Image provided by California State Senate | From left to right: Republican Minority Leader, Senator Brian Jones (R-San Diego), Lt. Governor Eleni Kounalakis, Dr. Katrina B. Mitchell, Senator Monique Limón (D-Santa Barbara), and Senate President Pro Tempore Senator Mike McGuire (D-North Coast)

Women’s History Month celebrates the pioneers, trailblazers and visionary women whose achievements, leadership, courage and strength built America and continue paving its way to the future.

Dr. Katrina Mitchell is helping shape that future through lasting contributions to the field of women’s healthcare.

Dr. Katrina Mitchell

A breast surgeon, lactation consultant and perinatal mental health provider at Ridley-Tree Cancer Center in Santa Barbara, part of Sutter Health’s Greater Central Coast, Dr. Mitchell was recently named a 2025 Woman of the Year by California State Senator Monique Limón for her outstanding efforts advancing women’s health.

“It is my honor to celebrate the work of Dr. Mitchell,” says Senator Limón. “She is doing critical work providing care to women and mothers throughout Santa Barbara County. Through her advocacy she has made a tremendous impact on women’s health throughout the Central Coast and I am grateful for her continued service to thousands of women in Senate District 21.”

We spoke with Dr. Mitchell about her medical training and practice, and the vision she’s helping realize to bring the best healthcare to more women across California.  

Q: What impacted your decision to enter the field of breast surgery?  
A: After college, I worked at a reproductive health clinic in urban Philadelphia where I fell in love with women’s health and decided to pursue a career in medicine. While completing a general surgery residency at Cornell, I spent several years living and working in Africa. I realized the opportunities for community education, prevention initiatives and advocacy for women’s health both internationally and locally.

Coming full circle, I’m thrilled to be working in my home state of California at Sutter Health’s Ridley-Tree Cancer Center. I truly have a dream job:  I care for women at all stages of their reproductive lifecycle. This ranges from teens with breast pain, to pregnant and postpartum women with lactation or perinatal mental health needs, to women facing breast cancer at all ages. In our smaller community setting, I get to know patients very well and deliver the personalized kind of healthcare I envisioned I would as a medical student years ago.

Q: What sparked your interest in honing skills to best counsel women about breastfeeding?
A: I completed breast surgery specialty training at MD Anderson Cancer Center and gave birth to my son in Houston. I was fortunate to have help from my mom (who had breastfed me with help from the La Leche League—a breastfeeding support organization), lactation consultants at Texas Children’s Hospital, as well as friends and colleagues.

Breastfeeding became my personal and professional focus. While I am a cancer surgeon first and foremost, supporting breastfeeding mothers and babies is a very rewarding aspect of preventative care. When you help a mother breastfeed or treat perinatal mental health, you help lower the immediate and lifelong health risks for both mom and baby.

It’s unique that my practice blends working with both the physiology (lactation) and pathology (cancer) of the human breast. I’ve been very fortunate that Ridley-Tree has allowed me the flexibility to shape my clinic this way.

Q: You’ve practiced medicine across the U.S. and around the world, helping care for women who have both common and complex healthcare needs. What are some common factors you see as being instrumental to high-quality, compassionate, evidence-based women’s healthcare no matter the geographic location?
A: Supporting women of diverse backgrounds with any diagnosis involving their breasts or perinatal mental health is important to me. At Ridley-Tree, I’ve been honored to engage with people and projects connected to women’s health. When I reflect on what I’ve learned as a global health scholar and healthcare provider, founder of the Santa Barbara Women’s Health Coalition and board member of Santa Barbara’s Postpartum Education for Parents program, I’m mostly impressed by the resilience of women and their focus on community. Women are passionate, women drive change and women collaborate to make the future better for all of us.

Q: As a medical expert in oncolactation, a term you coined to describe the intersection of breastfeeding and cancer, what do you see as being key to the future of breast cancer care?
A: Although fewer women are dying from breast cancer, more women under age 40 are developing the illness. These patients face unique challenges beyond their disease: body image, fertility, sexual function, early menopause and (for some), breastfeeding.

At Ridley-Tree, I’m fortunate to collaborate with highly skilled doctors, care teams and scientists committed to helping women navigate breastfeeding during and after cancer care. I think the future of breast cancer care involves not only the cure we as doctors and researchers work toward, but a focus on caring for the whole patient. That means we think carefully about all aspects of cancer treatment, knowing our decisions will impact our patients for the rest of their lives. This is where shared decision making with patients is incredibly important: we prioritize that at Sutter and Ridley-Tree.

Do you or a loved one need breast health services? Find resources here.