ASCO Exclusive: Josette Gbemudu Talks TNBC, Trust, and Technology in Women’s Health
At the crossroads of innovation and equity, Josette Gbemudu is helping rewrite the narrative for women navigating one of the most daunting health challenges of their lives: breast cancer.
As Associate Vice President of Patient Health Innovation at Merck, Gbemudu isn’t just focused on advancing treatments—she’s leading a movement to make healthcare more inclusive, proactive, and personalized. Speaking at the 2025 ASCO Annual Meeting, where Merck revealed promising new data on its breast cancer therapies, Gbemudu spotlighted a parallel breakthrough: the development of digital tools that close critical care gaps long before a diagnosis is even made.
In a healthcare system where Black women face a 20 percent higher mortality rate from breast cancer, and early detection can mean the difference between life and death, Gbemudu’s work is transforming the patient journey—from silence and delay to awareness and action. Through smart, culturally responsive platforms like Nia and Jade, she and her team are empowering women to take charge of their health and reshaping what equitable care can look like in the digital age.
Backed by her experience in health equity and public health, Gbemudu has led the development of Nia and Jade, two digital triaging tools that use conversational AI to assess breast cancer risk and encourage early screening. These tools are part of a broader mission: to close care gaps and bring timely, personalized information directly to patients’ fingertips.
Her team’s efforts couldn’t be more timely. At the same ASCO meeting, Merck shared headline-making clinical data from its partnership with Gilead: a combination of Merck’s Keytruda (pembrolizumab) and Gilead’s Trodelvy (sacituzumab govitecan) has shown significant progress against triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC)—a particularly aggressive form of the disease that disproportionately affects Black women.
“These results are exactly the type of innovation we need,” said Dr. Jane Lowe Meisel of Emory University, emphasizing the synergy between immunotherapy and targeted therapy in treating TNBC.
For Gbemudu, the excitement over breakthrough therapies is only part of the picture. The other part is ensuring patients, especially those in historically marginalized communities, can access screening and treatment early enough to benefit.
That’s where Nia and Jade come in. Built in collaboration with community stakeholders and designed for maximum cultural and linguistic relevance, the tools guide women through self-assessments, help them understand their risks, and connect them with healthcare providers.
These tools are seeing remarkable engagement, with completion rates four times the industry average—thanks to their tone, relatability, and ease of use.
In addition to digital risk assessment, Merck is addressing social determinants of health (SDOH) through Support Near Me, a platform integrated into both Nia and Jade. Powered by FindHelp.org, the tool provides hyperlocal resources for transportation, food insecurity, housing, and more, helping patients overcome practical barriers to accessing care.
The tools aren’t just effective—they’re inclusive. A Spanish-language version of Nia is already deployed in Puerto Rico, making the technology accessible to more women in their preferred language and cultural context. And Gbemudu’s team isn’t stopping there: plans are underway to scale these tools into other therapeutic areas, amplifying their impact across different conditions where disparities persist.
“We often focus so much on treatment, but forget the journey to treatment is often long—and filled with pitfalls,” Gbemudu tells BlackDoctor.org. “By shortening that journey, we improve survival.”
This commitment was echoed by Merck’s broader strategy at ASCO, even as the company announced it would withdraw its FDA application for a lung cancer therapy (patritumab deruxtecan) due to limited survival benefit in trials. Despite setbacks, Merck’s message was clear: the company is continuously refining its approach, driven by data and grounded in patient needs.
As the healthcare industry races to adopt artificial intelligence and digital tools, Merck, under leaders like Gbemudu, is ensuring that innovation doesn’t come at the expense of empathy.
“This is about truly seeing people—understanding their journeys, their needs, their fears,” she concludes. “If we can bring that understanding into every clinic, every interaction, that’s how we move the needle.”
In an era of breakthroughs and big data, it’s clear that people-centered design and equitable access are the real frontiers of healthcare. And thanks to Gbemudu and her team at Merck, more women are navigating their journeys with confidence, dignity, and the digital support they deserve.
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