James Randiak Alaro, Ph.D.

James R. Alaro, Ph.D., is a Program Director at the Center for Global Health (CGH). In this role, he leads NCI’s efforts to advance cancer health disparities (CaHD) research globally to accelerate progress towards achieving cancer health equity for all populations. His primary focus is on developing and managing funding programs to advance the development of sustainable solutions to reduce CaHD in low-resource settings globally. Prior to joining NCI, Dr. Alaro served as a subject matter expert at NIH’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and Fogarty International Center (FIC) where his work focused on strengthening research capacity and advancing equitable research collaborations towards achieving health equity in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).

Dr. Alaro earned his Ph.D. in microbiology and immunology from Drexel University where his research focused on developing a vaccine against malaria. He completed his post-doctoral fellowship at NIAID’s Laboratory of Malaria and Vector Research focusing on characterizing the immune responses to malaria in children living in endemic regions. Dr. Alaro’s commitment to improving health among the socially disadvantaged populations has included work with rural communities in Kenya to prevent and control non-communicable disease risk factors.