TammaraWatts, MD, PhD, serves as an Associate Professor of Head and Neck Surgery andCommunication Sciences at the Duke Cancer Network in Durham, North Carolina. InJuly 2022, Dr. Watts was appointed the Associate Director for Equity, Diversity,and Inclusion (EDI) for the Duke Cancer Institute (DCI). In this inauguralposition for the DCI, Dr. Watts oversees creation of the plan to enhancediversity which includes development and implementation of an EDI strategicplan in the DCI that is in alignment with the Duke School of Medicine and theDuke University Health System’s larger EDI/DEI vision.
Dr.Watts’ research focuses on understanding the role tumor microenvironmentmesenchymal stromal cells play in mediating treatment resistance and cancerrecurrence. She has received numerous grants in this space and recently has begun studies related to racial disparities in head and neck cancer,including pilot funding from the DCI and NRG Oncology examining gene expressionchanges between Black and White patients with human papilloma virus positiveoropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma. Nationally, Dr. Watts has served asmember of the Women in Surgery Committee for the American College of Surgeonsfor seven years and has been the Chair of the Mentorship subcommittee for thelast 2 years.
Dr. Watts earned amedical degree from the University of Maryland in Baltimore, Maryland, and abachelor’s degree in chemistry from the University of Virginia inCharlottesville, Virginia.