Amy Kennedy, PhD, MPH, is the Health Disparities Research Coordinator in the Office of the Director in the Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences (DCCPS) at the National Cancer Institute (NCI). In this role, she coordinates and leads trans-divisional initiatives to promote research priorities, with a primary focus on cancer health disparities and equity opportunities. Dr. Kennedy’s work focuses on improving the understanding of cancer health disparities in an effort to achieve health equity for all, with particular interest in cancer control issues experienced by Native American populations, geographic cancer disparities, genetic susceptibility differences between populations, and disparities in pediatric cancer risk and outcomes.
Amy first joined the NCI in 2014 as a Cancer Research Training Award Fellow in the Epidemiology and Genomics Research Program, and then became a Presidential Management Fellow (PMF) in the fall of 2015. Prior to rejoining the Division in 2020, Dr. Kennedy worked in the Center for Research Strategy (CRS) in the NCI Office of the Director as a Health Scientist Administrator. Her responsibilities in CRS included trans-NCI strategic planning efforts of high-priority fields in cancer research, focusing on cancer disparities, and analyses to inform policy and decision making and program management.
Dr. Kennedy earned her PhD in Public Health (Epidemiology) and MPH (Environmental Health Sciences) from Florida International University, and her BS in Biology from the University of Miami. Her dissertation work in genetic epidemiology investigated correlations among genetic mutations, birth characteristics, and the risk of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia in diverse populations.