Crankshaw Named a Senior Research Program Leader

Sydnee Crankshaw, MPA, has been named Senior Research Program Leader for DCI’s population health sciences programs: Cancer Prevention and Control (co-led by Kathryn Pollak, PhD, and Leah Zullig, PhD) and Cancer Risk, Detection, and Interception (co-led by Meira Epplein, PhD, MS, MA, and Katherine Garman, MD, MHS).

Previous to this promotion, Crankshaw served as research program leader with the Cancer Prevention and Control Research Program.

In this new role, she will lead, coordinate, and expand communications across teams, support staff development, and identify growth opportunities for DCI’s population health science initiatives.

Crankshaw recently completed the Duke Clinical and Translational Science Institute Engagement, Recruitment and Retention program.

"Sydnee has significant expertise in multi-site research studies, training grants, and community engagement, having worked for more than 21 years within DCI’s population health sciences research programs," said Karen Kharasch, senior director of Research Strategy & Operations at Duke Cancer Institute.

Crankshaw's first role in population health, upon earning her BS in Health Education and her MPA at the University of Utah, was working in her home state for the Utah Department of Health as a community health educator focused on HIV/AIDS.

She began her DCI career as a clinical research coordinator managing epidemiological studies in ovarian and breast cancer. Currently, Crankshaw manages a project on gastric cancer as part of the Duke Cancer Institute Health Disparities P20 SPORE, as well as DIRECT, a 12-month applied cancer research training program for recent minority university graduates with an interest in entering the cancer research workforce.