Joan Ko, MD

Director of Clinical Research

Attending Physician

Assistant Professor of Urology, Keck School of Medicine of USC

Dr. Joan Ko is an Assistant Professor of Clinical Urology working in the Division of Pediatric Urology at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. She was born in Los Angeles but gradually moved east to Texas then Virginia and earned her undergraduate degree in Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology at Yale University. She attended medical school at the University of Virginia, completed her general surgery internship and urology residency at Johns Hopkins Hospital, then went on to complete her pediatric urology fellowship at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. At CHLA, Dr. Ko is the Director of Clinical Research and oversees many active projects within the Division of Pediatric Urology.

Dr. Ko has special interests in the care of complex urologic patients with disorders such as spina bifida, epispadias, bladder exstrophy, cloacal exstrophy, and cloacal malformations but enjoys caring for all pediatric urology patients.

Education

Medical School

University of Virginia, School of Medicine

Internship

Johns Hopkins Hospital, General Surgery

Residency

Johns Hopkins Hospital, Urology

Fellowship

Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Pediatric Urology

Publications

Cystectomy in the Pediatric Exstrophy Population: Indications and Outcomes. Ko JS, Lue K, Friedlander D, Baumgartner T, Stuhldreher P, DiCarlo HN, Gearhart JP. Urology. 2018 Jun;116:168-171. doi: 10.1016/j.urology.2017.09.009. Epub 2017 Sep 25. PMID: 28958802

Prospective multicenter study on robot-assisted laparoscopic extravesical ureteral reimplantation (RALUR-EV): Outcomes and complications. Boysen WR, Akhavan A, Ko J, Ellison JS, Lendvay TS, Huang J, Garcia-Roig M, Kirsch A, Koh CJ, Schulte M, Noh P, Monn MF, Whittam B, Kawal T, Shukla A, Srinivasan A, Gundeti MS. J Pediatr Urol. 2018 Jun;14(3):262.e1-262.e6. doi: 10.1016/j.jpurol.2018.01.020. Epub 2018 Feb 20. PMID: 29503220

Use of muscle pedicle flaps for failed bladder neck closure in the exstrophy spectrum. Michaud JE, Ko JS, Lue K, Di Carlo HN, Redett RJ, Gearhart JP. J Pediatr Urol. 2016 Oct;12(5):289.e1-289.e5. doi: 10.1016/j.jpurol.2016.03.006. Epub 2016 Mar 31. PMID: 27086261

Wire in the hole: a case series of eroded intrapubic wire sutures causing genitourinary complications in the bladder exstrophy complex. Ko JS, Gupta AD, Di Carlo HN, Lue K, Gearhart JP. Can J Urol. 2016 Oct;23(5):8476-8479. PMID: 27705734

Adenocarcinoma of the Ileal Conduit in a Patient Born With Classic Bladder Exstrophy. Ko JS, Di Carlo HN, Gupta AD, Ross AE, Eckhauser FE, Bivalacqua TJ. Urol Case Rep. 2013 Dec 15;1(1):5-6. doi: 10.1016/j.eucr.2013.11.003. eCollection 2013 Dec. PMID: 26955532

PubMed Link

Publications on PubMed