Bettina Drake, PhD, MPH, a distinguished cancer epidemiologist and professor of Surgery at WashU Medicine and Siteman Cancer Center, serves as the director of the Confluence Collaborative for Community Engagement.
As a recognized expert in reducing cancer disparities, Dr. Drake’s research focuses on cancer prevention through nutritional and community-based approaches. She co-leads the Prostate Cancer Community Partnership, part of the Program for the Elimination of Cancer Disparities (PECaD), which aims to reduce prostate cancer disparities in the region. She is committed to using community-based insights to inform and strengthen epidemiological findings, ensuring that research results can be effectively disseminated in collaboration with community partners.
In addition to her research and leadership roles, she teaches Intermediate Clinical Epidemiology in the Master of Population Health Sciences (MPHS) program.
Dr. Drake earned her PhD in Epidemiology from the University of South Carolina Arnold School of Public Health and holds a Master of Public Health in Epidemiology from the University of North Texas Health Science Center. She completed her postdoctoral studies as an Alonzo Smythe Yerby Postdoctoral Fellow at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.