Rachele Hendricks-Sturrup DHSc, MSc, MA

Dr. Rachele Hendricks-Sturrup is the Research Director of Real-World Evidence (RWE) at the Duke-Margolis Institute for Health Policy in Washington, DC, strategically leading and managing the Institute's RWE Collaborative and RWE policy research portfolio and education. As an engagement expert, biomedical researcher, bioethicist, and policy practitioner with nearly 20 years of experience, her work directly addresses and serves key regulatory/legal, ethical, and social implications at the intersection of health policy and innovation implementation.

As an active collaborator with Duke University faculty, scholars, students, and external practicing experts to advance the Institute's biomedical innovation work. Recently, she received a Duke-Margolis Mentor Award in 2023 and led groundbreaking work within the Institute's RWE Collaborative that resulted in the receipt of a 2024 Innovation Award from the Reagan-Udall Foundation for the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA). She has authored several original research papers, commentaries, and perspectives in high-quality, peer-reviewed journals and has presented at and served on program committees for several conferences. Read her past and latest work here.

Dr. Hendricks-Sturrup served as adjunct faculty at rural Ohio University, teaching graduate courses in the Department of Interdisciplinary Health Science's Health Policy Certificate program during 2018-2024, and taught graduate courses within the Masters of Health Care Innovation program at the University of Pennsylvania's Perelman School of Medicine during 2019-2024. She also served as an executive leader at the National Alliance Against Disparities in Patient Health (NADPH) during 2020-2024 and was selected as a 2024 AcademyHealth Trust Scholar.

She presently serves on the Board of Directors for Public Responsibility in Medicine and Research (PRIM&R), Professional Society for Health Economics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR) Steering Committee, has served since 2023 on the Program Committee as both a member and Co-Chair for the Drug Information Association’s annual RWE Conference.

Before joining Duke-Margolis, Dr. Hendricks-Sturrup served as Health Policy Counsel and Lead at the Future of Privacy Forum (FPF), leading the organization's health and genetic data initiatives and workgroup. Prior to FPF, she worked in several administrative and scientific roles at various industry, health care, academic, and government research institutions. Dr. Hendricks-Sturrup is also an accomplished health science journalist, having completed a comparative effectiveness research fellowship with the Association of Health Care Journalists in 2017 at the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute in Washington, DC.

Dr. Hendricks-Sturrup received her Bachelor of Science in Biology from Chicago State University, her Master’s in Pharmacology and Toxicology from Michigan State University, her Master’s in Legal Studies from the University of Illinois, and her Doctor of Health Science from Nova Southeastern University. She completed a predoctoral internship with the National Health Service in London, UK, and postdoctoral research training within the Department of Population Medicine at Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute and Harvard Medical School.