Dr. Doratha A. Byrd is an epidemiologist with specialized training in molecular, nutritional, and cancer epidemiology, microbiome science, and health disparities. She earned a Bachelor of Science in Biology and a Master of Public Health in Epidemiology from the University of Florida. She then completed a PhD in Epidemiology at Emory University, where her dissertation focused on the development and validation of dietary and lifestyle inflammation scores and their associations with colorectal cancer. This successful effort required that she become rigorously proficient in issues related to the measurement of biomarkers and lifestyle exposures in observational studies and concepts related to the application of nutritional epidemiologic tools in relation to cancer risk in case-control and prospective cohort studies. Following her doctoral studies, Dr. Byrd completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) in the Metabolic Epidemiology Branch of the Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics. There, she studied under leaders in the cancer and microbiome field and was actively involved in conducting multiple studies to establish the best, standard methods for conducting impactful large, population-based 16S rRNA and shotgun metagenomic microbiome studies.
Currently, Dr. Byrd is an Assistant Member in the Cancer Epidemiology Department at the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute and holds an academic appointment as Assistant Professor in the Department of Oncologic Sciences at the Morsani College of Medicine, University of South Florida. Her research program integrates molecular, microbial, and population-based approaches to investigate the role of the gut microbiome and diet in cancer risk and outcomes, with a particular focus on colorectal and breast cancers. She is also actively translating this work to microbiome-targeted dietary interventions among cancer survivors and cancer-free individuals. Dr. Byrd’s work is driven by a commitment to addressing cancer disparities and improving outcomes among racially and ethnically diverse and medically underserved populations.
In recognition of her research excellence, Dr. Byrd has received numerous honors, including the AACR NextGen Star Award, the NCI Early Investigator Advancement Program Scholar designation, and the NIMHD Research Institute Scholar award. Recently, her work was spotlighted as an NCI Division of Cancer Prevention Early Career Scientist. She has served ad hoc on NIH study sections and grant review panels for the American Institute for Cancer Research and other organizations. Her research has been supported by multiple NIH- and foundation-funded grants. She has served as principal investigator on several studies focused on building infrastructure for prospective cohorts, and on examining the role of the microbiome and other lifestyle exposures in cancer prognosis and disparities. She also serves as a co-investigator on several global transdisciplinary projects. Her scholarly contributions have been published in high-impact journals such as the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Nature Reviews Cancer, Genome Biology, International Journal of Cancer, American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Journal of Nutrition, and Clinical and Translational Gastroenterology. She has also served as an ad hoc reviewer for journals including Nature Medicine, Gasteroenterology, and American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
Dr. Byrd is actively involved in mentoring undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral trainees. She is also a dedicated educator, having taught and guest lectured in epidemiology and cancer biology courses at the University of South Florida and the NIH. Dr. Byrd is deeply engaged in collaborative, community-informed research aimed to advance health equity. She currently serves as a scientific advisor for two non-profit organizations and is a member of the American Association for Cancer Research.
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