Audrey joined the HealthTree Foundation as the Myeloma Community Program Director in 2020. While not knowing much about myeloma at the start, she has since worked hard to educate herself, empathize and learn from others' experiences. She loves this job. Audrey is passionate about serving others, loves learning, and enjoys a nice mug of hot chocolate no matter the weather.

After graduating Cum Laude from Cornell University with a Bachelor of Science in Human Development, Dr. Kara Cicero volunteered with AmeriCorps. Faced with the reality of health-related inequities, she was motivated to pursue a career focused on minimizing health disparities. Accordingly, she attended Tulane University School of Medicine and obtained a Master of Public Health in Global Health Systems and Development, in addition to her Medical Degree. There, she was inducted into the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society and was honored with the Harry and Rose Caplovitz Internal Medicine Award. She also received the Jack Ling Travel Award and Penny Jessop Travel Fund for teaching local healthcare workers in Malawi. Dr. Cicero returned to her home state of New York to complete residency in Internal Medicine at Columbia University, New York Presbyterian, and was inspired to pursue a career in oncology. She remained at Columbia for her clinical fellowship in Hematology and Medical Oncology, where she was granted multiple awards for her research in global oncology, including the American Association for Cancer Research Cancer Disparities Fellowship, the American Society of Clinical Oncology Young Investigator Award, and the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center Trainee Associate Member Postdoctoral Pilot Award. Following training, Dr. Cicero was drawn to the Pacific Northwest’s active, outdoor culture, and more specifically, University of Washington’s collaborative environment of compassionate faculty. She joined the Myeloma program in the Division of Hematology, where she cares for those with multiple myeloma, amyloidosis, and other plasma cell disorders. She continues to be involved in research endeavors focused on health disparities, such as leading an international, multidisciplinary team on a project assessing the prevalence of MGUS in Eswatini (formerly Swaziland) to deepen the epidemiologic understanding of MGUS and multiple myeloma in an understudied population that is also most likely to be affected.