Kalina Duncan 2014 World Cancer Congress

Kalina Duncan

Kalina Duncan is a Public Health Analyst in the US National Cancer Institute (NCI) Center for Global Health. Prior to her time at NCI, Kalina worked at the Office of International Health and Biodefense in the Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs at the U.S. Department of State, and the Fogarty International Center at the US National Institutes of Health. Kalina recently spent 16 weeks in Jakarta, Indonesia working with the Ministry of Health to build partnerships related to tobacco control research and cancer registration. Kalina received her Master of Public Health (MPH) with a concentration in Health Policy and a certificate in Global Health Systems from the Yale School of Public Health. Hailing from Salt Lake City, she earned dual Bachelor of Science degrees in Communications and Gender Studies from the University of Utah. While completing her MPH, Kalina worked with the Yale Global Health Leadership Institute and the Ministry of Health of Rwanda to create the country’s first Masters in Healthcare Administration and a physician exchange program in Rwanda’s primary teaching hospital. Concurrently, she developed a strong interest in NCI’s work while serving as a student researcher on an NIH-funded case-control study focused on the meningioma, the most common type of brain tumor. Prior to graduate school, Kalina spent six years at the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), a US civil rights non-profit in Washington, D.C. As HRC’s Associate Director of Membership, Kalina directed a canvass program that engaged and enrolled members in the organization’s legislative work. Her other HRC roles included legislative advocacy for HIV/AIDS funding, grassroots field organizing, event management, and fundraising. Kalina led grassroots efforts to engage HRC members to elect representatives or pass ballot initiatives in the US states Ohio, Maine, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Utah, and Missouri. Before joining HRC, she worked with the American Red Cross in Utah, focusing on HIV prevention.