Kenechukwu N. Ojukwu, MD, MS, MPP

Kenechukwu Ojukwu, MD, MPP, MS

Health Sciences Assistant Clinical Professor, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine

Languages

English

Education

Fellowship

Surgical Pathology, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, 2022

Degrees

MS, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, 2024
MPP, UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs, Los Angeles, CA, 2013
MD, Charles Drew University of Medicine and Science, Los Angeles, CA, 2013
BA, University of California, Berkeley, CA, 2005

Residencies

Anatomic & Clinical Pathology, Harbor - UCLA Medical Center, 2021
Surgery, Howard University Hospital, 2016
Surgery, Harbor - UCLA Medical Center, 2015

Contact Information

Scientific Interests

Dr. Ojukwu's research focus is diagnostic communication across the cancer care continuum, with emphasis on pathology as a bridge between tissue diagnosis, shared decision-making, and patient understanding. How cancer  diagnoses are communicated remains a critical and underdeveloped determinant of equity, timeliness, and care quality. Her work examines how pathologists and patients are trained to communicate cancer  diagnoses, and how gaps in this training contribute to delays, misinterpretation, and disparities. Using mixed qualitative and educational methods, she designs and evaluates communication-centered  interventions to improve timely, understandable, and actionable cancer care.

Highlighted Publications

Ojukwu K, Eguchi M, Adamson A, Kerr K, Piepkorn M, Murdoch S, et al. Trends in
immunohistochemistry use in the evaluation of skin biopsies in the U.S., 2000 to 2017. JAMA Dermatology. 2024;160(4):434-440.

Ojukwu K, Cox B, Larson B, Guindi M, Kim S, Waters K, Hutchings D. Capecitabine-induced gastrointestinal injury shows graft-versus-host disease-like pattern. American Journal of Surgical Pathology. 2023.

Myers JM, Buckley A, Sahin A, Lapedis CJ, Li D, Sullivan HC, Groth J, Mirza K, Ojukwu K, Joseph L, Mitchell M, Waitzman S, Cummings T. Pathology Clinics: Design, Delivery & Impact. ASCP Certificate Program. 2025.

Gupta A, et al. Ace the Boards: Surgical Pathology Reimagined. Ace My Path; 2022. Ojukwu K: Chapter 8, Bone and Soft Tissue Pathology; Chapter 12, Head and Neck Pathology, Associate Editor; Chapter 15, Gynecologic Pathology.

Chen S, Justo M, Ojukwu K, Russo A, Balzer B, Silberman A, Gangi A. Giant adrenal myelolipoma and congenital adrenal hyperplasia: A case report and review of the literature. SN Comprehensive Clinical Medicine. 2023;5(1):81.