Nancy L. Keating, MD, MPH, is an associate professor of medicine and of health care policy at Harvard Medical School and an associate physician at Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

Dr. Keating’s research focuses on the quality of care delivered to patients with cancer and the influence of physicians, hospitals, and health care systems on care delivery.  Other work has assessed communication between patients and physicians and among physicians.

Dr. Keating is an active participant in the Cancer Care Outcomes Research and Surveillance (CanCORS) Consortium, funded by the National Cancer Institute (NCI). This is a collaborative effort among investigators at seven sites to examine patterns of care and outcomes for patients with colorectal and lung cancer. Dr. Keating is also examining the quality of care delivered to patients diagnosed with cancer in the Veterans Administration health care system. Further, she has been funded by the NCI to examine long-term outcomes after breast cancer treatments in community populations of patients, and she is examining adverse effects of hormonal therapy used in the treatment of men with prostate cancer.

In work funded by the Komen for the Cure Foundation, she is examining the contribution of health care providers in explaining racial disparities in breast cancer care. In related work, she is examining breast cancer diagnosis and treatment in Latin America.  In addition, Dr. Keating has recently been funded by the American Cancer Society to examine the influence of Massachusetts health insurance reform on breast cancer screening and diagnosis.  

Dr. Keating was a recipient of a Doris Duke Clinical Scientist Award, an award of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation that supports young investigators beginning their careers as independent clinical researchers. With support from this award, she examined the contribution of providers of differing specialties to the diagnosis, treatment, and surveillance for women at risk for or once diagnosed with breast cancer. In related work, she examined treatment decision making among women newly diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer.  
Dr. Keating graduated summa cum laude from Virginia Tech. She received her MD degree from the University of Chicago, Pritzker School of Medicine, and her MPH degree from the Harvard School of Public Health. In 2005, she was selected as the Society of General Internal Medicine’s junior investigator of the year.  She currently serves as a member of the editorial board of the Journal of Clinical Oncology and she is a member of the National Comprehensive Cancer Center Senior Oncology Guideline Panel.  She is also serving a 3 year term as a member of the Council of the Society of General Internal Medicine.

Learn more about Dr. Keating's work by viewing the following featured news articles on 12/10/08 and news briefs on 10/27/09, 5/28/09, 1/30/08, 9/20/06.