Marissa M. Howard-McNatt, MD

“I enjoy treating cancer patients and helping them get through their journeys to live fulfilling lives, cancer free. I am interested in women's health issues, understanding how cancer affects individuals and stopping its progress.”

Dr. Howard-McNatt is board certified in general surgery with a focus on surgical oncology (cancer). She specializes in malignant and benign (cancerous and noncancerous) breast diseases.

Conditions she treats include hereditary breast and ovarian cancer syndromes, fibroadenomas (a type of lump) and abnormal mammograms. She performs sentinel lymph node mapping (a diagnostic procedure), port placements (devices to deliver medications), lumpectomies, mastectomies and other breast cancer surgeries.

Dr. Howard-McNatt is the director of the Breast Care Center at Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist and a professor of surgical sciences and oncology at Wake Forest University School of Medicine.

Her research interests include breast neoplasms, disparity research, genetic testing, lobular carcinomas and papillary carcinomas.

Black Health magazine recognized her as a Top African American Breast Cancer Doctor. She has been named a Best Doctor in America and a Business North Carolina Top Doctor, both for multiple years. She speaks French and Spanish.

Dr. Howard-McNatt received her medical degree at Harvard University. She completed residencies in general surgery at Emory University and West Virginia University. She completed a fellowship in breast surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital.

Away from work, Dr. Howard-McNatt enjoys traveling and spending time with her husband and 3 daughters. She is a music lover who sings in choirs.