Marcia Cruz-Correa, MD, PhD, AGAF, FASGE

Dr. Marcia Cruz-Correa is Professor of Medicine at the University of Puerto Rico (UPR) and Adjunct Associate Professor of Medicine at Johns Hopkins University. She earned her BS in Biology and MD from UPR, followed by a residency in Internal Medicine at UPR and a fellowship in Gastroenterology and Hepatology at Johns Hopkins. She also holds a PhD in Clinical Investigation and Genetic Epidemiology from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

In 2020, Dr. Cruz-Correa became the first woman to serve as Executive Director of the UPR Comprehensive Cancer Center, where she continues to lead the Gastrointestinal Oncology Research Program. A physician-scientist with over 20 years of continuous NIH funding, her work centers on cancer prevention, hereditary cancer, clinical trials, and health equity.

She is the founding president of the Puerto Rico Colorectal Cancer Coalition, a nonprofit focused on colorectal cancer awareness, education, and advocacy. She also founded the Pan American Center for Oncology Trials, the first community cancer research network in the region.

Dr. Cruz-Correa is actively involved with the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), where she has served on the governing board and chaired the Minorities in Cancer Research Council, the Women in Cancer Research Council, and the Cancer Prevention Work Group. She also serves on the boards of the American Association for Cancer Institutes and the Alliance Foundation for Clinical Oncology.

Her past appointments include the National Cancer Advisory Board (under President Obama) and the board of the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA). She is a fellow of the AGA and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), and was recently elected as the first Hispanic woman to the honorary Association of American Physicians. She serves as an editor for Gastroenterology and Cancer Prevention Research.