Research Program Leader

Be You.

The Research Program Lead will coordinate and advance a portfolio of research and implementation activities focused on equitable cancer prevention, screening, early detection, and timely follow-up of abnormal screening results.

Working closely with Dr. Michael Pignone, Dr. Caroline Sloan, and collaborators across Duke University, Duke Health, and external partner organizations, the Program Lead will manage research and implementation projects involving colorectal, lung, cervical, and other screen-detectable cancers.

Major areas of work include population-based screening outreach, patient navigation, completion of diagnostic evaluation following abnormal screening results, health-system implementation, health equity, and translation of successful interventions into routine care.

A distinctive component of this position will be responsibility for patient navigation following abnormal cancer screening tests for colorectal and cervical cancer. The Program Lead will devote approximately 25% effort to providing navigation directly to patients, developing and refining navigation protocols, and training and supporting other personnel in effective navigation practices.

Prior experience providing patient navigation or closely related care-navigation services is required.

The position will combine hands-on project execution with research coordination, scholarly production, and development of scalable approaches to equitable cancer screening and early detection.

implementation strategy.

Minimum Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in a related field.
• Minimum of four years of related experience.
• An equivalent combination of relevant education and/or experience may be considered.

Preferred Qualifications

• Master's degree in public health, health services research, health administration, social or behavioral science, implementation science, or a related field.
• Experience in cancer prevention, cancer screening, oncology, primary care, population health, or health-equity programs.
• Experience navigating patients following abnormal screening results or through diagnostic evaluation is particularly desirable.
• Experience developing navigation protocols, training navigators or community health workers, or evaluating navigation programs.
• Experience with research project management, implementation research, quality improvement, or population-health initiatives.
• Experience contributing to scientific manuscripts, abstracts, presentations, literature reviews, or grant proposals.
• Experience working with underserved populations and identifying and addressing barriers to health care access.
• Bilingual ability, particularly English/Spanish, would be an asset but not a requirement unless it is important for the populations the program will directly serve.

Other Requirements

• The ideal candidate combines two skill sets that are not always found together.
• They should be an excellent project manager who can organize investigators, analyses, manuscripts, grants, deadlines, and collaborations without requiring intensive day-to-day supervision.
• They should also be an experienced patient navigator who enjoys working directly with patients, understands the practical barriers that prevent completion of cancer screening and diagnostic evaluation, and can teach others how to navigate patients effectively.
• The strongest candidate will see these functions as complementary: direct patient experience should identify opportunities for health-system improvement and research, while research and implementation findings should continuously improve how navigation is delivered.

Be Bold.

In this role, you will:

Patient navigation and program development — Provide direct navigation following abnormal cancer-screening results, help patients address barriers to completing diagnostic follow-up, and develop standardized navigation workflows, protocols, tracking systems, and escalation procedures. Train and support other navigators and use direct patient experience to develop a scalable navigation model.

Cancer research and project management — Manage cancer prevention, screening, early-detection, and implementation projects. Coordinate project plans, timelines, budgets, deliverables, research requirements, data quality, investigators, clinical partners, research staff, trainees, and external collaborators.

Scholarship and research dissemination — Advance manuscripts, abstracts, presentations, literature reviews, and other scholarly products. Coordinate analyses, writing, coauthor input, revisions, and submissions, and identify opportunities to translate implementation activities into meaningful research.

Grant development, program growth, and policy training — Support grant applications, identify funding opportunities, coordinate collaborators and submission requirements, and connect current findings to future studies and opportunities for expansion. Support cancer policy and advocacy training in partnership with program leadership.

Partnerships, mentorship, and broader dissemination — Build collaborations across Duke, Duke Health, community organizations, and external partners. Support trainees and junior investigators and help disseminate successful approaches through presentations, training materials, implementation resources, and professional organizations. Duke’s cancer prevention community brings together research, clinical care, population health, implementation science, and community partnership. You will join a collaborative program working to ensure that effective cancer-screening and follow-up strategies reach the patients and communities that need them.

This position offers the opportunity to shape a growing research and implementation portfolio, contribute to meaningful scholarship, and help build a scalable patient-navigation model designed to improve timely diagnostic resolution and reduce disparities across the cancer-screening continuum.

Choose Duke.

Duke’s cancer prevention community brings together research, clinical care, population health, implementation science, and community partnership. You will join a collaborative program working to ensure that effective cancer-screening and follow-up strategies reach the patients and communities that need them.

This position offers the opportunity to shape a growing research and implementation portfolio, contribute to meaningful scholarship, and help build a scalable patient-navigation model designed to improve timely diagnostic resolution and reduce disparities across the cancer-screening continuum.