World Cancer Day: Obama Leader Kekoa Taparra and the Power of Community in Cancer Care

This World Cancer Day, we are honored to spotlight Kekoa Taparra, MD, PHD, MPH, a 2023 United States Leader. Kekoa is wrapping up his final year as Chief Resident Physician and Postdoctoral Clinical Fellow in Radiation Oncology at Stanford Health Care—and his story is a powerful reminder of how resilience, compassion, and vision can drive progress in both medicine and leadership.

Kekoa’s journey began far from the halls of academia or medical centers. Growing up in Hawaiʻi, cancer wasn’t just an abstract concept—it was a part of his everyday life.

“More than ten members of my ʻohana were diagnosed with cancer,” Kekoa shares. “Cancer was ever-present in my family, yet I never saw anyone from my community who was an oncologist, or even a physician. I didn’t know that cancer could be treated, let alone cured, until I met Dr. Phuoc Tran during my PhD training at Johns Hopkins.”

It was through Dr. Tran’s mentorship that Kekoa saw a new possibility for his life—and began charting a path in medicine. But Kekoa’s journey wasn’t just about overcoming personal obstacles; it was about finding purpose in the intersection of his lived experiences and his desire to make a tangible impact on the world.