Dr. Porter is a neuro-oncologist at Mayo Clinic in Arizona and is an Associate Professor of Neurology. Since her arrival in 2008, she has worked diligently to provide care for patients with tumors and cancers involving the nervous system in addition to patients who have neurologic complications resulting from their systemic cancers. Dr. Porter received her undergraduate education at Spelman College and went on to receive her medical degree at Temple University School of Medicine in 2003. She completed her internship at Mayo Clinic in Rochester in Internal Medicine, residency in Neurology, and Fellowship in Neuro-Oncology in 2008. Dr. Porter serves as the Outpatient Practice Chair and Vice Chair of the Office of Equity, Inclusion, and Diversity at Mayo Clinic in Arizona, and is co-chair of CNS disease group for the Mayo Clinic Enterprise Cancer Center. She is the medical director of the Undergraduate Plummer Scholars Program, an early undergraduate medical pathway programs for Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine and Science and enjoys teaching Cultural Humility and Cross Cultural Communication in the Mayo Clinic, Alix School of Medicine, Arizona Campus. Her research interests are aimed at ensuring that patients with brain cancers have the best quality of life as possible. She is the primary investigator on the defining study for the utility of psychostimulants to improve quality of life as well as thinking and memory in patients with glioblastoma multiforme, the most aggressive form of brain cancer. Dr. Porter is also co-author of the book, Navigating Life with a Brain Tumor, a resource for patients and families.
Recently she and her husband, Dr. Gregory Umphrey awarded $100,000 in scholarships to medical students through their national non-profit, ElevateMeD, founded in 2019. ElevateMeD is committed to elevating the field of medicine by providing financial support, mentorship and leadership training to future physicians from racial and ethnic backgrounds underrepresented in medicine. Dr. Porter was the 2020 recipient of the Dean’s Award for Diversity and Inclusion for the Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine. She was also recently awarded the Anne B. Young Diversity Scholar Award from Massachusetts General Hospital for her work in equity and inclusion and is noted to be a top provider by the Mayo Clinic Office of Patient Experience.