A native of Brooklyn, New York, Karen attended Concord Academy on an A Better Chance scholarship. She completed her education at Stanford University and Harvard Medical School. After pediatric and newborn medicine training at Boston Children’s Hospital, she became a staff neonatologist at Boston Children’s Hospital and a member of the Harvard Medical School faculty. Her career has included clinical work, basic science research, and administrative and policy work.
Karen currently serves as the Medical Director of the Special Care Nursery at Winchester Hospital and Medical Director of the Beth Israel Lahey Neonatology Network and works clinically and administratively.
She is a past president of the Massachusetts Chapter of the American Academy of
Pediatrics and current chair of the chapter’s Legislative Committee. As an advisor to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, she has served on the state’s Perinatal Committee, Birth Defects Monitoring Program Advisory Committee, Newborn Screening Advisory Committee, and the Task Force on Management of Maternal and Neonatal Substance Exposure.
She is a long-term, dedicated volunteer for the Concord Academy Alumnae/i Association, now serving as President. Previously she was co-chair of the Alumnae/i Community and Equity Committee. She helped to imagine, create, and execute CA’s Alumnae/i and Students of Color Conference. Karen is also a Trustee for The Governor’s Academy. She has received leadership training with Boston’s The Partnership program.
Karen is married to Kwame Ofori-Asante and has two sons, Alexander and James. They reside in Lynnfield, Massachusetts.