Constituent of the Week
Dr. Shahrbanoo (Sharon) F. Noori
Our Constituent of the Week is Dr. Shahrbanoo (Sharon) F. Noori, a Board-certified General Surgeon with the Health First Medical Group (HFMG).
She was born in Iran and moved to Atlanta, Georgia with her family at the age of 11. Dr. Noori earned a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Biology with a minor in Persian Studies from Emory University in 2001.
She completed her thesis, “Human Trafficking: The New Form of Slavery”, at Emory University, Rollins School of Public Health, Department of International Health, where she also earned her Master’s degree. In 2008, she earned her medical degree from the Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta.
Dr. Noori then completed a General Surgery Residency at Orlando Regional Medical Center followed by a Surgical Oncology Fellowship at Cedars Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.
Dr. Noori brought her education, experience, skills, and compassion to Brevard County to become our county’s first dedicated breast surgeon. She has been practicing with the Health First Medical Group since 2014. Dr. Noori has a medical office at the Gateway Center, and she performs vital surgeries at Holmes Regional Hospital.
Women’s health is her calling.
“I’ve always had an interest in women’s health, and part of my public health degree was to work with Tapestry (a program that works with women and children),” Dr. Noori said. “Then, when I got to medical school, I worked with breast surgery patients. I liked the idea of a field in which the “continuity of care counted.”
Dr. Noori has transformed breast surgery in Brevard County. Prior to opening her practice, many Brevard women were compelled to travel to larger cities out of concern for the availability of quality treatment locally.
Dr. Noori has not only kept up with the changes in the field of breast cancer surgery, she has made advancements based on her education and experience. For example, implementation of sentinel node biopsy, which is a biopsy of the first lymph node to which cancer cells are likely to spread from a primary tumor. This type of biopsy is used to determine the stage of cancer and is less extensive than standard lymph node surgery. Dr. Noori also uses oncoplastic techniques which focus on removal of cancer and enhancing the shape of the breast.
She also advocates for less-invasive techniques and less radical surgeries such as removing a lump in the breast rather than the whole breast, minimizing radical mastectomies.
The month of October is Breast Cancer Awareness month.
Sadly, according to the Susan G. Komen Foundation, “About every two minutes, a woman is diagnosed with breast cancer.” In 2024, an estimated 42,250 women and 530 men in the United States will lose their lives to breast cancer.
Given these grim statistics, Brevard County is extremely grateful to Dr. Shahrbanoo (Sharon) F. Noori for dedicating her life and career to saving the lives of women who face the challenge of breast cancer. She says there is light at the end of this dark disease as the mortality rates continue to decline due to early detection, technology, and compassionate health care teams, including doctors and nurses, working together.
In the small amount of free time she has, Dr. Noori is an avid reader, traveler, and self-proclaimed foodie. She is the mother of two daughters, ages seven and eight and they reside in Indian Harbour Beach.
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