JE, Demark-Wahnefried W. Hispanic ethnicity as a moderator of the effects of aerobic and resistance exercise in survivors of breast cancer. Cancer; 2019;125:910-920. PMID: 3050981
- Mortimer JE and Shively JE. Functional Imaging of Human Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor 2 Positive Breast Cancers and a Note about NOTA. J Nucl Med 2019:60:23-25. PMID 30573641
- Mortimer J, Di Palma J, Schmid K, Ye Y, and Jahanzeb M. Patterns of occurrence and implications of neratinib-associated diarrhea in patients with HER2-positive breast cancer: analysis from the randomized phase III ExteNET trial. Breast Cancer Res 2019:Feb 27;21 PMID 30813966
- Lee K, Kruper L, Dieli-Conwright CM, Mortimer JE. Impact of obesity on breast cancer diagnosis and treatment. Current Oncol Rep 2019; 21(5):41 PMID 30919143
- Mortimer JE, Kruper K, Jung J, Wong L, Cooper J, Stewart D, Chun S, Yu KW, Yuan Y. Characterization of infections and hypogammaglobulinemia in women treated with the combination of pertuzumab and trastuzumab. Cancer Chemotherapy and Pharmacology. 2020;85(3):501-507. PMID 31641845
- Yee LD, Mortimer JE, Natarajan R, Dietze EC, Seewaldt V. Metabolic health, insulin, and breast cancer: why oncologists should care about insulin. Frontiers in Endocrinology 2020 Feb 20;11:58. PMID: 32153503 PMCID: PMC7045050.
- Mortimer JE, Kruper L, Cianfrocca M, Lavasani S, Liu S, Tank-Patel N, Sedrak M, Smith W, Stewart D, Waisman J, Yeon C, Wang T, Yuan Y. Use of HER2-directed therapy in metastatic breast cancer and how community physicians collaborate to improve care. J Clin Med 2020;9:1984.