Karen Kikuta, MD

Karen Kikuta, MD 

Karen was born and raised in São Paulo, Brazil, and spent much of her childhood visiting her aunt's farm in rural Minas Gerais, experiences that shaped both her appreciation for community and her curiosity about the diverse ways people live and access healthcare. At 16, she moved to the United States on her own, first living with a host family in Richland, Washington, before attending boarding school in East Hampton, New York. She eventually made her way to California, where she graduated from Santa Clara University with a degree in Neuroscience and minors in Biology and Public Health. Before medical school, Karen worked at Stanford's Binns Program for Cord Blood Research, supporting labor and delivery teams and coordinating umbilical cord blood collection and distribution for research. She then earned her MD at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, where her clinical training and global health research on the long-term neurodevelopmental outcomes of congenital Zika virus exposure solidified her passion for neurology. She is excited to become a double-Bruin, and continue her training at Olive View and UCLA, where she hopes to build collaborative partnerships across institutions to advance global neurology, expand access to neurological expertise, and work toward reducing inequities in neurological care both locally and globally. Outside the hospital, Karen enjoys music and art festivals, dance and flow arts, yoga, pilates, beach days, reading, rewatching her favorite sitcoms, and introducing her friends to Brazil by planning trips centered around its vibrant culture and incredible food.