My Locations
Part of the Duke Cancer Institute
About Me
I became interested in breast surgery, because it combined surgery with science and the ultimate multidisciplinary patient care. Being a breast surgeon also allows me to work with other specialties and combine our talents to provide patients with the compassion and excellence they deserve. I grew up with a passion for math and science, and my mother always thought medicine would be a good fit. I, however, needed a little more convincing. It wasn’t until medical school and my discovery of surgery that I was sold on the idea. In addition to patient care, I participate in research related to breast cancer, breast cancer risk assessment, and benign breast disease. Working with the Breast Risk Assessment Clinic, I am fortunate to have the opportunity to meet women with an increased risk of breast cancer and help them determine the best management strategy for their breast health. I also enjoy working with residents and students, helping to train the next generation of physicians. My husband, also a surgeon at Duke Health, and I love to try new restaurants and spend time with family and friends.
- E. Fulton Brylawski Associate Professor in Women's Health, Surgical Oncology 2025
- Associate Professor of Surgery, Surgical Oncology 2021
- Associate Professor in Population Health Sciences, Population Health Sciences 2021
Areas of Expertise
- Benign Breast Disease
- Breast Atypia
- Skin and Nipple Sparing Mastectomy
- Breast Cancer Risk Assessment
Ratings and Reviews
The ratings and reviews are based on patient responses to the overall provider rating question from the survey. The question reads: “Using any number from 0 to 10, where 0 is the worst provider possible and 10 is the best provider possible, what number would you use to rate this provider?” Responses are converted to a 5-point rating system and applied consistently to all providers. Learn more about our survey process. Patients who see some types of providers receive a different version of the patient satisfaction survey. Those results are not available on DukeHealth.org.
Training and Education
In the News
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Clinical Focus and Research
My research interests are broad, but include areas such as high risk breast lesions (such as atypical ductal hyperplasia), breast cancer risk assessment and hereditary breast cancer. I mainly participate in clinical research projects both locally at Duke and on the national level. Through our research, patients can expect to receive more personalized treatment plans tailored to their specific disease and circumstance.
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CONSYDER (Breast Cancer)IRB# PRO00114043 , NCT# NCT06275126
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Phase 1 SRG-514 for Breast-Conserving Cancer SurgeryIRB# PRO00115620 , NCT# NCT06300411
- Botty van den Bruele, Astrid, Yi Ren, Samantha M. Thomas, Koumani W. Ntowe, Laura H. Rosenberger, Carolyn Menendez, Lars J. Grimm, Akiko Chiba, and Jennifer K. Plichta. “High risk surveillance MRI may not be necessary in BRCA1/2 mutation carriers over 70 years old.” Breast Cancer Res Treat 211, no. 2 (June 2025): 421–29. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10549-025-07657-y.
- Winchester, David J., Lavisha Singh, Stephen B. Edge, Kimberly H. Allison, William E. Barlow, Veerle Bossuyt, Mariana Chavez-MacGregor, et al. “Novel Postneoadjuvant Prognostic Breast Cancer Staging System.” J Clin Oncol, April 11, 2025, JCO2401739. https://doi.org/10.1200/JCO-24-01739.
- Ntowe, Koumani W., Michael S. Lee, Victoria N. Yi, Samantha J. Kaplan, Brett T. Phillips, Akiko Chiba, and Jennifer K. Plichta. “ASO Visual Abstract: Short-Term Patient-Reported Outcomes Following Bilateral Risk-Reducing Mastectomy for Patients at High Risk for Breast Cancer: A Systematic Review.” Ann Surg Oncol 32, no. 4 (April 2025): 2603–4. https://doi.org/10.1245/s10434-025-16902-z.
- Nguyen, A., J. K. Plichta, J. Cintolo-Gonzalez, K. Kartal, M. E. Griffin, and K. Hughes. “Genetic risk prediction in breast cancer.” In Changing Paradigms in the Management of Breast Cancer, 217–32, 2017. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-60336-0_15.
- Nguyen, A., J. Cintolo-Gonzalez, J. K. Plichta, and K. S. Hughes. “Risk assessment for breast cancer.” In Managing BRCA Mutation Carriers, 1–14, 2017. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-59198-8_1.
- Plichta, Jennifer K., and Michael J. Mosier. “Flame Burns.” In Encyclopedia of Trauma Care, 1–8. Springer Berlin Heidelberg, 2016. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-36200-2_329-1.
- Narod, S., J. Lubinski, S. Wong, J. Soukupova, R. Bernstein, R. Fruscio, J. Plichta, et al. “P264: Survival from ER-positive breast cancer in women who carry a BRCA1 mutation.” In The Breast, 80:104100–104100. Elsevier BV, 2025. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.breast.2025.104100.
- Plichta, Jennifer K., Samantha M. Thomas, Tori C. Chanenchuk, Kelley Chan, Terry Hyslop, E Shelley Hwang, and Rachel A. Greenup. “Comparison of incident breast cancer cases in the largest national US tumor registries.” In Cancer, 131:e35525, 2025. https://doi.org/10.1002/cncr.35525.
- Limberg, Jessica N., Tyler Jones, Samantha M. Thomas, Koumani W. Ntowe, Juliet C. Dalton, Astrid Botty van den Bruele, Ton Wang, et al. “Omission of Axillary Lymph Node Dissection in Patients with Residual Nodal Disease After Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy.” In Ann Surg Oncol, 31:8813–20, 2024. https://doi.org/10.1245/s10434-024-16143-6.
Insurance Accepted
Duke Health contracts with most major health insurance carriers and transplant networks, including the ones listed below.
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Aetna
- Aetna Choice POS, Aetna Choice POS II
- Aetna Elect Choice HMO, Aetna Open Access Elect Choice
- Aetna Health Network Only, Aetna Health Network Option
- Aetna HMO
- Aetna Limited Benefit Insurance PPO
- Aetna Managed Choice POS
- Aetna Medicare Assure Plan (HMO D-SNP)
- Aetna Medicare Eagle Plan (PPO)
- Aetna Medicare Essential Plan (PPO)
- Aetna Medicare Value Plan (HMO)
- Aetna Open Access HMO, Open Access Aetna Select, Aetna Open Access Managed Choice
- Aetna Open Choice PPO
- Aetna PCP Coordinated POS Plan
- Aetna Quality Point of Service (QPOS)
- Aetna Select HMO
- Aetna Traditional Choice
- Aetna Voluntary Indemnity Group Plan
- Aetna Whole Health – Duke WakeMed WKCC
- Aetna/CVS Health
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Ambetter
- Ambetter of North Carolina
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Blue Cross Blue Shield of NC
- Blue Advantage
- Blue Medicare (HMO, PPO)*
- Blue Options (123, PPO, HSA)
- Blue Select
- NC State Employees Health Plan
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*Duke HomeCare and Hospice does not participate in the plan.
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Cigna
- Cigna Behavioral Health (*Limited eligibility)
- Cigna Choice Plus
- Cigna Connect Individual Family Plan
- Cigna Open Access
- Cigna Open Access Plus
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*Please call Cigna Behavioral Heath to see if the provider is participating in your plan.
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Duke Group Plans
- Duke Basic
- Duke Select
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Experience Health
- Experience Health Medicare Advantage (HMO) Plan
- Gateway Health Alliance
- Healthgram
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Humana
- Humana Choice (PPO)
- Humana Choice - Medicare Advantage (PPO)
- Humana ChoiceCare - Medicare Advantage (PPO)
- Humana Gold Choice - Medicare Advantage (PFFS)
- Humana Gold Plus - Medicare Advantage (HMO)
- Humana Medicare Advantage Group Plan - NC State Retirees
- MedCost
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Medicare
- First Medicare Direct
- Medicare Part A
- Medicare Part B
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NC Medicaid
- AmeriHealth Caritas North Carolina
- Carolina Complete Health
- Healthy Blue
- NC Medicaid Direct
- WellCare of North Carolina
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TRICARE
- TRICARE Prime
- TRICARE Prime Remote
- TRICARE Select
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United Healthcare
- AARP Medicare Advantage Plan 2 (HMO-POS)
- AARP Medicare Complete (HMO, PPO)*
- AARP Medicare Complete Essential (HMO)*
- All Savers Alternate Funding
- All Savers Fully Insured
- United Healthcare (HMO, PPO, POS)**
- United Healthcare Charter/Charter Balance/Charter Plus
- United Healthcare Choice/Choice Plus
- United Healthcare Core/Core Essential
- United Healthcare Navigate/Navigate Plus/Navigate Balanced
- United Healthcare Option PPO
- United Healthcare Passport Connect Choice/Choice Plus
- United Healthcare Passport Connect Options PPO
- United Healthcare Select/Select Plus
- United Healthcare Shared Services - Harvard Pilgrim/UHC Options PPO Network
- United Medical Resources (UMR)
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*Duke HomeCare and Hospice and mental health providers do not participate with the plan.
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**Duke Health does not participate in UHC plans on the Health Insurance Marketplace.
Before scheduling your appointment, we strongly recommend you contact your insurance company to verify that the Duke Health location or provider you plan to visit is included in your network. Your insurance company will also be able to inform you of any co-payments, co–insurances, or deductibles that will be your responsibility. If you proceed in scheduling an appointment and your health insurance benefits do not participate with Duke, your out of pocket liability may be higher. We will contact you regarding your coverage and patient liability. If you are uninsured, learn more about our financial assistance policy.
External Relationships
- American Joint Committee on Cancer
- American Society of Breast Surgeons
- Association of Women Surgeons
- National Comprehensive Cancer Network
- National Consortium of Breast Centers
- Society of Surgical Oncology