Nikkie Dutta

Nikkie Dutta is a May 2026 graduate of Duke University School of Medicine, where she earned an M.S. in Population Health Sciences. She is interested in pursuing a career at the intersection of evidence development, regulatory science, and health policy, with a focus on leveraging real-world evidence to improve patient access to innovative therapies and inform healthcare decision-making.

At Duke, Nikkie served as a research assistant within Duke Health’s Clinical Operations and Quality Division, working on asthma quality improvement efforts by evaluating patient outcomes and refining Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycles. She also interned with the Duke Institute for Health Innovation (DIHI), where she collaborated on projects to optimize prior authorization workflows for specialty and oncology medications.

This summer, Nikkie will be working on the Advancing Evidence-Based U.S. Health Policy for Global Impact project at Duke-Margolis. Her work will focus on examining the scientific, regulatory, manufacturing, and reimbursement landscape for emerging curative in vivo therapies, including gene editing and gene therapies, and identifying policy opportunities to improve equitable access to these innovations in the United States and globally. Nikkie is excited to explore how evidence generation and policy reform can help translate breakthrough therapies into sustainable and accessible healthcare solutions.